Webster Lewis

Early sideman appearances by this keyboardist, composer, and arranger indicated potential on the modern jazz scene, Webster Lewis taking over from Larry Young in the progressive jazz Tony Williams' Lifetime band as well as joining the dissonant mass of multi-keyboard lineups on projects by George Russell, Bill Evans, and The Piano Choir. Lewis possessed a master's degree from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he was mentored by modernist and jazz historian Gunther Schuller. Nonetheless, the most enduring legacy of Lewis are disco recordings he began creating in 1976 when contracted by Epic. Critics and purists spat out the resulting fare, not owning a crystal ball that would allow them to see the fervor with which these types of concoctions would be chewed on once they had become so-called rare grooves. "On the Town," title track of Lewis' 1976 Epic debut, and a portrait of "Barbara Ann" unrelated to The Beach Boys are examples of Lewis' hits from the second half of the '70s.

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