Towards the decade's end, Young and Holt left the trio to form their own jazz combo. Two covers of songs by The Beatles, 'A Hard Day's Night' and 'And I Love Her,' were included with more traditional standards like 'Satin Doll' and 'The More I See You.' This time the playlist dug even deeper into the contemporary repertory, with a cover of 'Hang On, Sloopy!' that reached No. Lewis built on his popular success later that year with Hang On, Ramsey! - another live trio album, recorded at the Lighthouse Café in Hermosa Beach, Calif. The album spent 12 weeks in the top spot among best-selling R&B albums. The title track of that album - 'The 'In' Crowd,' a cover of Dobie Gray's rhythm-and-blues hit from the previous year - made its own leap into the charts, spending 16 weeks on the Billboard Top 100 and rising as high as No. His affinity for gospel and blues tunes melded seamlessly with easygoing, unfettered forays into the rock and soul standards of the 1960s - a transaction that yielded major dividends with a trio album recorded at Washington D.C.'s fabled Bohemian Caverns in 1965. Throughout his career, Lewis was the embodiment of jazz crossover. His death was announced by his manager, Brett Steele, who cited natural causes.

Ramsey Lewis, a pianist who sustained connections between jazz and popular music at a time when those bonds often seemed fragile and imperiled, died on Monday in Chicago, his hometown.

Ramsey Lewis, seen here performing at the Ontario Jazz Festival in 1981, died Monday at his home in Chicago.

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