Funky Serenity

Funky Serenity is an album by the pianist Ramsey Lewis, released in 1973 on Columbia Records. The album got to No. 6 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart.

Samples
"Dreams" was sampled by A Tribe Called Quest on the song "Electric Relaxation", from their 1993 LP Midnight Marauders. Beck also sampled "My Love For You" on the song "Debra."

"My Love For You" was also sampled by Musiq Soulchild on the track "Girl Next Door." What's more, Lewis' rendition of Luther Ingram's "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" was sampled by The Fugees on "Fu-Gee-La."

Producer Kanye West also sampled Lewis' cover of The Stylistics' "Betcha by Golly, Wow" for the Mariah Carey song "Stay the Night" on her 2005 LP The Emancipation of Mimi.

Reception
Andrew Hamilton of AllMusic called the album "enjoyable and essential".

Track listing
All compositions by Cleveland Eaton, Morris Jennings and Ramsey Lewis except as indicated
 * 1) "Kufanya Mapenzi (Making Love)" (Eddie Green) - 5:17
 * 2) "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" (Homer Banks, Carl Hampton, Raymond Jackson) - 5:24
 * 3) "What It Is!" - 2:41
 * 4) "My Love for You" (Green) - 5:14
 * 5) "Nights in White Satin" (Justin Hayward) - 5:36
 * 6) "Serene Funk" - 4:11
 * 7) "Dreams" - 9:39
 * 8) "Betcha by Golly, Wow" (Thom Bell, Linda Creed) - 5:09
 * 9) "Where Is the Love" (Ralph MacDonald, William Salter) - 4:56

Personnel

 * Ramsey Lewis - piano, electric piano, harpsichord
 * Cleveland Eaton - bass, electric bass, percussion
 * Morris Jennings - drums, congas, percussion
 * Ed Green - percussion, violin