David Lewis (Australian musician)

Last updated

David Lewis
Bornc. 1960 (age 6364)
Origin Hamilton, Victoria, Australia
Genresjazz, pop
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
Instrument(s)Piano, trumpet, keyboards
Years active1985–present

David Alan Lewis (born c. 1960) is an Australian-born jazz and pop trumpeter, pianist and composer from Hamilton, Victoria. He relocated to France in 1982 where he has joined various groups and toured Europe, Africa and Australia. He has performed and composed musical theatre and cabaret. Lewis has collaborated with singer and accordionist Belle du Berry since 1994 and both joined music group, Paris Combo, which released five albums from 1998 to 2005. Since 2007, Du Berry and Lewis have toured as a duo and released their debut album, Quizz in 2009.

Contents

Biography

David Alan Lewis grew up in the rural town of Hamilton, Victoria, he began studying piano and performing on trumpet in school bands. His mother, Elaine Lewis, was a music teacher, she later became an author and a book shop owner. [1] Lewis continued his musical studies at the University of Melbourne, he then travelled to Sweden and Paris, to study trumpet in the early 1980s. While studying at the Paris Conservatoire he also premiered new works for trumpet with the collective N.A.M.E. (New American Music in Paris). After graduation, his attraction to jazz and popular music finally got the upper-hand. He co-founded the group Crescent and he began to perform at jazz venues such as the New Morning, and in a wide range of other professional situations, including a short stint at the Folies Bergère.

In 1991 he joined Manu Dibango's group and toured extensively through Europe and Africa, including a historic tour of South Africa in 1993. He has also recorded and toured with many Paris-based artists including Italian singer Gianmaria Testa, Lokua Kanza, John Greaves, Maurane, Marc Perrone and Arthur H and the Bachibouzouk Band.

By 1994, Lewis began to write and perform music for theatre and cabaret in Paris – while performing at the Cabaret Sauvage at la Villette in Paris he first worked with chanteuse Belle du Berry. [2] They began a performing and song writing collaboration which continued with the group Paris Combo. [2] Du Berry and Lewis became domestic partners. [3] Paris Combo enjoyed international success – their second album "Living-Room" (1999) was a gold-record in France and was nominated for the French equivalent of the Grammy. The group toured extensively outside France, including three Australian tours and twelve in the US. As well as performing with the group, Lewis co-produced their four studio albums. After 2005, Paris Combo has been in hiatus.

Since 2007, Lewis and du Berry worked as a duo and released their debut album, Quizz in September 2009. [3] [4] They have toured Europe and Australia, [4] and performed at the Hollywood Bowl in United States. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Connick Jr.</span> American singer-songwriter and actor (born 1967)

Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and former television host. As of 2019, he has sold over 30 million records worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with 16 million in certified sales. He has had seven top 20 U.S. albums, and ten number-one U.S. jazz albums, earning more number-one albums than any other artist in U.S. jazz chart history as of 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. J. Johnson</span> American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger (1924–2001)

J. J. Johnson, born James Louis Johnson and also known as Jay Jay Johnson, was an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Douglas (trumpeter)</span> American jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator

Dave Douglas is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator. His career includes more than fifty recordings as a leader and more than 500 published compositions. His ensembles include the Dave Douglas Quintet; Sound Prints, a quintet co-led with saxophonist Joe Lovano; Uplift, a sextet with bassist Bill Laswell; Present Joys with pianist Uri Caine and Andrew Cyrille; High Risk, an electronic ensemble with Shigeto, Jonathan Aaron, and Ian Chang; and Engage, a sextet with Jeff Parker, Tomeka Reid, Anna Webber, Nick Dunston, and Kate Gentile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woody Shaw</span> American jazz trumpeter, composer, band leader, and educator

Woody Herman Shaw Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the 20th century's most important and influential jazz trumpeters and composers. He is often credited with revolutionizing the technical and harmonic language of modern jazz trumpet playing, and is regarded by many as one of the major innovators of the instrument. He was an acclaimed virtuoso, mentor, and spokesperson for jazz and worked and recorded alongside many of the leading musicians of his time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur H</span> French singer-songwriter

Arthur Higelin, better known under his stage name Arthur H, is a French singer-songwriter and pianist. He is best known in France for his live performances—four of his albums were recorded live.

Kiki and Herb are an American drag cabaret duo. Bond portrays Kiki DuRane, an aging, alcoholic, female lounge singer. Mellman portrays her gay, male piano accompanist, known only as Herb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Didier Malherbe</span> Musical artist

Didier Malherbe, is a French jazz, rock and world music musician, known as a member of the bands Gong and Hadouk, as well as a poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Liebman</span> American saxophonist, flautist and jazz educator

David Liebman is an American saxophonist, flautist and jazz educator. He is known for his innovative lines and use of atonality. He was a frequent collaborator with pianist Richie Beirach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valaida Snow</span> American jazz musician

Valaida Snow was an American jazz musician and entertainer who performed internationally. She was also known as "Little Louis" and "Queen of the Trumpet," a nickname given to her by W. C. Handy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris Combo</span> French musical group

Paris Combo is a musical group based in Paris, France, fronted until her death in 2020 by singer Belle du Berry. The group has an eclectic style, blending elements from the traditional French chanson and pop, American jazz and swing, Roma music, and North African music. They have performed live all over the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vijay Iyer</span> American composer, pianist, bandleader, producer, and writer

Vijay Iyer is an American composer, pianist, bandleader, producer and writer based in New York City. The New York Times has called him a "social conscience, multimedia collaborator, system builder, rhapsodist, historical thinker and multicultural gateway". Iyer received a 2013 MacArthur Fellowship, a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a United States Artists Fellowship, a Grammy nomination, and the Alpert Award in the Arts. He was voted Jazz Artist of the Year in the DownBeat magazine international critics' polls in 2012, 2015, 2016, and 2018. In 2014, he received a lifetime appointment as the Franklin D. and Florence Rosenblatt Professor of the Arts at Harvard University, where he was jointly appointed in the Department of Music and the Department of African and African American Studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loose Tubes</span> British jazz big band/orchestra

Loose Tubes were a British jazz big band/orchestra active during the mid-to-late 1980s. Critically and popularly acclaimed, the band was considered to be the focal point of a 1980s renaissance in British jazz. It was the main launchpad for the careers of many future leading British jazz players including Django Bates, Iain Ballamy, Eddie Parker, Julian and Steve Argüelles, Mark Lockheart, Steve Berry, Tim Whitehead, Ashley Slater. In 2015, the band reformed to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band's formation, with concerts at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Brecon Jazz Festival and a sold out week at Ronnie Scott's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franck Amsallem</span> Musical artist

Franck Amsallem is a French-American jazz pianist, arranger, composer, singer and educator. He was born in 1961 in Oran, French Algeria, but grew up in Nice, France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibrahim Maalouf</span> Lebanese-French jazz musician

Ibrahim Maalouf is a French-Lebanese trumpeter, producer, arranger, and composer. In 2022, he became the first Lebanese instrumentalist nominated at the Grammy Awards for his album Queen of Sheba in collaboration with Angélique Kidjo.

<i>Your Songs</i> 2009 studio album by Harry Connick Jr.

Your Songs is a studio album by American jazz singer Harry Connick Jr. that was released by Columbia. It was released first in the United States on a limited edition double vinyl LP on August 25, 2009, then on CD on September 22.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saskia Laroo</span> Musical artist

Saskia Laroo, is a Dutch jazz musician who has been dubbed the "Lady Miles Davis". Her music style can be described as a combination of jazz, pop, electronic dance music, Latin and world music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of California Jazz Ensembles</span>

The University of California Jazz Ensembles, also known as the UC Jazz Ensembles, UC Jazz, or UCJE, is the student jazz organization founded in 1967 on the University of California, Berkeley, campus. Founded in 1967, it comprises one or more big bands, numerous jazz combos, a vocal jazz ensemble, an alumni big band, and instructional classes. With a mission statement to foster a community for the performance, study, and promotion of jazz at U.C. Berkeley, its Wednesday Night big band provides free concerts every Thursday noon on Lower Sproul Plaza, its various units perform throughout the San Francisco Bay Area including area high schools, travel to collegiate jazz festivals, and perform overseas, and for many years it sponsored the annual Pacific Coast Jazz Festival. It also provides master classes by its instructors and clinics by prominent guest artists. It has nurtured numerous musicians who have become professional jazz musicians and educators. UC Jazz Ensembles is one of three groups, with the Cal (marching) Band and UC Choral Ensembles, forming Student Musical Activities (SMA), a department within Cal Performances on the U.C. Berkeley campus. Its members are primarily U.C. Berkeley undergraduate and graduate students, representing many academic disciplines.

Tab Two is a German acid jazz band formed in 1991. 'Tab' stands for Trumpet and Bass. The band consists of Hellmut Hattler and Joo Kraus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgi Kornazov</span> Bulgarian jazz musician

Georgi Kornazov is a Bulgarian jazz trombonist and composer, who lives in Paris, France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belle du Berry</span> French singer (1966–2020)

Bénédicte Grimault, who performed as Belle du Berry, was a French singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the lead singer of the band Paris Combo.

References

  1. "Elaine Lewis – Author Details". Random House . Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 "Belle du Berry & David Lewis Judith Wright Centre". Australian Stage. 3 September 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. 1 2 Nicholas, Jessica (24 August 2010). "Duo's French connection". The Age . Fairfax Media . Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Du Berry, Lewis Introduce Quizz to İstanbul". Today's Zaman . Feza Inc. 26 March 2010. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2010.