Larnell Lewis | |
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 Lewis at Port Hope Jazz Festival, 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | March 22, 1984 (age 40) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, drummer, session musician and educator |
| Instrument | Drums |
| Website | www |
Larnell Lewis (born March 22, 1984) is a Canadian drummer, composer, producer, and educator. He is best known for playing drums with the Denton,TX-based jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy.
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Lewis started playing drums at age 2 and was first introduced to drums in church. [1] This is where he began to learn to play a variety of styles including gospel music, soca, calypso, reggae, zouk and funk. [2] He also studied electric bass and piano to further his knowledge of the melodic and harmonic aspects of music making. [3] Lewis’ parents were originally from St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean. [2]
Lewis attended Humber College, where he was the 2004 recipient of the Oscar Peterson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music, the highest award given by the institution. [3] Lewis was featured on the cover of the September 2016 issue of Modern Drummer magazine, alongside fellow Snarky Puppy drummers Robert “Sput” Searight and Jason “JT” Thomas. [4] In 2017 Lewis was named one of the Top 35 artists under 35 by CBC Music, [5] and also received the award for Emerging Jazz Artist from the Ontario Arts Foundation. [6] Lewis served as musical director for a performance during the Toronto International Film Festival's premiere of the critically acclaimed documentary Quincy, about famed producer Quincy Jones, where he led performances from the likes of Yebba Smith, Mark Ronson, and Chaka Khan. [7]
In 2018 Lewis released his first solo album, In The Moment, on which he played bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, melodica, percussion, piano, synthesizer and vocals, in addition to writing and producing. [8] [9]
In February 2021 Lewis recorded a video for the YouTube channel Drumeo in which he listened to the Metallica song "Enter Sandman" for the first time, then played the drum part of the entire song after having heard it just once. The video went viral, with over 17.6 million views as of June 2024. [10] [11]
As of September 2022, Lewis is an active member of the jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy. He has also played with Laila Biali, Fred Hammond, Michael Brecker, Matt Dusk, Robi Botos, Molly Johnson, Elizabeth Shepherd, Emilie-Claire Barlow, Barbra Lica, and Tia Brazda. [9] [12] [13]
Lewis's performance on Snarky Puppy's 2014 album We Like It Here was notable because he learned most of the songs on the airplane flight to the Netherlands, having only played two of them before the recording date. [2] He also played on the group's 2016 albums Culcha Vulcha, which won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, and Family Dinner – Volume 2.
Lewis has also played on the JUNO Award-winning albums Clear Day by jazz singer Emilie-Claire Barlow, [14] and Root Structure by jazz bassist Mike Downes. [15]
Lewis is endorsed by Yamaha Drums, Zildjian, Promark, Evans, D’Addario, and Latin Percussion. [16]
Marc Rogers is a Canadian acoustic and electric bassist.
Taylor Eigsti is an American jazz pianist and composer. Eigsti's trio features bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Eric Harland. He is also a member of Eric Harland Voyager, Kendrick Scott Oracle, and Gretchen Parlato's group.
Bob Reynolds is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. A solo recording artist since 2000, he has been a member of the popular "genre-bending" instrumental group Snarky Puppy since 2014, winning Grammy Awards with the band for the albums Culcha VulchaLive at the Royal Albert Hall, and Empire Central.
Elizabeth Shepherd is a Canadian pianst, singer, songwriter and producer.
Laila Biali is a Canadian jazz singer and pianist. She has been nominated for and won a Juno Award and has worked with Chris Botti and Sting.
Snarky Puppy is an American jazz fusion band led by bassist Michael League. Founded in 2004, Snarky Puppy combines a variety of jazz idioms, rock, world music, and funk and has won five Grammy Awards. Although the band has worked with vocalists, League described Snarky Puppy as "a pop band that improvises a lot, without vocals".
Julian "Jules" Buckley is an English conductor, composer, and arranger.
We Like It Here is an album by American jazz fusion group Snarky Puppy that was released on February 25, 2014. From the moment Snarky Puppy played its first overseas show to a sold-out London crowd, they felt at home in Europe. Recorded and filmed live with a studio audience over 4 nights in the Netherlands, We Like It Here captures the band at its most explorative point in its career, in both composition and improvisation. The film created along side the album also contains over an hour of interviews, behind the scenes tour footage in Europe, and alternate solo takes from the recording sessions. The track "Lingus" includes a solo on the synthesizer performed by Cory Henry.
Family Dinner – Volume 2 is an album by American jazz fusion group Snarky Puppy that was released on February 12, 2016.
Culcha Vulcha is an album by American jazz fusion group Snarky Puppy that was released on April 29, 2016. The album includes performances by a number of musicians associated with the band and called "the Fam". The band's first studio album in eight years since Bring Us the Bright, it was recorded at the Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas near El Paso and Atlantic Sound Studios in Brooklyn, New York, by Nic Hard.
Michael League is an American composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the bandleader of instrumental band Snarky Puppy and the international music ensemble Bokanté. He also founded the band Forq with keyboardist Henry Hey, and is also an owner and founder of the record label GroundUP Music. League has won five Grammy Awards.
Immigrance is the thirteenth album by American jazz fusion group Snarky Puppy. It was released on March 15, 2019, and debuted at #2 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart in the United States.
Bill Laurance is an English composer, producer, and multi-instrumental musician. Laurance is a member of jazz fusion and funk band Snarky Puppy, as well as founder and CEO of London-based record label Flint Music.
Zach Brock is an American jazz violinist and composer. He has been a member of Snarky Puppy since 2007 and has worked with Stanley Clarke, Phil Markowitz, and Dave Liebman, as well as leading his own groups.
Shaun Martin was an American composer, arranger, record producer, and multi-instrumental musician. Martin was a member of the jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy, as well as music director for Gospel music star Kirk Franklin, and former Minister of Music at Dallas’ Friendship-West Baptist Church. Martin was awarded four Grammys for his work with Franklin and three as a member of Snarky Puppy.
Live at the Royal Albert Hall is the fourteenth album by the American jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy and the group's first live, in-concert album for general release. It was recorded on November 14, 2019, and released on March 6, 2020. The album was released in sets of 2 CDs, 3 LPs, or 2 CDs and 3 LPs. The release won a Grammy Award for the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.
Tia Brazda is a Canadian singer and songwriter, known for performing jazz music that incorporates elements of swing, blues, rockabilly, soul, electro and pop. She has been recognized as a notable figure in the electro-swing movement, and has performed at prominent international jazz festivals such as the Montreux Jazz Festival and the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal. Her 2015 album Bandshell was named one of the best of the decade in the Italian press.
Mark Lettieri is an American guitarist, composer and producer. He is a member of the jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy, funk band The Fearless Flyers, and also performs with his quartet, the Mark Lettieri Group. His background spans several genres including jazz, rock and funk. He has released seven solo albums. His 2021 album Deep: The Baritone Sessions Vol. 2 was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.
Robert "Sput" Searight is an American drummer, composer and producer best known for his work with jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy and as co-founder of the percussion-based band Ghost-Note. His background spans several genres including jazz, funk, hip-hop and gospel. He has toured and recorded with a variety of artists including Kirk Franklin, Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake, Erykah Badu and Toto. He has received a Grammy award for his work on the album God's Property.
Empire Central is the fifteenth album and seventh live album by American band Snarky Puppy. Released on September 30, 2022, on GroundUP Music, it won Best Contemporary Instrumental Album at the 65th Grammy Awards.
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