Lenny White

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Lenny White
Lenny White (cropped).jpg
White at the Oslo Jazz Festival 2016
Background information
Birth nameLeonard White III
Born (1949-12-19) December 19, 1949 (age 74)
New York City, U.S.
Genres Jazz fusion, funk
Occupation(s)Drummer
Years active1968–present
Website lennywhite.com

Leonard "Lenny" White III (born December 19, 1949) is an American jazz fusion drummer who was a member of the band Return to Forever led by Chick Corea in the 1970s. White has been called "one of the founding fathers of jazz fusion". [1] [2] [3]

Contents

White has won three Grammy awards, two nominations [4] and one Latin Grammy. [5] His song Algorithm Takedown won Best Song at the Cannes World Film Festival in 2023. [6]

Early life and education

Born in Queens, New York City, White became interested in music at a young age. While he was living at home, his father would take him to jazz gigs. A self-taught drummer, he started playing with groups on the New York jazz scene. Early on, he played clubs in Queens such as the Aphrodisiac, Slugs, and The Gold Lounge.

It was at The Gold Lounge where he had his first gig with saxophonist Jackie McLean. [7] During the late 1960s he began performing with Mclean around Queens. Through this, White was recommended to play on Miles Davis' landmark 1969 LP Bitches Brew and feature on Freddie Hubbard's 1970 LP Red Clay. During 1972, White joined Return to Forever. [8] [9] [10]

Career

White and Stanley Clarke, 1976 Lenny White & Stanley Clarke.jpg
White and Stanley Clarke, 1976

In 1975 White released his debut solo album entitled ‘’Venusian Summer,’’which featured guitarists Al DiMeola and fusion guitar pioneer, Larry Coryell. Big City was released in 1977. During 1978 he released his Space opera inspired The Adventures of Astral Pirates and his third solo album Streamline . He eventually formed the jazz/soul group Twennynine who went on to issue three studio albums, 1979's Best of Friends , Twennynine with Lenny White in 1980, and 1981's Just Like Dreamin'. [1] [2]

White then made a guest appearance on Chick Corea's 1982 album Touchstone and produced Chaka Khan's 1982 LP Echoes of an Era . He later released his 1983 album Attitude and co-produced Pieces of a Dream's 1986 LP Joyride . [1] [2] White now teaches at NYU Steinhardt where he has an ensemble as well as a lecture class on Bitches Brew called “The Miles Davis Aesthetic.” [7] [11]

Personal life

White has been a longtime resident of Teaneck, New Jersey. [3] He endorses Vic Firth drum sticks and only plays his own signature epoch cymbals sponsored by Istanbul Agop. [12]

Awards and honors

Grammy Awards

White has been nominated for five Grammy Awards, of which he has won three. [13]

YearNominee / workAwardResult
1975 No Mystery Best Jazz Performance by a group Won
2010 The Stanley Clarke Band Best Contemporary Jazz Album Won
2011 Forever Best Jazz Instrumental Album Won

Cannes World Film Festival 2023

Best Song Winner with Algorithm Takedown [6]

Discography

As leader/co-leader

As Return to Forever

With Chick Corea, Bill Connors and Stanley Clarke

With Chick Corea, Al Di Meola and Stanley Clarke

As Corea, Clarke & White

With Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Jean-Luc Ponty, Frank Gambale

As producer

As sideman

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley Clarke</span> American bassist (born 1951)

Stanley Clarke is an American bassist, composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fusion bassist to headline tours, sell out shows worldwide and have recordings reach gold status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chick Corea</span> American musician and composer (1941–2021)

Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" and "Windows" are widely considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis's band in the late 1960s, he participated in the birth of jazz fusion. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever. Along with McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett, Corea is considered to have been one of the foremost pianists of the post-John Coltrane era.

"Spain" is an instrumental jazz fusion composition by jazz pianist and composer Chick Corea. It is likely Corea's most recognized piece, and is considered a jazz standard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Di Meola</span> Italian American guitarist

Albert Laurence Di Meola is an American guitarist. Known for his works in jazz fusion and world music, he began his career as guitarist with the group Return to Forever in 1974. From 1976 to 1978 he played with Stomu Yamashta in the supergroup Go on three records. The 1970s and 1980s saw albums such as Land of the Midnight Sun, Elegant Gypsy, Casino and Friday Night in San Francisco earn him both critical and commercial success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Return to Forever</span> American jazz fusion group led by Chick Corea

Return to Forever was an American jazz fusion band that was founded by pianist Chick Corea in 1972. The band has had many members, with the only consistent bandmate of Corea's being bassist Stanley Clarke. Along with Weather Report, The Headhunters, and Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever is often cited as one of the core groups of the jazz-fusion movement of the 1970s. Several musicians, including Clarke, Flora Purim, Airto Moreira and Al Di Meola, came to prominence through their performances on Return to Forever albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airto Moreira</span> Brazilian drummer and percussionist

Airto Guimorvan Moreira is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. He is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. Coming to prominence in the late 1960s as a member of the Brazilian ensemble Quarteto Novo, he moved to the United States and worked in jazz fusion with Miles Davis, Return to Forever and Santana.

<i>Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy</i> 1973 studio album by Return to Forever

Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy is a studio album by American jazz fusion band Return to Forever. It was released in October 1973 by Polydor. It was the first album not to feature Flora Purim, Airto and Joe Farrell, and marked a shift away from the largely acoustic fusion they created. Drummer Lenny White and guitarist Bill Connors make their first appearances with the group. Connors would leave shortly after the albums release.

<i>No Mystery</i> 1975 studio album by Return to Forever

No Mystery (1975) is a studio album by jazz-rock fusion band Return to Forever, and the second featuring the quartet of Chick Corea, guitarist Al Di Meola, bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White.

<i>Where Have I Known You Before</i> 1974 studio album by Return to Forever

Where Have I Known You Before is a studio album by Return to Forever, the first featuring guitarist Al Di Meola, and the second since leader Chick Corea switched to mostly electric instrumentation, playing music heavily influenced by progressive rock, funk and classical.

<i>Romantic Warrior</i> 1976 studio album by Return to Forever

Romantic Warrior is a studio album by the American jazz fusion band Return to Forever, their first recorded for Columbia Records, after releasing their previous four albums on Polydor. In February of 1976, the group retreated to Caribou Ranch near Nederland, Colorado to record. It was the first album to remove the "featuring Chick Corea" credit from beside the band name on the album cover. Despite the music being more dense and avant-garde than the funkier No Mystery, it remains the band's highest selling album with over 500,000 copies sold in the US alone.

Bill Connors is an American jazz guitarist who was a member of Chick Corea's band Return to Forever. After leaving Return to Forever, he recorded three acoustic albums and then three electric albums as a leader/soloist.

<i>Children of Forever</i> 1973 studio album by Stanley Clarke

Children of Forever is the debut album by jazz fusion bassist Stanley Clarke. It was recorded in December 1972, and was released in 1973 by Polydor Records. On the album, Clarke is joined by vocalists Dee Dee Bridgewater and Andy Bey, flutist Arthur Webb, guitarist Pat Martino, keyboardist Chick Corea, and drummer Lenny White.

<i>Return to the Seventh Galaxy: The Anthology</i> 1996 compilation album by Return to Forever featuring Chick Corea

Return to the 7th Galaxy: The Anthology is a 1996 compilation of 1972-1976 recordings made by bands assembled by Chick Corea under the name Return to Forever. The collection includes tracks from the albums Light as a Feather, Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, Where Have I Known You Before and No Mystery, together with four previously unreleased tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chick Corea discography</span> American pianist and composer

Chick Corea (1941–2021) was an American jazz pianist and composer born on June 12, 1941, in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Corea started learning piano at age four. He recorded his first album, Tones for Joan's Bones, in 1966. Corea performed with Blue Mitchell, Willie Bobo, Cal Tjader and Herbie Mann in the mid-1960s. In the late 1960s he performed with Stan Getz and Miles Davis. The National Endowment for the Arts states, "He ranked with Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett as one of the leading piano stylists to emerge after Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner, and he composed such notable jazz standards as 'Spain', 'La Fiesta', and 'Windows'."

<i>Echoes of an Era</i> 1982 studio album by Chaka Khan et al.

Echoes of an Era is an album by American R&B/jazz singer Chaka Khan, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White, released in 1982 on Elektra Records.

<i>Returns</i> (album) Album by fusion band Return to Forever

Returns is a live album by American fusion band Return to Forever. Released in 2009 by Eagle Records, it is the first recording by the band after a hiatus of 32 years. Also in 2009 a video recording of the band's live performances from the "Returns" tour at Montreux, Switzerland and Clearwater, Florida was released by Eagle Rock Entertainment as Returns: Live at Montreux 2008.

<i>Forever</i> (Corea, Clarke & White album) 2011 live album / Studio album by Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White

Forever is a double CD album of live acoustic recordings recorded in California, Tokyo and Seattle in 2009 by the Return to Forever pianist Chick Corea, bass player Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White and studio rehearsals with guests Jean-Luc Ponty, Bill Connors and Chaka Khan. It was released on the Concord label I 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Letizia Gambi</span> Musical artist

Letizia Gambi is an Italian singer-songwriter and actress. Her music is a fusion between her Italian and Neapolitan heritage and Black-American jazz roots. Gambi performs and records in English, Italian, Neapolitan and Spanish and is best known for her work with Lenny White, Ron Carter, Gato Barbieri, Chick Corea, Wallace Roney, Patrice Rushen, Gil Goldstein, Helen Sung, Pete Levin. She has been awarded with the San Gennaro Award and was nominated for the Targa Tenco. Letizia is a Recording Academy voting member since 2010.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "All About Jazz: Lenny White biography". allaboutjazz.com. All About Jazz.
  2. 1 2 3 Yanow, Scott. "Lenny White". allmusic.com. Allmusic.
  3. 1 2 Kara Yorio (December 19, 2013). "Teaneck's Lenny White to play four nights at Jazz Standard". The Record . Archived from the original on January 14, 2015. Retrieved March 12, 2016. White, a two-time Grammy winner, is one of the founding fathers of jazz fusion. His first recording gig was with Miles Davis on the groundbreaking "Bitches Brew" album that was released in 1970.
  4. ↑ "Artist Lenny White". Grammy Awards . February 13, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Latin GRAMMYs". Latin GRAMMYs. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Cannes World Film Festival - Remember the Future | June 2023 Winners".
  7. 1 2 "Fusion Star Lenny White". Modern Drummer Magazine. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  8. ↑ Chinen, Nate (August 3, 2008). "The Return of Return to Forever". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  9. ↑ Reed, Ryan (February 12, 2021). "Chick Corea: Hear 12 Essential Performances". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  10. ↑ Pareles, Jon (August 14, 2011). "Jazz Fusion Heroes of the 1970s Resurrect Their Intricate Dynamics". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Lenny White". NYU Steinhardt. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  12. ↑ "A Bridge To The Future: A Conversation with Lenny White". New York Jazz Workshop. July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  13. ↑ O'Neill, Thomas (1999). The Grammys: The Ultimate Unofficial Guide to Music's Highest Honor. Perigee Trade.
  14. 1 2 Introducing Letizia Gambi - Letizia Gambi | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic , retrieved May 12, 2022
  15. 1 2 "Miles Davis News Introducing Letizia Gambi". October 22, 2012.
  16. 1 2 Micallef, Ken (June 2016). "Letizia Gambi Cross-Cultural Mix" (PDF). Downbeat Magazine : |page=25.
  17. ↑ "Witness to History". eddiehenderson.bandcamp.com. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
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