Drummer extraordinaire Larnell Lewis comes from a musical family
February 2, 2021
Three years ago, Grammy Award-winning musician and educator Larnell Lewis independently released his first album.
‘In the Moment’ that Eddie Bullen co-produced & arranged, explored his deep connection to jazz, fusion and his Afro-Caribbean roots.
Self-released albums, however, require the artist to do almost everything.
Besides writing and producing, Lewis played bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, melodica, piano, synthesizer and vocals.
Last November, he dropped ‘Relive the Moment’ which is a re-imagination of his debut album.
Why was it important for Lewis to revisit his original work?
“Revisiting gave me the opportunity to focus on one very specific point and that’s just playing the drums,” he said. “When you are self-producing or working on an album and managing everything, your focus in on all of these areas and then you need to perform on your instruments. I wanted the opportunity to play the drums and have another chance to be in a position to also create video content that was missing from the first version of the album. I also used this project to help build my team, establish connections and set up a really good foundation for future projects.”
Of the seven tracks on the new album, six are from ‘In the Moment’.
The new track, ‘The Forgotten Ones’, is an emotional open solo paying tribute to Lewis’ ancestral lineage.
“This one is really special to me because it speaks to my heritage,” the 2018 Toronto Musicians’ Association Local 149 Musician of the Year said. “My parents are from St. Kitts and I come from a long line of musicians. I just wanted to pay tribute to those on whose shoulders I stand on. They made what I do today possible.”
The cover of Larnell Lewis’ new album
Ask Lewis where his passion for music comes from and he quickly points to Oral and Maureen Lewis who migrated in 1983.
His father is a multi-instrumentalist and mom is a vocalist.
“Both sides of my family are into music, but there is definitely a stronger connection with my dad’s family,” he noted. “I think that being in that atmosphere and having access to instruments make it that much easier. Even if I wasn’t going to be a professional musician, it’s something I am comfortable around.”
Though Lewis enjoys playing several instruments, the drums stand out as his favourite.
He started playing the percussion instrument in church at age four.
“I find that I am able to express and communicate my thoughts and feelings the easiest through the drums,” Lewis said. “I feel like a connection to rhythm and understanding the timbre and opportunities of creating an atmosphere through the drums can be challenging, but also rewarding for me. Learning other instruments has been key to developing my skills on drums.”
Married for 11 years to pannist and arts educator Joy Lapps-Lewis, he promised her that the only time he would opt out of a previously planned family engagement with her is if Stevie Wonder or Quincy Jones request he play with them.
The call came in 2018.
Due to prior business commitments, he originally turned down an invitation to play at a concert to celebrate Quincy Jones’ 85th birthday party at London’s O2 Arena in the summer of 2019.
“Thankfully, I got another opportunity as they really wanted to work with me,” noted Lewis who was the musical director for a performance at the screening of ‘Quincy’ at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. “I was able to switch things around and make it happen in the middle of touring with my own band.”
Lewis also accompanied the music legend at arena concerts in Paris and at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
What is it like working for the artist with the most Grammy nominations (80)?
“Mr. Jones is so cool and calm and always ready to share his experiences,” said Lewis who has played with Molly Johnson, Kellylee Evans, Michael Brecker and Steve Gadd. “It was just a pleasure to be around someone who has seen so much. While rehearsing for the Paris concert, he gestured for me to come closer to him. I said, ‘Mr. Jones, it’s a pleasure to meet you’, and his response was, ‘I love how you play, you sound great and where are you from’. I told him I am from Toronto and he leaned closer to me and asked in a firm voice, ‘Where are you really from son’? I said my family is from St. Kitts and he said, ‘Thank you very much’. He’s so very approachable and I am thankful I got that opportunity to have a conversation with someone who has influenced me so much.”
Lewis is very fortunate to have met some music legends.
In his second year at Humber College in 2004, he was the recipient of the Oscar Peterson $5,000 scholarship for Outstanding Achievement in Music.
Peterson made the presentation.
“I had no clue I was going to get this award,” Lewis recalled. “After we had finished performing, we got a chance to hang out with Mr. Peterson in the staff lounge and listen to him tell us stories. I will never forget them, especially the way in which he expressed himself. I remember him talking about smooth jazz and saying, ‘Ain’t nothing smooth about jazz’.”
Once referred to as the ‘Maharajah of the Keyboard’ by Duke Ellington, the renowned pianist and composer died in 2007.
Archie Alleyne, considered one of Canada’s premiere drummers, was a mentor for Lewis.
“Archie and his family took me and my brother into the fold and invested in us,” he said. “I was involved in the Evolution of Jazz project that he ran for a while and in a smaller ensemble that was connected to Kollage (a band created by Alleyne and Doug Richardson in 2000) which was a way for them to invest in younger musicians.”
Alleyne was more than just an outstanding musician.
He vehemently protested the Canada Council exclusion of jazz artists from funding that was reserved for classical artists and, in the mid-1980s, successfully led a high profile lobby to ensure that Black musicians were represented in the Toronto Jazz Festival. As a proud Canadian, he lobbied festival programmers in the United States to include more Canadian musicians in their line-ups and appealed to Canadian companies to invest in the local music scene through sponsorships.
“Getting to know Archie and hear stories from him, Dougie (Richardson) and Washington Savage gave me a better understanding, among other things, of what it meant to be Black in Toronto,” said Lewis who made the inaugural CBC list of 35 Under 35 Canadian young jazz instrumentalists and vocalists in 2019. “He was very humble and open and I learnt so much from him.”
While in high school at Mayfield Secondary where he was his music class valedictorian, Lewis got a call from close family friend Bruce Skerritt who was a member of Salome Bey and the Relatives.
They needed a bass player for a show and he jumped at the opportunity for his first big gig at age 17.
“It was almost like I gained this rite of passage to the music scene through this particular gig,” said Lewis who was the fourth recipient of the Toronto Arts Foundation $10,000 Emerging Jazz Award in 2017. “I had ability and understanding and I was composing as well. But to be on stage with Salome and to be in a rehearsal setting like that allowed me to grow up quickly. You have to learn material fast, you have to be very professional and you have to show up on time. Luckily, I had just received my driver’s license. There is so much about that experience that brought me to the level of consciousness as far as being a professional in the industry.”
Like most musicians, Lewis – a Humber College Music Professor for the last 11 years -- has been financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since 2012, he has been a member of the three-time Grammy Award winning American instrumental ensemble, Snarky Puppy.
“Not being able to tour with my band and other artists I have been working with and do in-studio sessions abroad are opportunities that fell through,” he said. “My wife is also a musician and educator, so we were hit on both sides. Luckily, I have been able to generate an income from album sales and from being at the college as a professor. I have however learnt to pivot through online content and lessons, recording bits and pieces of percussion and drum tracks using an electronic kit and producing albums.”
Lewis co-produced Trinidad & Tobago-born saxophonist and composer Jesse Ryan’s debut album, Bridges, which was released last December.
He is also helping his wife complete her fifth album.
“We are working on the promotional material and really getting the message fine-tuned so that marketing is going to be streamlined,” he said. “I have some feature moments on her album.”
The couple met on the afternoon of the massive Northeastern Blackout, August 14, 2003, at Honey Jam at the Phoenix club.
Lewis was accompanying gospel singer Amoy Levy, who died on December 28, while Lapps-Lewis was a performer.
“She walked right by me and I just kept looking as she made her way to the stage and then the lights went out,” he recounted.
What attracted him to her?
“Joy is very open, kind-spirited and business-savvy and she understands music,” he said. “It also helped that she’s of Caribbean background and has a great deal of respect for our Caribbean heritage.”
They have two children.
Lewis is the oldest of three siblings.
Cathy Lewis sings and plays the drums while Ricky Lewis is the drummer for The Weeknd who is the headliner at the Super Bowl on February 7 in Tampa, Florida.
