Mingo Lewis
Biography Mingo Lewis
Mingo Lewis
was born in New York City, and started playing drums at age six, in clubs with his father Jimmy Babyface Lewis, whom at the time was a popular blues and jazz singer and guitarist. Babyface Lewis also worked as M.C. at the Cotton Club while Mingo's mother, Jane, worked at Birdland. And this is where it all began.
Mingo's home was known as the "jam session" house after hours where musicians like Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Max Roach, and many other giant's in the jazz world would hang out. As a young boy, Mingo became the house drummer. In his adolescence , Mingo became very interested in Afro-Cuban music and began his study of folkloric music. One day Mingo's mom gave him tickets to see a concert at Madison Square Garden where Santana was playing. This began a new era for the young musician who joined the group at age 15. Mingo played with Santana for a few years but soon decided he needed to grow. While on tour Mingo was turned onto Chick Corea's Return to Forever which he soon joined after leaving Santana.
Mingo is known for his work on many brilliant albums and collaborations. He has performed live and recorded with: Santana, Al Di Meola, Return to Forever, Billy Joel, The Tubes, Todd Rundgren, X.T.C, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, David Bryne, Brain Eno, Jan Hammer, Joe Satriani, Miles Davis, Third World, Inner Circle, Raquel Welch, Toni Basil, Stanley Clark, John Mc Laughlin, Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente and other greats.
Mingo was signed to CBS records at age 19 as a solo artist and produced one album with the company called "Mingos Flight Never Ending." Then he moved to Europe and started to study North African rhythms as well as starting his new project called Room of Voices. Room of Voices has just released their 3rd album "Electro," a collaboration by Mingo and Karissa. Check it out on the music page.
You can access more information about Mingo on google, wikipedia, and learning musician.
Mingo is also endorsed by: DW, Remo, Gon Bop, Paiste, and Motherland Africa Drum Corp.
