Larnell Lewis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Larnell Lewis
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Lewis at Port Hope Jazz Festival, 2008
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| Background information | |
| Born | March 22, 1984 (age 41) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, drummer, session musician and educator |
| Instruments | Drums |
Larnell Lewis (born March 22, 1984) is a talented Canadian musician. He is a drummer, composer, producer, and teacher. Larnell is most famous for playing drums with the jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy. Jazz fusion is a type of music that mixes jazz with other styles like rock or funk.
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About Larnell Lewis
Larnell Lewis was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He started playing drums when he was only two years old! He first learned to play in church. There, he picked up many different music styles. These included gospel music, soca, calypso, reggae, zouk, and funk.
To understand music even better, he also studied electric bass and piano. Larnell's parents came from St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean. His younger brother, Ricky, is also a drummer. He tours with the famous artist The Weeknd.
Larnell went to Humber College for music. In 2004, he won the Oscar Peterson Award. This is the highest award given by the college for outstanding music achievement.
In 2016, Larnell was on the cover of Modern Drummer magazine. He was featured alongside other drummers from Snarky Puppy. In 2017, CBC Music named him one of the Top 35 artists under 35. He also won the Emerging Jazz Artist award from the Ontario Arts Foundation.
Larnell was the music director for a special show. This show was for the movie Quincy. The movie was about the famous music producer Quincy Jones. Larnell led performances by artists like Yebba Smith and Chaka Khan.
In 2018, Larnell released his first solo album. It was called In The Moment. On this album, he played many instruments himself. He played bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, and more. He also wrote and produced all the songs.
In 2021, Larnell made a video for the Drumeo YouTube channel. In the video, he heard the Metallica song "Enter Sandman" for the very first time. Then, he played the drum part of the whole song perfectly after hearing it just once! This video became super popular. It has been watched over 17 million times.
Playing with Other Artists
Larnell Lewis is a full-time member of the jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy. He also works as a "session musician." This means he plays drums for many different artists in recording studios or for live shows. He has played with artists like Laila Biali, Fred Hammond, and Molly Johnson.
One amazing story about Larnell is from Snarky Puppy's 2014 album, We Like It Here. Larnell learned most of the songs for this album on the airplane! He was flying to the Netherlands for the recording. He had only played two of the songs before that day. He also played on Snarky Puppy's 2016 album, Culcha Vulcha. This album won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.
Larnell has also played on albums that won JUNO Awards. These include Clear Day by Emilie-Claire Barlow and Root Structure by Mike Downes.
His Drum Gear
Larnell Lewis works with several big music companies. They support him by providing his equipment. He uses Yamaha Drums, Zildjian cymbals, and Promark drumsticks. He also uses Evans drumheads and Latin Percussion instruments.
Music Albums
Here are some of the albums Larnell Lewis has released or played on:
Solo Albums
- In the Moment (2018)
- Relive the Moment (2020)
- Slice of Life (2024)
With Snarky Puppy
- Empire Central (2022)
- Immigrance (2019)
- "Family Dinner – Volume 2" (2016)
- Culcha Vulcha (2016)
- We Like It Here (2014)
Other Artists' Albums
- Laila Biali (2018)
- Robi Botos – Old Soul (2018)
- Tia Brazda – Daydream (2018)
- David Clayton-Thomas – Canadian (2016)
- Emilie-Claire Barlow – Clear Day (2015)
- Elizabeth Shepherd – The Signal (2014)
- Anjulie – Anjulie (2009)
Awards and Recognition
- 2004: Oscar Peterson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music.
- 2016: Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album (with Snarky Puppy for Culcha Vulcha).
- 2017: Emerging Jazz Artist Award from the Toronto Arts Foundation.
- 2019: Nominated for a JUNO Award for Jazz Album of the Year: Solo (for In the Moment).
