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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZLEWIS, Mel(b Melvin Sokoloff, 10 May 1929, Buffalo NY; d 2 February 1990) Drummer, leader. His father was a drummer; he made his pro debut at 15 asnd became a highly rated West Coast studio/session player, recording with Art Pepper, Pepper Adams, Gerry Mulligan, many others. He was a member of Mulligan's concert band '60, toured Europe; to Europe with Dizzy Gillespie '61, USSR with Benny Goodman '62, house drummer at Monterey Jazz Festival '59-62. He moved to NYC '63, did TV work etc and co-formed the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra '66, which played Monday nights at the Village Vanguard for decades. Lewis's albums include septet LPs on San Francisco Jazz Records '56, Mode '57; jazz versions of tunes from Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado on Andex '58; sextet Mel Lewis And Friends '76 on A&M with Michael Brecker, Ron Carter, Hank Jones, Freddie Hubbard, Gregory Herbert on reeds (b 19 May 1947, Philadelphia; LPs with Woody Herman, Johnny Coles); The New Mel Lewis Quintet Live '79, made in Germany; quintet Mellofluous '81 on Gatemouth. For co-led big band LPs see Thad Jones's entry; Jones left '78, the band was getting younger and someone joked, 'Thad and Mel got divorced and Mel got the kids.' It became the Mel Lewis Orchestra: Naturally '79 on Telarc, live LP from the Vanguard on Gryphon '80 (with Clark Terry, Bob Brookmeyer etc), Plays Herbie Hancock Live At Montreux '80 on MPS or Pausa, Make Me Smile And Other New Works By Bob Brookmeyer '82 on Finesse, made at the Vanguard; studio album The Mel Lewis Orchestra: 20 Years At The Village Vanguard '85 on Atlantic had no big names but future stars including Ted Nash and Joe Lovano, playing Duke Ellington's 'C-Jam Blues' arranged by Bill Finegan, more standards and originals arranged by Jones, Brookmeyer, Jerry Dodgion, Jim McNeely, others: recorded at MediaSound Studios, mixed directly on to two-track master tape with no editing and sounded great. Mel Lewis Meets The Joe Haider Jazz Orchestra '86 on JHM was made in Switzerland. The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra kept going: Lickety Split: The Music of Jim McNeely '97 was on New World. Ted Nash (b 28 December 1960) mentioned in this entry has recently been a member of Wynton Marsalis's Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, for which he composed Portrait in Seven Shades, which was nominated for a Grammy in 2010. He is the son of Swing Era trombonist Dick Nash; his uncle was also Ted Nash (b 31 October 1922, d 12 May 2011), a saxophonist who played for many years with Les Brown. |