MINGO LEWIS

Mingo Lewis biography
James Mingo LEWIS is an American drummer from New York known for his work with SANTANA, AL DI MEOLA and RETURN TO FOREVER.

One of LEWIS's earliest work as a session musician was on highly acclaimed 'Caravanserai', having been picked up by Carlos SANTANA as a replacement drummer for a New York City concert (allegedly the hiring was at the very last minute). This led him to work also on the collaboration between Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin the next year and also to work with Chick Corea on the 'Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy' album by RETURN TO FOREVER. LEWIS's longest and most consistent collaboration though was along with AL DI MEOLA as a full fledged composer on his first five albums which are mostly regarded as the most vibrant and progressive ones in his discography. In the 80's he would end up playing for the likes of TODD RUNDGREN, XTC and THE TUBES.

In his whole carreer, LEWIS recorded only one album as band leader; 'Flight Never Ending' from 1976 deserves a lot more attention though, described as "Heavy symphonic synthesizer music with a lot of really happening rhythmic patterns", quality wise it pairs well against the classic albums of AL DI MEOLA and RETURN TO FOREVER and is recommended to fans of classic progressive fusion.