Lenny White (born December 19, 1949) – Prince Of The Sea (1975)
The great jazz fusion drummer wrote and produced this epic, beautiful jam for his debut solo LP Venusian Summer, featuring Al DiMeola and Larry Coryell on guitars.
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Drummer, songwriter, and producer Lenny White was a member of Return to Forever in the mid-1970s and played on several of their seminal jazz fusion albums. He later embarked on a solo career and fronted the group Twennynine who went to #3 R&B in 1979 with “Peanut Butter.”
Born in Queens, New York, White taught himself to play the drums at an early age. He got his start playing at nightclubs in Queens, where he first sat in with jazz legend Jackie McLean.
He subsequently got his first touring gig with McLean in the late 60s, which led the saxophonist to recommend him to Miles Davis. When he was only 19, White was recruited for a recording session with Davis alongside superstar drummers Billy Cobham and Jack DeJohnette. It took place at Columbia’s Studio B in Manhattan from August 19-21, 1969, starting one day after the close of the historic Woodstock Festival in upstate New York. The tracks they laid down were edited and stitched together to form Davis’ landmark jazz fusion double album Bitches Brew, released in March, 1970.
In 1973, White replaced the legendary session drummer Steve Gadd alongside Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke in their fusion supergroup Return to Forever. He made four albums with the group, beginning with Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, which was recorded in August, 1973 and released that October. For Where Have I Known You Before (1974), he wrote the superb jam “The Shadow of Lo.”
Their next album No Mystery (1975) won that year’s Grammy for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance. White wrote its very funky jam “Sofistifunk,” and co-wrote the explosive workout “Excerpt from the First Movement of Heavy Metal.”
White released his debut solo album Venusian Summer in 1975. Its title track (the second half of a two-part suite) lived up to its name, a cosmic jazz-funk exploration that featured Hubert Laws on flute, Onaje Allan Gumbs on piano and electric piano, Doug Rauch on bass, David Sancious, Peter Robinson, and Patrick Gleeson on additional keyboards (including clavinet, Minimoog, and ARP 2600), and White on both drums and snap bass. “Venusian Summer” was written and produced by White.
The LP’s epic beautiful closing cut “Prince Of The Sea” was arguably its masterpiece, again written and produced by White. Onaje Allan Gumbs handled all keyboards, Doug Rauch played bass, and additional players were Tom Harrel on flugelhorn and Al DiMeola and Larry Coryell on dueling guitars. At the time, DiMeola and White were still members of Return to Forever.
For his final album with Return to Forever, Romantic Warrior (1976), White wrote and co-produced the epic jam “Sorceress.” In addition to drums, he played a variety of percussion instruments on the track, including timpani, congas, timbales, hand bells, and alarm clock. They memorably performed it live in 1976 on the BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test show. Despite Romantic Warrior becoming their all-time best-selling album and eventually going gold, after its release Corea made the ill-advised decision to kick both White and DiMeola out of the group.
White assembled a dream team of guest musicians for his next solo album Big City (1977). The album kicked into high gear right out of the gate with its ultra-funky opening cut title track, which he co-wrote, produced, arranged (with help on horn arrangements from Weldon Irvine), and played drums and synths on. Its backing band was Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express plus Tower of Power’s horn section, a potent combination.
The beautiful cut “Sweet Dreamer” featured Herbie Hancock on a Yamaha Grand electric piano, his fellow Headhunter Paul Jackson on bass, Ray Gomez on guitar, and Linda Tillery on vocals. It was co-written by White and Irvine (who wrote the lyrics). “Dreams Come And Go Away” was a stellar jam with amazing guitar work by Gomez and ex-Santana prodigy and Journey co-founder Neal Schon. Other guests on Big City included bassists Verdine White and Miroslav Vitous, Jan Hammer on synths, and Headhunter saxophonist Bennie Maupin.
White released two more of his own solo albums before forming the band Twennynine, with whom he recorded three LP’s from 1979-81. Their biggest hit was the #3 R&B funk jam “Peanut Butter” (1979), off their debut album Best of Friends. White co-wrote its superb upbeat disco-funk opening cut “Citi Dancin’” with Barry Johnson, and co-wrote its phenomenal title track with Danall Miller and Leslie Rene. He produced the LP with Earth, Wind & Fire keyboardist Larry Dunn.
Happy 74th Birthday to the great Lenny White.
Further info:
“A Bridge To The Present: A Conversation with Lenny White,” interview, New York Jazz Workshop, 2018.
“Lenny White on Miles' direction on the Bitches Brew recording,” interview, Music Savvy, 2020.
"Ron Carter's Complete Interview with Lenny White," 2021.
“Music History 101: Lenny White,” The Jersey Sound, May 17, 2022.
“Lenny White: Music across generations and genres,” interview by Pat Prescott, WBGO, November 14, 2023.
#jazz #funk #MilesDavis #ReturnToForever #Twennynine #LennyWhite