Lenny White

Born in Queens, New York City, White became interested in music at a young age. While he was living at home, his father would take him to jazz gigs. A self-taught drummer, he started playing with groups on the New York jazz scene. Early on, he played clubs such as the Aphrodisiac, Slugs, and The Gold Lounge. He has expressed admiration for drummers Kenny Clarke, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, and Tony Williams, all of whom he dedicated a piece he titled "Magnificent Seven" to.{{Cite web |date=2023-02-03 |title=BHM Commemorated with Performance by NYU Percussion Ensemble {{!}} NYU Steinhardt |url=https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/news/percussion-performance-commemorate-black-history-month |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=steinhardt.nyu.edu |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Shepherd |first=Rob |date=2024-02-23 |title=Translating the Language: A Conversation with Lenny White (Part Two) - PostGenre |url=https://postgenre.org/language-lenny-white-ii/ |access-date=2025-04-13 |language=en-US}}

It was at The Gold Lounge where he had his first gig with saxophonist Jackie McLean.{{Cite web|title=Fusion Star Lenny White|url=http://52.20.94.27/article/lenny-white/|access-date=2020-07-28|website=Modern Drummer Magazine|language=en-US}} During the late 1960s he began performing with Mclean around Queens. Through this, White was recommended to play on Miles Davis' landmark 1969 LP Bitches Brew and feature on Freddie Hubbard's 1970 LP Red Clay. During 1972, White joined Return to Forever.{{Cite news |last=Chinen |first=Nate |date=2008-08-03 |title=The Return of Return to Forever |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/arts/music/03chin.html |access-date=2022-03-05 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last=Reed |first=Ryan |date=2021-02-12 |title=Chick Corea: Hear 12 Essential Performances |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/arts/music/chick-corea-playlist.html |access-date=2022-03-05 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last=Pareles |first=Jon |date=2011-08-14 |title=Jazz Fusion Heroes of the 1970s Resurrect Their Intricate Dynamics |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/arts/music/return-to-forever-iv-at-the-beacon-theater-review.html |access-date=2022-03-05 |issn=0362-4331}}

File:Lenny White & Stanley Clarke.jpg, 1976]]

In 1975 White released his debut solo album entitled ‘’Venusian Summer,’’which featured guitarists Al DiMeola and fusion guitar pioneer, Larry Coryell. His second solo album, Big City, was released in 1977. During 1978 he released his Space opera inspired The Adventures of Astral Pirates and his third solo album Streamline. He eventually formed the jazz/soul group Twennynine who went on to issue three studio albums, 1979's Best of Friends, Twennynine with Lenny White in 1980, and 1981's Just Like Dreamin'.

White then made a guest appearance on Chick Corea's 1982 album Touchstone and produced Chaka Khan's 1982 LP Echoes of an Era. He also co-produced, with EW&F's Maurice White, Pieces of a Dream's 1986 LP Joyride and later released his 1995 album Present Tense. White now teaches at NYU Steinhardt where he has an ensemble as well as a lecture class on Bitches Brew called “The Miles Davis Aesthetic.”{{Cite web|title=Lenny White|url=https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/people/lenny-white|access-date=2020-07-28|website=NYU Steinhardt|language=en}}

White has been a longtime resident of Teaneck, New Jersey. He endorses Vic Firth drum sticks and only plays his own signature epoch cymbals sponsored by Istanbul Agop.{{Cite web|date=2018-07-16|title=A Bridge To The Future: A Conversation with Lenny White|url=https://newyorkjazzworkshop.com/a-bridge-to-the-present-a-conversation-with-lenny-white/|access-date=2020-07-28|website=New York Jazz Workshop|language=en-US}}

Grammy Awards

White has earned two sole Grammy Award nominations, while winning a total of three.{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/lenny-white/17563|title=Lenny White|publisher=The Recording Academy|website=grammy.com}}

{{Awards table}}

|-

! scope="row" | 1975

| No Mystery

| Best Jazz Performance by a group

| {{won}}

|-

! scope="row" | 2010

| The Stanley Clarke Band

| Best Contemporary Jazz Album

| {{won}}

|-

! scope="row" | 2011

| Forever

| Best Jazz Instrumental Album

| {{won}}

{{end}}

Latin Grammy Awards

White has been nominated for and won one Latin Grammy Award.{{cite web|url=https://www.latingrammy.com/en/artists/lenny-white/23303-01|title=Lenny White|publisher=The Latin Recording Academy|website=latingrammy.com}}

{{Awards table}}

|-

! scope="row" | 2011

| Forever

| Best Instrumental Album

| {{won}}

{{end}}

Cannes World Film Festival 2023

Best Song Winner with Algorithm Takedown{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

• Venusian Summer (Nemperor, 1975)
• Big City (Nemperor, 1977)
• The Adventures of Astral Pirates (Elektra, 1978)
• Streamline (Elektra, 1978)
• Best of Friends (Elektra, 1979) - with Twennynine
• Twennynine with Lenny White (Elektra, 1980)
• Just Like Dreamin' (With the Twennynine) (Elektra, 1981) - with Twennynine
• Attitude (Wounded Bird, 1983)
• In Clinic (DCI, 1983)
• Present Tense (Hip Bop, 1995)
• Renderers of Spirit (Hip Bop Essence, 1996)
• Edge (Hip Bop, 1998)
• Collection (Hip Bop, 2002)
• The Love Has Never Gone: Tribute to Earth, Wind & Fire (Trauma, 2004)
• Hancock Island (Chesky, 2008)
• Anomaly (Abstract Logix, 2010)
• Lenny White Live (BFM Jazz, 2013)

With Chick Corea, Bill Connors and Stanley Clarke

• Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy (Polydor, 1973)

With Chick Corea, Al Di Meola and Stanley Clarke

• Where Have I Known You Before (Polydor, 1974)
• No Mystery (Polydor, 1975)
• Romantic Warrior (Columbia, 1976)
• Returns (Eagle, 2009)

As Corea, Clarke & White

• Forever (Concord, 2009)

With Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Jean-Luc Ponty, Frank Gambale

• The Mothership Returns (Eagle, 2012)

• Sylvia St. James – Magic (Elektra, 1981)
• Chaka Khan – Echoes of an Era (Elektra, 1982)
• Tina Harris – I must not be kinky (Shanachie, 1985)
• Nicki Richards – Naked (To the World) (Elektra, 1991)
• Letizia Gambi - Introducing Letizia Gambi (Jando Music / Via Veneto Jazz, 2012){{Citation |title=Introducing Letizia Gambi - Letizia Gambi {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/introducing-letizia-gambi-mw0002419247 |language=en |access-date=2022-05-12}}{{Cite web |date=22 October 2012 |title=Miles Davis News Introducing Letizia Gambi |url=https://www.milesdavis.com/news/introducing-letizia-gambi/}}
• Letizia Gambi - Blue Monday (RP / IYOUWE, 2016){{Cite journal |last=Micallef |first=Ken |date=June 2016 |title=Letizia Gambi Cross-Cultural Mix |url=https://www.downbeat.com/digitaledition/2016/DB1606/_art/DB1606.pdf |journal=Downbeat Magazine |pages={{!}}page=25}}

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With Geri Allen

• Some Aspects of Water (Storyville, 1997)
• The Gathering (Verve, 1998)

With Azteca

• Azteca (Columbia, 1972)
• Pyramid of the Moon (Columbia, 1973)
• From The Ruins (Inakustic Gmbh, 2008)

With Cyrus Chestnut

• Natural Essence (HighNote, 2016)
• There's a Sweet, Sweet Spirit (HighNote, 2017)

With Stanley Clarke

• Children of Forever (Polydor, 1973)
• Journey to Love (Nemperor, 1975)
• The Stanley Clarke Trio, Jazz in the Garden (Heads Up, 2009)

With Larry Coryell & Victor Bailey

• Electric (Chesky, 2005)
• Traffic (Chesky, 2006)

With Letizia Gambi

• Introducing Letizia Gambi (2012)(Jando Music/Via Veneto Jazz)
• Blue Monday (RP / IYOUWE, 2016)

With Chaka Khan, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Chick Corea & Stanley Clarke

• Echoes of an Era (Elektra, 1982)
• Echoes of an Era 2 – The Concert (Elektra, 1982)

With Al Di Meola

• Land of the Midnight Sun (Columbia, 1976)
• Elegant Gypsy (Columbia, 1977)

With Wallace Roney

• Village (Warner Bros., 1997)
• No Room for Argument (Stretch, 2000)
• A Place in Time (HighNote, 2016)

With Buster Williams

• Houdini (Sirocco, 2001) – rec. 2000
• Griot Libertè (HighNote, 2004)
• 65 Roses (BluePort Jazz, 2008) – rec. 2006

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With others

• 1969: Andrew Hill, Passing Ships (Blue Note, 2003)
• 1969: Miles Davis, Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970)[2LP]
• 1970: Joe Henderson, If You're Not Part of the Solution, You're Part of the Problem (Milestone, 1970) – live
• 1970: Freddie Hubbard, Red Clay (CTI, 1970)
• 1970: Woody Shaw, Blackstone Legacy (Contemporary, 1971)
• 1971: Gato Barbieri, Fenix (Flying Dutchman, 1971)
• 1972: Buddy Terry, Pure Dynamite (Mainstream, 1972)
• 1972: Santana, Caravanserai (Columbia, 1972)
• 1973: Curtis Fuller, Crankin' (Mainstream, 1973)
• 1973: Eddie Henderson, Realization (Capricorn, 1973)
• 1975: Jaco Pastorius, Jaco Pastorius (Epic, 1976)
• 1976: Don Cherry, Hear & Now (Atlantic, 1977)
• 1977?: Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, Happiness Heartaches (Warner Bros., 1977)
• 1986: Eliane Elias, Illusions (Denon, 1986)
• 1989: The Manhattan Project, The Manhattan Project (Blue Note, 1990)
• 1989?: Michel Petrucciani, Music (Blue Note, 1989)
• 1993: Bobby Hutcherson, Acoustic Masters II (Atlantic, 1994)
• 1994: Marcus Miller and Michel Petrucciani, Dreyfus Night in Paris (Dreyfus Jazz, 2003) – live
• 1994?: Urbanator, Urbanator (Hip Bop, 1994)
• 1999?: Vertú, Vertú (Sony, 1999)
• 2001: Ron Carter, Stardust (Somethin' Else, 2001)
• 2008?: {{ill|Marica Hiraga|ja|平賀マリカ}}, Batucada: Jazz'n Bossa (B.J.L., 2008)
• 2010: Jamey Haddad, Explorations in Space and Time (Chesky, 2013)
• 2011: Chick Corea, The Musician (Stretch, 2016)[3CD]
• 2019: Charles Tolliver, Connect (Gearbox, 2020)
• 2021?: Kenny Garrett, Sounds From The Ancestors (Mack Avenue, 2021)
• 2022: Eddie Henderson, Witness to History (Smoke Sessions, 2022){{cite web |title=Witness to History |url=https://eddiehenderson.bandcamp.com/album/witness-to-history |website=eddiehenderson.bandcamp.com |access-date=December 31, 2023}}

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{{reflist}}

• [http://news.allaboutjazz.com/under-your-skin-interviews-stanley-clarke-and-lenny-white.php#.U4zbYi9lybI Lenny White video interview] at All About Jazz
• [http://www.jazz.com/dozens/the-dozens-return-to-forever Return to Forever: Twelve Historic Tracks] at [http://www.jazz.com Jazz.com]
• [http://www.musictaste.com/musictaste/2011/01/01/lenny-white/ Lenny White biography] at [https://web.archive.org/web/20090410062654/http://www.musictaste.com/ MusicTaste]
• {{IMDb name|0925117}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Lenny}}

Category:1949 births

Category:Living people

Category:American jazz drummers

Category:American funk drummers

Category:American male drummers

Category:Return to Forever members

Category:Latin Grammy Award winners

Category:American session musicians

Category:Chesky Records artists

Category:Elektra Records artists

Category:Musicians from Queens, New York

Category:Musicians from Teaneck, New Jersey

Category:African-American jazz musicians

Category:20th-century American drummers

Category:20th-century American male musicians

Category:American male jazz musicians

Category:Vertú members

Category:Jamaica Boys members

Category:Jazz fusion drummers

Category:Jazz musicians from New York (state)

Category:20th-century African-American musicians

Category:21st-century African-American musicians

Category:American jazz composers

Category:Drummers from New Jersey

Category:Drummers from New York City