Don Lewis
Band:Live Electronic Orchestra
Genres:Electronic Music
Born:03/06/1941
Died:11/06/2022
From: Dayton, Ohio
Musician Speciality:Singer/Organ
Biography:
Don Lewis (March 26, 1941 – November 6, 2022) was an American vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and electronic engineer.[1][2][3][4][5] He created an instrument called the Live Electronic Orchestra (LEO), which integrated multiple instruments under a controller system and predated the MIDI controller by ten years.[6][7][8]
History
Donald Richard Lewis Jr. was born on March 26, 1941.[9][10] He grew up in Dayton, Ohio, in the 1940s and 50s.[6][7] Lewis has stated that his interest in music began as a child after watching an organist perform at his church.[6]
Lewis later majored in Electronics Engineering at the former Tuskegee Institute.[6] While there, he also sang with the Tuskegee Chorus and played music at rallies led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.[6]
In 1961, Lewis enlisted in the US Air Force as a nuclear weapons specialist and later stationed for four years in Roswell, New Mexico.[6][7] After his time in the Air Force, Lewis relocated to Denver, Colorado, where he worked as an engineering technician, choir director, and nightclub musician.[6] While there, he was commissioned to write three symphonic works by the Denver Symphony Orchestra.[6] Lewis later resigned his job as an engineering technician in Denver to become a full-time musician.[6]
Lewis later studied singing with legendary vocal coach Judy Davis.[3]
Career
After moving to Los Angeles, Lewis worked with a number of celebrity musicians and producers, including Quincy Jones, Sergio Mendez, and Michael Jackson.[6][7] He also opened for the Beach Boys during their 1974 tour.[6][11] Lewis performed at the 1975 and 1976 Newport Jazz Festival at Carnegie Hall.[11]
Later he moved to San Francisco and performed there in the late 70’s and early 80’s.[3][4][7][8] He scored for shows such as Rainbows End and You Were There for PBS, among others.[6]
Lewis taught at UC Berkeley Extension and was a guest lecturer at Stanford University and San Jose State University.[11] He also started two programs to encourage kids’ interest in music and the arts: Young Expressions, a mentorship program for student artists around Pleasanton, California, and Say “Yes” to Music!, wherein Lewis performed at school assemblies.[6][11]
LEO and Roland TR-808
Lewis was most famous for having created an early integrated sound controller for analog synthesizers, which he named Live Electronic Orchestra (LEO), ten years prior to MIDI.[1][6][7][8] Lewis designed LEO in 1974 and completed it in 1977 by linking various synthesizers to work together in live performance, limited at the time to mostly studio production.[1][2][5][6][8] As of 2018, LEO is housed in NAMM’s Museum of Making Music located in Carlsbad, California.[8]