Larnell Lewis

Larnell Lewis (born March 22, 1984) is a Canadian drummer, composer, producer, and educator. He is most well known for playing drums with the Brooklyn-based jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy. Born in Toronto, Ontario, Lewis started playing drums at age 2 and was first introduced to drums in church. This is where he began to learn to play a variety of styles including gospel music, soca, calypso, reggae, zouk and funk. He also studied electric bass and piano to further his knowledge of the melodic and harmonic aspects of music making. Lewis’ parents were originally from St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean. Lewis attended Humber College, where he was the 2004 recipient of the Oscar Peterson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music, the highest award given by the institution. Lewis was featured on the cover of the September 2016 issue of Modern Drummer magazine, alongside fellow Snarky Puppy drummers Robert “Sput” Searight and Jason “JT” Thomas. In 2017 Lewis was named one of the Top 35 artists under 35 by CBC Music, and also received the award for Emerging Jazz Artist from the Ontario Arts Foundation. Lewis served as musical director for a performance during the Toronto International Film Festival's premiere of the critically acclaimed documentary Quincy, about famed producer Quincy Jones, where he led performances from the likes of Yebba Smith, Mark Ronson, and Chaka Khan. In 2018 Lewis released his first solo album In The Moment, on which he played bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, melodica, percussion, piano, synthesizer and vocals, in addition to writing and producing.