Toronto drummer and composer Larnell Lewis is set to release the follow-up to his Juno-nominated debut album In the Moment this month.
The new release is called Relive the Moment, and it features reinterpretations of six of the original compositions from his first album with all-new live drum performances. It also includes one new track titled The Forgotten Ones, which is an emotional open solo that pays tribute to Lewis’s ancestral lineage.
“I truly love telling stories through music, especially when it means that I get to relive my moments from a place of wisdom and celebration,” Lewis says. “With this album, I hope you too are able to reflect on your own defining moments and cherish those memories.”
Lewis is a world-renowned drummer who won two Grammy Awards for his explosive performances with the Brooklyn-based jazz-fusion band Snarky Puppy. He has toured the world with the likes of Gregory Porter, Pat Metheny, Benny Golson, Lalah Hathaway, John Scofield, Lisa Fisher, Kurt Elling, Gary Burton and many more. Here in Canada, he has recorded with celebrated artists including Laila Biali, Molly Johnson, Divine Brown, Colleen Allen, Elizabeth Shepherd, Johnny Reid, Kellylee Evans and David Clayton-Thomas.
Relive the Moment was recorded at Jukasa Studios on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee Peoples (also known as the Iroquoian people or Six Nations including Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tuscorora), located on Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve.
Performers on the recording include trumpeters Alexis Baro and William Sperandei; pianist Robi Botos; saxophonists Neil Brathwaite and Rob Christian; bassists Rich Brown, Andrew Stewart and Mike Downes; and guitarists Elmer Ferrer and Mark Lettieri, among several others. The songs were produced and arranged by Lewis and Eddie Bullen.
Lewis shared two of the new tracks — Change Your Mind and Coconuts — ahead of the album’s release on Nov. 20.