Mel Lewis

Jazz drummer (1929-1990).  Born Melvin Sokoloff in Buffalo.  Lewis performed with the jazz bands of Stan Kenton, Gerry Mulligan, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman in the 1950s and 1960s.  Lewis and Thad Jones formed the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra in 1965, and remained the band's leader after Jones departed in 1979.

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