(JPN) Canadian Drummer Larnell Lewis with Laila Biali at the Cotton Club
Canadian-born jazz singer and pianist Laila Biali appeared at Tokyo’s Cotton Club with fellow Canadians Larnell Lewis (drums) and George Koller (bass) from March 21 through 23.
Larnell is a big guy! Just guesstimating we’d have to say he’s about two meters tall! The night we met at the Cotton Club was his 28th birthday.
Larnell was playing a Maple Custom Absolute kit with a Blue Ice Sparkle finish.
His snare is an MSD1465 in Antique Sunburst, and pedals/stands include an HS1200 hi-hat stand, an SS950 snare stand, and an FP8500C foot pedal. Larnell usually uses a Hexrack system with a massive setup, but since this is basically a jazz gig he chose to use the more subdued setup shown in the photo.
We were delighted to hear almost unbelievably delicate, musical tone coming from a player that physically large. Then as the night progressed and the excitement mounted Larnell turned up the heat with fatter, solid sound that took the audience on an unforgettable musical journey.
Some video footage of the Cotton Club performance is available here:
http://www.cottonclubjapan.co.jp/jp/sp/120321_laila/