Michael Andre Lewis, aka Mandré, (December 7, 1948 in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County, Nebraska, Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. List of ...

– January 31, 2012 in Shreveport, Louisiana) was an American musician known for his

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis ...

recordings at

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''mot ...

. As Andre Lewis he also contributed to Labelle's '' Moon Shadow'' and

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...

's ''

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''. He toured or recorded with

Grant Green Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Recording prolifically for Blue Note Records as both leader and sideman, Green performed in the hard bop, soul jazz, bebop, and Latin-tinged idioms ...

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, Labelle, Buddy Miles Band, Maxayn,

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, White Chocolate,

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and

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of A ...

. He was also band leader for Johnny Guitar Watson. His debut single as Mandré "Solar Flight (Opus I)", was a hit from a self-titled debut album ''Mandré''. He formerly played with his band Maxayn, named after the singer, and later his wife, Maxayn Lewis, (born Paulette Parker).The Gangster of Love: Johnny Guitar Watson Vincent Bakker - 2009 Page 88 "In fact, this was an existing band, formed by Emry Thomas and Andre Lewis, called Maxayn. Watson became a member, Andre is still the leader. The band was named after Maxayn Lewis, singing member and then the wife of Andre Lewis, "

Discography

Albums

*''Mandré'' - 1977 *''Mandré Two'' - 1978 *''M3000'' - 1979 *''Mandré 4'' - 1982 *''A Difficult Journey'' - 2008

Singles

* "Solar Flight (Opus 1)" 1977 * "Keep Tryin'" 1977 * Opus III * "Fair Game" / "Light Years" (Opus IV) 1978 * "Spirit Groove" 1979 * "Freakin's Fine"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandre 1948 births 2012 deaths American rhythm and blues keyboardists American rhythm and blues bass guitarists American funk keyboardists American rock keyboardists American funk bass guitarists American rock bass guitarists Musicians from Omaha, Nebraska