Twennynine, also known as Twennynine with Lenny White, was an American R&B band founded in 1979.

Overview

Twennynine was founded by

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

drummer

Lenny White Leonard "Lenny" White III (born December 19, 1949) is an American jazz fusion drummer who was a member of the band Return to Forever led by Chick Corea in the 1970s. White has been called "one of the founding fathers of jazz fusion". He has won ...

in 1979 after he left

Return to Forever Return to Forever was an American jazz fusion band that was founded by pianist Chick Corea in 1972. The band has had many members, with the only consistent bandmate of Corea's being bassist Stanley Clarke. Along with Weather Report, The Headhun ...

. White formed the band to explore commercial R&B and funk music, and to take a break from the complex jazz rock for which he was known. The group also featured keyboardist Skip Anderson, bassist Barry Johnson, and guitarist Eddie Martinez; while singers Lynn Davis, Carla Vaughn, Joycelyn Smith, and Tanya Willoghby contributed at various times throughout the group's career. They released their debut album '' Best of Friends'' on

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

in 1979. The album was co-produced by White and

Larry Dunn Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment * Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer *Larry Boone ...

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million re ...

. ''Best of Friends'' rose to number 15 on the Billboard

Top R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

chart and number 54 on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

albums chart. The single "Peanut Butter" reached number 3 on the Billboard

Hot R&B Songs Hot R&B Songs is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular R&B songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stations, digital download sales and streaming data. It was establish ...

chart and number 83 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

singles chart. The second single "Best of Friends" reached number 47 on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart. Their second album '' Twennynine with Lenny White'' was released in 1980, with White and Dunn again as producers. The album reached number 22 on Billboard Top R&B Albums chart. The single "Kid Stuff" reached number 19 on the Billboard

chart, while "Fancy Dancer" reached number 17 on the Billboard

Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart and number 25 on the Hot R&B Songs chart. Twennynine performed on

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

and

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' was an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went into nati ...

in 1980. Twennynine released their third album ''Just Like Dreamin' ''in 1981. The group added guitarist Steve Horton for this album. ''Just Like Dreamin' ''reached number 41 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart. The singles "Didn't Know About Love (Till I Found You)" and "All I Want" reached numbers 31 and 62 respectively on the Hot R&B Songs chart. Another single, "My Turn To Love You" reached number 29 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. The group split up in 1983, after which

returned to jazz session work.

Discography

Albums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twennynine American dance music groups American funk musical groups American soul musical groups Elektra Records artists Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups disestablished in 1983 1979 establishments in the United States 1983 disestablishments in the United States