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. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

– January 31, 2012 in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

) 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 and ...

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 ''moto ...

. 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 "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

's ''

Just Whitney ''Just Whitney'' is the fifth studio album by American singer and actress Whitney Houston, released on November 27, 2002, by Arista Records. It was her first studio album to be released after her greatest hits compilation, '' Whitney: The Greates ...

''. 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 Maxayn was an American soul group of the 1970s. The band took its name from the lead singer Maxayn Lewis (born Paulette Parker), former Ikette and wife of band keyboardist Andre Lewis. The band also included Marlo Henderson (guitar) and Emry Tho ...

Rufus Rufus is a masculine given name, a surname, an Ancient Roman cognomen and a nickname (from Latin ''rufus'', "red"). Notable people with the name include: Given name Politicians * Rufus Ada George (born 1940), Nigerian politician * Rufus Al ...

, White Chocolate,

Earth Wind and 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 reco ...

and

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

. He was also band leader for

Johnny Guitar Watson Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Variant ...

. 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

, 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