congaplace.com

Before ANGA, GIO,and some others there was James "Mingo" Lewis. Conga player/drummer composer/arranger with Santana from 1970 to about 76 i think...Listen to his composition of "The Wizard" Al Dimeola, or the Caravansarai album with Santana and others with Santana..this brother from Brooklyn, now residing in San Fransisco can do it all.....ever hear of him?...

JohnnyConga wrote:

Mingo Lewis 2010.jpg

Before ANGA, GIO,and some others there was James "Mingo" Lewis. Conga player/drummer composer/arranger with Santana from 1970 to about 76 i think...Listen to his composition of "The Wizard" Al Dimeola, or the Caravansarai album with Santana and others with Santana..this brother from Brooklyn, now residing in San Fransisco can do it all.....ever hear of him?...

Of course Was / am a big fan of the old Santana stuff !

I know of Mingo Lewis, he advertised lessons around here frequently, great player.

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Oh yeah, Mingo is awesome! Old school west coast for sure. He disappeared for a while, one of my budies who was the percussionist for the new Bohemians used to go to SF to study with him back in the late 80's early 90's.

Mingo is from Brooklyn NY that settled on the west coast after leaving Santana...he also worked in Vegas for awhile backing up a variety of artists....and chek him out on the Al Dimeola recordings as well..Mingo released one album under his name...they might have it at DustyGroove.com...

The best stuff Al Di Meola put out was when Mingo Lewis was at the helm.He really cooked.
Peace
Olsongo

Mingo has been a favorite of mine since the first time I heard him. I don't even remember what album he was on when I first heard him but he reakky got my attention. Anybody know if he ever lived near Charleston, S.C.? Someone once told me they knew him and he was living near Charleston. It's a 5 hour drive but I would have gone just for lessons!