Luigi Waites (born Lewis Waites; July 10, 1927 – April 6, 2010) was a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

drummer and vibraphonist from

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

. He performed weekly gigs in the Omaha area both solo and with ensembles such as Luigi, Inc. He served the Omaha music community for over 60 years. He toured

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

twice and performed with jazz legends such as

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

and

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (; born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, one of the most popular black female recording artists of the 1950s. Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a ...

. Luigi, Inc has shared the stage with

Jean-Luc Ponty Jean-Luc Ponty (born 29 September 1942) is a French jazz and jazz fusion violinist and composer. He is considered a pioneer of jazz-rock, particularly for his use of the electric violin starting in the 1970s. He rose to prominence for his colla ...

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

and

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

Biography

Luigi Waites was born Lewis Waites on July 10, 1927, in

, to Ione Kelley and Sylvester Waites. Waites began playing drums at age twelve, and soon after began playing local nightclubs around Omaha. At the time the two local musicians unions were segregated. During his high school years, Waites regularly played in bars and clubs which sometimes affected his ability to get enough sleep on school nights. He might perform as a professional musician until the wee hours and then jump into a taxicab standing by in front of his mother's house to rush him to class at Central High School the next morning. This, to the chagrin of some of his instructors, since on a teacher's salary in that day most schoolteachers could not afford to take a cab to work each day. While Waites served in the U.S. Army during World War II at Camp Lee, Virginia, he met jazz drummer

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such albums as ''My Fa ...

. Luigi married Eva Jean Little in 1950 and begot six children. In 1960, Waites founded The Contemporaries, a multicultural, independent drum corps that featured jazz rhythms, lyres and modern dance steps. Then, during the 1970s, Luigi Waites was a solo artist in The National School Tours program where he performed in classrooms and school assemblies. When leading his band, Luigi Inc, he performed on vibraharp rather than drums. Luigi Inc is a 5 piece jazz combo located in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by Luigi Waites, Luigi Inc (short for including, not incorporated) has the distinct honor of maintaining one of the longest running gigs in the country. He appeared with the group over 1,700 consecutive Sunday nights in Omaha at the bar, Mr. Toad, beginning in 1978. During the 2000s, Waites collaborated with pop band Shelter Belt. As a drummer, Luigi Waites was influenced by Buddy Rich, Joe Jones,

Louie Bellson Louie Bellson (born Luigi Paolino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni, July 6, 1924 – February 14, 2009), often seen in sources as Louis Bellson, although he himself preferred the spelling Louie, was an American jazz drummer. He was a composer ...

and

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

. Waites died at 4 a.m. on April 6, 2010, at Immanuel Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska of natural causes. He was 82 years old.

Discography

* ''Fear Not'' (2001) * ''Distant Relatives'' (2005) * ''Live at Mr. Toad'' (2010)

Awards

* 1996: Awarded Nebraska Artist of the Year by the Nebraska Arts Council. * 2005: Inducted into the Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame * 2007: Received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the first annual Omaha Entertainment Awards on January 4. Omaha Press Club award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waites, Luigi African-American drummers American jazz drummers American jazz vibraphonists Musicians from Omaha, Nebraska 1927 births 2010 deaths Jazz musicians from Nebraska 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians American male drummers Drummers from Nebraska