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 jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

drummer

Lenny White Leonard 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". White has won thre ...

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 ...

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

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...

. ''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 Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

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 to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

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

Hot R&B Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

chart and number 83 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the 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), o ...

singles chart. The second single "Best of Friends" reached number 47 on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B Singles 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'' Hot R&B Singles chart, while "Fancy Dancer" reached number 17 on the ''Billboard'' Dance/Disco chart and number 25 on the Hot R&B Singles chart. Twennynine performed on

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...

and

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' is an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland in 1961 before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went i ...

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 Singles chart. Another single, "My Turn to Love You" reached number 29 on the ''Billboard'' Dance/Disco chart. The group split up in 1983, after which Lenny White 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