Luigi Waites

Lewis " Luigi " Waites (* July 10, 1927 in Omaha, † April 6, 2010 ) was an American jazz musician (vibraphone, percussion ) and music educator.

Waites began playing drums at the age of twelve; early on he performed in local night clubs around his hometown. He then lived for a time in Chicago, California, and toured Europe before the Greater Omaha he was active mostly. During his military service in the U.S. Army, he met Elvin Jones know. In 1960, Waites Formation The Contemporaries. Waites, who had himself enjoyed no formal education, worked as a music teacher for the Nebraska Arts Council in schools of Nebraska; in the 1970s he was a soloist in the National School Tours program. Since 1975, Waites came a week at the club Mr. Toad's on, in the last five years of his life as a soloist .. He also played with Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, and James Brown. From 1975 he was one of the organizers of the Omaha Summer Arts Festival. In the 2000s he worked with the pop band Shelter Belt Under his own name he published several albums, Fear Not (2001) with his band Luigi Inc. and 2005 Distant Relatives. A live album so far remained unpublished.

Waites has received several awards; as he was in 1996 " Artist of the Year " of the Council. He was inducted into the Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame, honored in 2006 for his life's work with the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Award 2005; Followed in 2009, another award as a jazz artist.

As a drummer Waites of Buddy Rich, Jo Jones, Louie Bellson and Max Roach was affected.