Leslie Lewis : Its time to know him

He is a composer, arranger, lyricist and a music director, an all rounder in music profession , thy name is Leslie Lewis. Leslie is the son of veteran choreographer P. L. Raj, Leslie Peter Lewis. He rocked the show and surprisingly made his way with the musical hit Colonial Brothers with Hariharan.

From his childhood onwards Lezz was in regular touch with music and started learning music. Lezz got acquainted with rock music greats in the form of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and others while in college, which made him, experienced in various musical styles and cultures. He got an axe to grind the guitar with at the Caf Royal, Oberoi Towers.

The desire to make ones own music prompted him to open his personal company wherein he used to record jingles for commercials. His work got instantly recognized in the form of four consecutive nominations at the Indian Academy of Advertising Film Art, before bagging the prize in 1989.

Leslie Peter "Lezz" Lewis started his musical career as a guitarist regularly playing at Mumbai's Cafe Royale, Oberoi Towers hotel while recording jingles for TV and film during the day for his own company (Ze Bop Music) at his own 24-track studios - Purple Haze. He accompanied many music directors of the country like R. D. Burman, Laxmikant – Pyarelal, Louis Banks and Kalyanji – Anandji as a guitarist.He has also composed and produced for albums including Bombay Girl (for Alisha Chinnoy), Paree (Sunita Rao) and the super-hit Jaanam Samjha Karo (Asha Bhosle). He had already worked alongside the likes of Kalyanji-Anandji, R. D. Burman and Laximikant Pyarelal before teaming up with Hariharan.

With the virtual overnight success of the debut album Colonial Cousins with Hariharan in the year 1992, he took the Indian musical scene by storm, stemming from the impromptu acoustic guitar and vocal session with Hariharan at a recording studio. In between the debut and new albums, Lezz has found time to concentrate on his own solo album, Haseena, which fulfilled a life-long dream for him personally. Now, as a talented guitarist, composer and singer he is beginning to show his true musical colors. Lezz has composed music for the film Jahd that features the voice of Hariharan which launced KK.

Married to Lollette for the last ten years and a little more, Lezz has two kids who complete his world apart from his music. With the next Cousins album just released, Lezz will again be the cynosure with his partner Hariharan on a journey that we hope is long and fruitful.