Lenny Castro
Encyclopedia
Lenny Castro is an American
freelancing percussionist in the studio recording industry in the Los Angeles
area.
. His father, Hector Castro, played the keyboard in a Latin style and gave his son his first pair of congas when he was five years old. Along with the congas the junior Castro played the bongos, which he grew up performing on the streets. Unlike many of his “Latin brothers”, Castro listened and played percussion not to just Latin music but jazz, rock, classical, and anything else that could have percussion added in. He claims not to have planned on becoming a studio musician, only that he wanted to play music. Whether this meant live or in recordings, he didn’t care as long as he got to play.
Castro later began to make money with different gigs in New York, which he called a “playground” at the time, when he was around 14 or 15. This lasted him until he graduated from high school in 1974.
After graduation Castro went to Mannes college with a scholarship that a high school teacher had helped him to acquire. However, he quickly tired of college and dropped out. He found a job at a famous drum shop in New York where he worked for three or four months.
who had a hit at the time, “Midnight Blue”. After Castro did a couple of tours with her, Melissa moved to Los Angeles
. Lenny, 19 at the time, did not want to give up this opportunity and left New York City to follow Melissa and his career.
Her producer later introduced Castro to fellow producer Richard Perry
. Perry then had Lenny play at a Diana Ross
session, which is where he met Jeff Porcaro
. Porcaro got Castro a gig with Boz Scaggs
, who had just released an album called “Silk Degrees”. Boz toured all around the world with Lenny as their percussionist. This huge tour is what landed Castro the Toto
gig and also kick-started his Los Angeles session legacy.
The artists and bands that Castro has worked with include the Rolling Stones
, Sir Elton John
, Al Jarreau
, Regina Belle
, Eric Clapton
, Boz Scaggs
, Toto
, Alien Ant Farm
, Steely Dan
, Christopher Cross
, The Mars Volta
, Dolly Parton
, Diana Ross
, Stevie Wonder
, David Sanborn
, Avenged Sevenfold
, Little Feat
, Tom Petty
, Susanna Hoffs
, Boney James
, The (International) Noise Conspiracy
, Peter White
, Joe Sample
, Kenny Loggins
, Young Knives, Rickie Lee Jones
, Caifanes
, Dan Fogelberg
, The Crusaders
, Barbra Streisand
, Simply Red
, Karizma
, Quincy Jones
, John Mayer
, Randy Newman
, Dave Koz
, Olivia Newton-John
, the Red Hot Chili Peppers
, Eric Burdon
, Oasis
, Wayne Shorter
, Pat Benatar
, Dwight Yoakam
, Maroon 5
, Lisa Marie Presley
, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
and Slash
as well as many Japanese, Italian, English, German, and various other artists.
Castro has recorded with Fleetwood Mac
and performed on the The Dance tour in 1997. Castro was also a part of the Fleetwood Mac contingent that surprised former President Bill Clinton on January 6, 2001. Castro toured with Stevie Nicks in 2007, and will tour with Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds in 2011 and 2012.
, Castro courted singer Paulette Brown. They became husband and wife and had two children. Their son, Tyler, plays the drums and their daughter Christina sings and enjoys the culinary arts. Unfortunately Paulette died in 1998 of lung cancer, after a three year illness. Castro has since remarried Chie Crakamamura from Osaka, Japan. They were introduced while Castro was touring the Blue Notes in Japan with the Joe Sample Trio.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
freelancing percussionist in the studio recording industry in the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
area.
Early life
Castro is a percussionist of Puerto Rican descent and was born and raised in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. His father, Hector Castro, played the keyboard in a Latin style and gave his son his first pair of congas when he was five years old. Along with the congas the junior Castro played the bongos, which he grew up performing on the streets. Unlike many of his “Latin brothers”, Castro listened and played percussion not to just Latin music but jazz, rock, classical, and anything else that could have percussion added in. He claims not to have planned on becoming a studio musician, only that he wanted to play music. Whether this meant live or in recordings, he didn’t care as long as he got to play.
Castro later began to make money with different gigs in New York, which he called a “playground” at the time, when he was around 14 or 15. This lasted him until he graduated from high school in 1974.
After graduation Castro went to Mannes college with a scholarship that a high school teacher had helped him to acquire. However, he quickly tired of college and dropped out. He found a job at a famous drum shop in New York where he worked for three or four months.
The Big Break
It was through this store that Castro got a big break with Melissa ManchesterMelissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Beginning in the 1970s, she has recorded generally in the adult contemporary genre. She has also appeared as an actress on television, in films, and on stage....
who had a hit at the time, “Midnight Blue”. After Castro did a couple of tours with her, Melissa moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Lenny, 19 at the time, did not want to give up this opportunity and left New York City to follow Melissa and his career.
Her producer later introduced Castro to fellow producer Richard Perry
Richard Perry
Richard Perry is an American music producer. Perry began as a performer in his adolescence, but shifted gears after graduating college and rose through the late 1960s and early 1970s to become a highly successful and popular record producer with over a dozen gold records to his credit by 1982...
. Perry then had Lenny play at a Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
session, which is where he met Jeff Porcaro
Jeff Porcaro
Jeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...
. Porcaro got Castro a gig with Boz Scaggs
Boz Scaggs
William Royce "Boz" Scaggs is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He gained fame in the 1970s with several Top 20 hit singles in the United States, along with the #2 album, Silk Degrees. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour.-Early life and career:Scaggs was born in Canton,...
, who had just released an album called “Silk Degrees”. Boz toured all around the world with Lenny as their percussionist. This huge tour is what landed Castro the Toto
Toto (band)
Toto is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The group currently consists of Joseph Williams , David Paich , Steve Porcaro , Steve Lukather , Mike Porcaro , and Simon Phillips . Toto is known for a musical style that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, progressive rock, hard...
gig and also kick-started his Los Angeles session legacy.
Recordings
Because he is a freelancer, Castro is called on by many artists and bands to record. He claims to enjoy this freedom, saying that the members of Toto did him a favor by not asking him to join permanently; “I didn’t get handcuffed or chained down”.The artists and bands that Castro has worked with include the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, Sir Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, Al Jarreau
Al Jarreau
Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and...
, Regina Belle
Regina Belle
Regina Belle is a singer-songwriter who first surfaced in the late 1980s. She is notable for her Grammy award winning duet with Peabo Bryson, "A Whole New World".-Biography:Regina Belle was born in Englewood, New Jersey...
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Boz Scaggs
Boz Scaggs
William Royce "Boz" Scaggs is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He gained fame in the 1970s with several Top 20 hit singles in the United States, along with the #2 album, Silk Degrees. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour.-Early life and career:Scaggs was born in Canton,...
, Toto
Toto (band)
Toto is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The group currently consists of Joseph Williams , David Paich , Steve Porcaro , Steve Lukather , Mike Porcaro , and Simon Phillips . Toto is known for a musical style that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, progressive rock, hard...
, Alien Ant Farm
Alien Ant Farm
Alien Ant Farm is an American alternative rock band that formed in Riverside, California, in 1995. Their name comes from an idea original guitarist Terry Corso had about aliens and the earth: "I was daydreaming at my dull desk job with my feet up, and I thought to myself, 'Wouldn't it be cool if...
, Steely Dan
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
, Christopher Cross
Christopher Cross
Christopher Cross is an American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. His debut album earned him five Grammys. He is perhaps best known for his Top Ten hit songs, "Sailing", "Ride Like the Wind", and "Arthur's Theme ", the last of which he performed for the film Arthur starring Dudley Moore...
, The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
, Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, David Sanborn
David Sanborn
David Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
, Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California. Formed in 1999, the group consists of vocalist M. Shadows, lead guitarist Synyster Gates, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, bassist Johnny Christ....
, Little Feat
Little Feat
Little Feat is an American rock band formed by singer-songwriter, lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles....
, Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
, Susanna Hoffs
Susanna Hoffs
Susanna Lee Hoffs is an American vocalist, guitarist and actress. She is best known as a member of the all-female pop band The Bangles.-Early life:...
, Boney James
Boney James
Boney James, is a saxophonist, songwriter and producer who popularized urban jazz...
, The (International) Noise Conspiracy
The (International) Noise Conspiracy
The Noise Conspiracy is a Swedish rock band formed in Sweden in the late months of 1998. The line-up consists of Dennis Lyxzén , Inge Johansson , Lars Strömberg , and Ludwig Dahlberg . The band is known for its punk and garage rock musical influences, and its impassioned left-wing political stance...
, Peter White
Peter White
Peter White, PC was a Canadian parliamentarian.White was born into a family that had established its homestead at the junction of the Muskrat and Ottawa Rivers where the town of Pembroke, Ontario was soon established...
, Joe Sample
Joe Sample
Joseph Leslie "Joe" Sample is an American pianist, keyboard player and composer.He is one of the founding members of the Jazz Crusaders, the band which became simply The Crusaders in 1971, and remained a part of the group until its final album in 1991 .- Biography :Sample began playing the piano...
, Kenny Loggins
Kenny Loggins
During the next decade, Loggins recorded so many successful songs for film soundtracks that he was referred to as, King of the Movie Soundtrack.He began with "I'm Alright" , "Mr. Night", and "Lead the Way" from Caddyshack...
, Young Knives, Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones is an American vocalist, musician, songwriter, and producer. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, blues, pop, soul, and jazz standards.-Childhood:...
, Caifanes
Caifanes
Caifanes is a Spanish-language rock band from Mexico City formed in 1987. They achieved fame throughout the late 80’s and early 90’s. The original lineup consisted of Saúl Hernández , Sabo Romo , Alfonso André and Diego Herrera . Argentine guitarist Alejandro Marcovich joined in 1989...
, Dan Fogelberg
Dan Fogelberg
Daniel Grayling "Dan" Fogelberg was an American singer-songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, whose music was inspired by sources as diverse as folk, pop, rock, classical, jazz, and bluegrass music...
, The Crusaders
The Crusaders
The Crusaders are an American music group popular in the early 1970s known for their amalgamated jazz, pop and soul sound. Since 1961, more than forty albums have been credited to the group , 19 of which were recorded under the name "The Jazz Crusaders" .-History:In 1960, following the demise of a...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, Simply Red
Simply Red
Simply Red were a British soul band that sold more than 50 million albums over a 25-year career. Their style drew influences from blue-eyed soul, new romantic, rock, reggae and jazz...
, Karizma
Karizma
Karizma may refer to:* Karizma , Serbian hard rock/glam metal band* KariZma , Bulgarian pop duo* Hero Honda Karizma R, the flagship motorcycle of Hero Honda....
, Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
, John Mayer
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...
, Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
, Dave Koz
Dave Koz
Dave Koz is an American smooth jazz saxophonist.- Life and career :Dave Koz was born on March 27, 1963 in Encino, California....
, Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
, the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
, Eric Burdon
Eric Burdon
Eric Victor Burdon is an English singer-songwriter best known as a founding member and vocalist of rock band The Animals, and the funk rock band War and for his aggressive stage performance...
, Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
, Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
, Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar is an American singer and four-time Grammy winner. She had considerable commercial success particularly in the United States...
, Dwight Yoakam
Dwight Yoakam
Dwight David Yoakam is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music...
, Maroon 5
Maroon 5
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, Lisa Marie Presley
Lisa Marie Presley
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, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds are an English rock band formed in 2010 as the solo moniker of former Oasis lead guitarist/songwriter Noel Gallagher. The band originates from Manchester and includes former Oasis session pianist Mike Rowe, drummer Jeremy Stacey of The Lemon Trees, The Zutons...
and Slash
Slash (musician)
Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
as well as many Japanese, Italian, English, German, and various other artists.
Castro has recorded with Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
and performed on the The Dance tour in 1997. Castro was also a part of the Fleetwood Mac contingent that surprised former President Bill Clinton on January 6, 2001. Castro toured with Stevie Nicks in 2007, and will tour with Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds in 2011 and 2012.
Family
On his first tour with Boz ScaggsBoz Scaggs
William Royce "Boz" Scaggs is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He gained fame in the 1970s with several Top 20 hit singles in the United States, along with the #2 album, Silk Degrees. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour.-Early life and career:Scaggs was born in Canton,...
, Castro courted singer Paulette Brown. They became husband and wife and had two children. Their son, Tyler, plays the drums and their daughter Christina sings and enjoys the culinary arts. Unfortunately Paulette died in 1998 of lung cancer, after a three year illness. Castro has since remarried Chie Crakamamura from Osaka, Japan. They were introduced while Castro was touring the Blue Notes in Japan with the Joe Sample Trio.