Don Lewis began his musical career as a church organist and ended up touring with the Beach Boys, as well as playing studio sessions for Quincy Jones & Michael Jackson.
Frustrated by the limitations of music technology of the time, Don used his engineering skills to create LEO, the Live Electronic Orchestra, where he managed to get disparate instruments to “talk” to each other and be completely under his control. His work soon came to the attention of Ikutaro Kakehashi, founder of the Roland Corporation, who was inspired by Don’s technological feats to be one of the driving forces behind the creation of MIDI.
But Don’s story is not just one of innovation, but also personal struggle. A struggle that would destroy his career but eventually see him vindicated as a true pioneer and worthy of his adoration within the music community and beyond.
See the Show Notes for further details.