Vinx (from www.vinx.com)
[1978] 1st pro gig, started as percussionist for Taj Mahal
[1980] posted the 2nd best triple jump in the world but U.S. boycotted Moscow Olympics
moved to Los Angeles for the [1984] Olympics; got injured at the trials and stayed
[1986] had 1st recording session with jazz saxophonist Ernie Watts on his "Musican" Grammy awarded project
[1987] Tom Jones recorded Vinx song "Touch My Heart"
[1988-89] toured with Rickie Lee Jones, The Bus Boys, Teena Marie, Toni Childs, Robben Ford * appeared in Levi 501 Blues and Sprite commercials * got SAG (screen actors guild) card
[1989] Vinx's Father, Leslie Jackson Parrette Sr. (Vinx's greatest musical influence) is mugged and murdered while on vacation in Detroit * toured Europe with own drum band: Vinx and the Barkin' Feet. Montreaux Jazz Festival: played after Miles Davis and before Wayne Shorter * Herbie Hancock invited Vinx to be on his Showtime Coast To Coast TV Special where Vinx played with Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Hornsby, Lou Reed, B.B. King, and Woody Harrelson * Vinx recorded on Sting's "Soul Cages" cd * Sting and Miles Copeland signed Vinx to Pangaea/I.R.S. label
[1990-91] Vinx recorded his 1st cd "Rooms in my Fatha's House" which featured Taj Mahal, Herbie Hancock, Sheryl Crow, Branford Marsalis, Sting, Roscoe Lee Brown and Mothers Finest * 13 month world tour with Sting's "Soul Cages Tour" as solo opening act and percussionist/background vocalist * played Carnegie Hall, "MTV Unplugged" with Sting * performed with Peter Gabriel, Sinead O'Connor, Elton John, Zucchero * Vinx's song "While the City Sleeps" was used in the opening dance sequence of the prime time TV show "In Living Color"
[1992] moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Vinx sold his first painting "The Stone Canvas" * Vinx released 2nd cd "I Love My Job" - receiving critical acclaim. This cd featured Zap Mama, Patrice Rushen, Dan Kuramato (of Hiroshima) * Vinx toured the world jazz festival circuit with great response * appeared on the Arsenio Hall Show * guest in the Tonight Show Band with old friend Branford Marsalis * Vinx's song "There I Go Again" was used for the highest rated episode of the hit TV series "Northern Exposure" * The network received so many calls about the song that it was chosen for an album release of Northern Exposures' most requested music * Vinx continued to open for everyone, notably Steel Pulse, Third World, Manhattan Transfer, Richard Elliot, Sting, Big Country, Drummers of Bahrundi, Zap Mama
[1993] Vinx released his 3rd cd: "The Storyteller" which featured Stevie Wonder, George Howard, Cassandra Wilson and Omar * repeated world tour * recorded on Cassandra Wilson's Grammy award winning cd, "Blue Light Till Dawn" * Fell in love and moved to Boston
[1994] toured with Stewart Copeland and the Rhythmatists * wrote a tv pilot for Harpo Productions (Oprah Winfrey's production company] * toured with Spin Doctors, Cracker and Gin Blossoms *appeared on the "Bertice Berry Show" performed and was CO-MC all days of "Woodstock 94" * attended writers retreat in France (1994-1996) and co-wrote with such notables as Brenda Russell, Cher, Ty Herndon, Gary Burr, Michelle Shocked, Jil Sobule, Patty Smyth and Crystal Waters
[1995] opening act for Baaba Maal, King Sunny Ade, Toni Childs, Yothu Yindi * four month tour of nine countries (Congo, Zaire, Gabon, Cameroun, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Sierra Leone) in West and Central Africa with drum trio, as a cultural attache to the U.S. State Department * recorded on Stevie Wonder's cd "Conversation Peace" * wrote songs and performed with Me'shell Ndegeocello * ski'd first expert black diamond slope at Santa Fe Ski Basin
[1996] inducted into the Kansas State University Athletic Hall of Fame * recorded a song with Vance Gilbert for the "Boston Not Austin" folk songwriters compilation * recorded 4th cd titled "Lips Stretched Out" for Vinx's own Internet label "Heroes Of Expression" also known as H.O.E. Records * Vinx-the-artist gets a REP and has his first gallery showing featuring his paintings * writes a childrens story for the Video Action Fund * performed at the 1996 Olympiad in Atlanta * got married to Lisa Fehl in a castle in France * Vinx created an innovative Euro dance project called "Jungle Funk" which featured ex-Living Color rhythm section Will Calhoun and Doug Wimbish
[1997] continued to tour with Jungle Funk throughout Europe and Australia * released a Jungle Funk limited edition disc, highlighting the early days of Jungle Funk * recorded five songs for dance guru's "The Basement Boys" in Baltimore * Recorded on the Crystal Waters track "Mama Told Me" * Vinx sings the national anthem for the New England Patriots at Foxboro Stadium
[1998] Jungle Funk got signed to the German label ESC Records and released a disc recorded live in Austria * Zebra/Warner Brothers put the cd out in North America * Vinx received a grant from AT&T to work with Washington D.C.'s famed Eastern High School Choir. A series of songwriting workshops eclipsed with a performance of the co-written songs * Vinx goes to Berlin to record an album with Traumton Records featuring his new band "Big 'n' Round". This is the last Andrew Daniels (a.k.a. "the Boy") played on before he joined the Marine Corps. From this day forward he will be known as G.I. Drew
[1999] Vinx reforms Jungle Funk with new members * the Traumton record "Big 'n' Round" is released in Europe * Vinx and Lisa relocate to Los Angeles * Vinx discovers that Hootie and the Blowfish cover his songs "Tell My Feet" and "I Should Have Told Her" during their live shows. Vinx plays with the Hootie boys at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles
[2000] Vinx co-writes with Brenda Russell, Stewart Copeland, and Darius Rucker * Vinx performs at the Sundance Film Festival in January * Vinx records a new demo disc in his new recording facility known as "StankFish" in Los Angeles * The studio also has an intimate listening room, in which Vinx holds his performances and those of other local and international artists * Vinx performs the national anthem for the L. A. Lakers at the Staples Center in Los Angeles *
www.vinx.com
e-mail:
vinx@vinx.com
