As a teenager in Pasadena, California, Lewis jammed with future vibraphone star Bobby Hutcherson, reportedly convincing Hutcherson he should play vibes. In the ’60s, Lewis moved between California and New York as he did stage and studio work with McCann and Tyner and performed with jazz innovators such as saxophonist Jackie McLean, bandleader Gerald Wilson, and Hutcherson. His ’70s and ’80s sessions included dates with Spanish pianist Tete Montoliu and sax explorers Archie Schepp, Chico Freeman, and John Handy.
In 1977, Lewis founded the Jazz Studies Program at San Francisco’s New College of California, where he taught for the next 15 years. He moved to the Minneapolis area in 2002, where he played gigs and festivals on an Eminence electric upright.