Lester Mendez
OriginHavana, Cuba
Occupation(s)Producer, Songwriter, Composer, Arranger, Audio Engineer
Instrument(s)Piano, Keyboards, Synthesizers, modular synthesizers, Drums, Programming (music), Percussion

Lester Mendez is a multi-platinum, Grammy award-winning record producer, songwriter and composer. His production/writing credits include a multitude of successful hits with Shakira, Jewel, Nelly Furtado, Jessica Simpson, Enrique Iglesias, and others.

Career

Starting out professionally as a session musician and programmer, he worked on a variety of music and genres, including Hip hop, Miami bass, Freestyle music, House music / Deep house, World music, Pop music and Latin pop. Mendez's keyboard, programming, arranging, and remixing credits include artists such as: Jimmy Page, David Coverdale, David Byrne, Spice Girls, Pet Shop Boys, Grace Jones, PM Dawn, Bee Gees, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Babyface, Martika, Chris de Burgh, Johnny Mathis, Will Smith, Collective Soul, Angélique Kidjo, Byron Stingily, Exposé, Paris by Air, Gloria Estefan, Chynna Phillips, Regina Belle, Gerald Alston, Phyllis Hyman, Jaydee, Haddaway, Deep Forest, Lonnie Gordon, Cerrone, Jimmy "Bo" Horne, Murk (band), Funky Green Dogs, Qkumba Zoo, Wubble-U, Nuclear Valdez, Afro-Rican, Lulu, the seminal freestyle band Will To Power (band), and many others.

His early production / songwriting career saw him working with Chris Blackwell's Island Records artists Grace Jones, Angélique Kidjo, Baaba Maal, Dominican-born rapper Mangu (rapper), and others.

As his career continued to grow as a producer & songwriter, he went on to work with a number of artists, including: Carlos Santana, Jason Mraz, Josh Groban, Dido, Sia, Nelly Furtado, Shakira, Seal, Donna Summer, Anastacia, Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias, Sean Paul, Jem, Kerli, Oh land, Ladyhawke, Mike Posner, Sam Sparro, Mr Little Jeans, Adam Lambert, PlayRadioPlay!, Tarkan, Mark Feehily, Skylar Stecker, Rittz, She Is We and others. Most recently, he founded a project called Gemini Rising, in which he writes and produces all the music. Fellow collaborators on the project are Fiora (musician) and Tensnake. He also produced and co-wrote all 10 songs on the debut album by Claude Fontaine, a project he co-developed and co-conceived with Claude. The album was released on Innovative Leisure Records in the spring of 2019.

Awards

Award Year Category Work Result Ref(s)
Grammy Awards 2006 Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 Won [1]
Latin Grammy Awards 2006 Album of the Year Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 Won [2]
Best Female Pop Vocal Album Won
Record of the Year "La Tortura" Won

Discography (select)

Artist Song Album Producer Co-Writer
Haley Reinhart Off The Ground Off The Ground - Single ×
Tensnake Nightshift (feat. Fiora) L.A. Co-Producer ×
Coco Morier After Hours After Hours - Single × ×
Gemini Rising Best Case Life Best Case Life × ×
Speed Of Sound × ×
Sunrise Boulevard × ×
Just Because × ×
After The Rain × ×
Orbit × ×
Morph × ×
Stars Come To An End × ×
Close Enough To Breathe × ×
The Future × ×
Tangy × ×
Nightsky × ×
Let It Go By × ×
Claude Fontaine Cry For Another Claude Fontaine × ×
Hot Tears × ×
Little Sister × ×
Love Street × ×
Play By Play × ×
Pretending He Was You × ×
I'll Play The Fool × ×
Strings Of Your Guitar × ×
Footprints In The Sand × ×
Our Last Goodbye × ×
Josh Groban Musica Del Corazon Bridges × ×
Delhia De France Waterfalls Moirai EP Co-Producer ×
Tensnake Hello? Hello - Single Co-Producer ×
Gemini Rising Best Case Life Gemini Rising-EP × ×
Sunrise Boulevard × ×
Stellaris × ×
Better Days × ×
Svala Paper Eurovision Song Contest 2017 × ×
Skylar Stecker Everlasting This is me × ×
Kerli Feral Hearts Deepest Roots × ×
Walking on Air Love is Dead × ×
Hurt Me × ×
She is We Blue War × ×
Marcus Feehily Find My Way Fire × ×
Coco Morier No Pressure Dreamer × ×
Dreamer × ×
World on Fire × ×
No Stranger(To Love) × ×
Walking In Our Sleep × ×
All Cats Are Grey × ×
Blood Moon × ×
Dido Stoned Life For Rent ×
Just Say Yes Girl Who Got Away ×
Santana Saideira feat. Samuel Rosa Corazón ×
La Flaca feat. Juanes ×
Mal Bicho feat. Los Fabulosos Cadillacs ×
Iron Lion Zion feat. Ziggy Marley & ChocQuibTown ×
Una Noche en Nápoles feat. Lila Downs, Niña Pastori & Soledad ×
Margarita feat. Romeo Santos ×
Feel It Coming Back feat. Diego Torres ×
Amor Correspondido feat. Diego Torres ×
Cry Baby Cry feat. Joss Stone & Sean Paul All That I Am × ×
Brown Skin Girl feat. Bo Bice ×
I Am Somebody feat. Will.I.AM ×
Amore (Sexo) feat. Macy Gray Shaman × ×
Satellite feat. Marc Anthony × ×
Why Don't You & I feat. Chad Kroeger ×
You Are My Kind feat. Seal ×
Shakira Antes De Las Seis Sale El Sol × ×
Lo Que Más ×
Illegal feat. Carlos Santana Oral Fixation, Vol.2 × ×
Don't Bother ×
How Do You Do ×
Dreams For Plans ×
Your Embrace ×
Costume For A Clown ×
Timor ×
La Tortura feat Alejandro Sanz Fijación Oral, Vol.1 ×
La Pared × ×
No feat Gustavo Cerati × ×
Obtener Un Si × ×
Escondite Inglés ×
Las de la Intuición ×
Dia De Enero ×
Lo Imprescindible × ×
Underneath Your Clothes Laundry Service × ×
Objection (Tango) × ×
Rules × ×
Ready For The Good Times × ×
The One ×
Fool ×
Te Dejo Madrid ×
Octavo Día Dónde Están los Ladrones? × ×
Ciega, Sordomuda ×
×
Moscas En La Casa ×
Que Vuelvas ×
Sean Paul Cry Baby Cry feat. Joss Stone & Sean Paul The Trinity × ×
Nelly Furtado Más Mi Plan × ×
Como Lluvia feat. Juan Luis Guerra × ×
Silencio feat. Josh Groban × ×
Vacación × ×
Te Busqué feat. Juanes Loose × ×
Undercover × ×
What I Wanted × ×
For Sure × ×
Nelly Furtado Stars The Best of Nelly Furtado × ×
Enrique Iglesias Sad Eyes Enrique ×
Enrique Iglesias "Quizás" (Enrique Iglesias song) Quizás × ×
Para Qué la Vida × ×
Mentiroso ×
Josh Groban Un Alma Mas feat Arturo Sandoval All That Echoes × ×
E Ti Prometerro feat Laura Pausini × ×
False Alarms ×
Voce Existe Em Mi Illuminations ×
Sam Sparro Return To Paradise Return To Paradise × ×
Adam Lambert Broken English Trespassing × ×
Shady feat Nile Rodgers & Sam Sparro × ×
Donna Summer Be Myself Again Crayons × ×
PlayRadioPlay! Loco Motion Texas ×
Madi ×
Pirate & Princess ×
See U Soon ×
Tooth Decay ×
Attendance ×
Texas ×
Jason Mraz Mr.Curiosity Mr. A–Z ×
Madi Diaz Ghost Rider Phantom × ×
Jewel Forever and a Day (Always) Lullaby ×
Jewel Drive To You Goodbye Alice In Wonderland ×
Stand 0304 × ×
Run 2 U × ×
Intuition × ×
Leave The Lights On × ×
2 Find You × ×
Fragile Heart ×
Doin' Fine × ×
2 Become 1 ×
Haunted × ×
Sweet Temptation ×
Yes U Can ×
U & Me=Love × ×
America × ×
Becoming × ×
Rittz Switch Lanes feat Mike Posner The Life and Times of Jonny Valiant × ×
Oh land Helicopter Oh land × ×
Ladyhawke Human Anxiety ×
Mr Little Jeans Back To You Pocketknife × ×
Far From Home × ×
Katie Noonan Sweet One feat. Sia Emperor's Box ×
Lamya Black Mona Lisa - Single Mix Learning from Falling ×
Anastacia You'll Be Fine Heavy Rotation × ×
Naughty × ×
Same Song ×
All Fall Down ×
The Way I See It ×
Wyclef Jean Three Nights In Rio feat. Carlos Santana The Preacher's Son ×
Mýa Do You Only Want To Dance Dirty Dancing : Havana Nights × ×
Jem It's Amazing Down To Earth × ×
I Want You To × ×
I Always Knew × ×
On Top OF The World × ×
Once in Every Lifetime Eragon × ×
Jeffree Star Get Physical Beauty Killer × ×
Gorgeous × ×
Kiss it Better Single × ×
Jessica Simpson A Public Affair A Public Affair × ×
The Lover In Me ×
Let Him Fly ×
Paulina Rubio Algo De Ti Gran City Pop ×
A Contra Luz ×
Escaleras De Arena ×
Angelique Kidjo Fifa Fifa ×
Akwaba ×

References

  1. "Lester Mendez". grammy.com. The Recording Academy. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  2. "Lester Mendez". latingrammy.com. The Latin Recording Academy. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
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