Camille Dunham Lewis was born in Marion, SC but grew up in Columbia. The only child of a minister and a teacher, as expected, she went on to college. She
graduated in 1946 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Bennett College, an all-girls college located in Greensboro, NC. Shortly after graduation, she came to Omaha to play for the wedding of one of her classmates, another “Bennett Belle”… fell in love… and never left!
A consummate pianist, Camille was trained in both jazz and legit. Legit was a term referring to classical music, back in the day. Her varied musical interests led her to powerful influences in both genres. From Beethoven and Haydn, to Debussy, Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky, her classical library was quite varied. Classically trained it surprised no one that there were many famous piano pieces that she could actually play, such as Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" and Debussy's "Claire d' Lune."
Her influences were many. There was the Duke, Count Basie, Broadway musicals and let's not forget the singers! Dinah Washington, Dakota Staton, Nancy Wilson, Nina Simone, Dionne Warwick, Joe Williams and many others awakened her passion to sing. The result was that Camille became a professional piano player and vocal artist.
Early in her musical career, she played in many bands with her husband, Richard “Dick” Lewis, and others. Striking out on her own, this tour-de-force took her touring all over the mid-West piano bar circuit (Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming) where she was known simply as "Camille D."
Around Omaha you could find her making extended appearances in places like the Del Rio Bar, the Fountain Room at Peter Kewit Plaza, and the Blackstone Hotel to name a few.
It could be said that Camille’s traveling schedule in the 1960’s rivaled that of many 21st Century professional working women. In spite of a hectic travel schedule, Camille was a working Mom who was known to host Boy’s Scout and Camp Fire Girl meetings. She was a long time member of St. Phillips Episcopal Church and active in St. Perpetual’s Guild.
Health issues curtailed Camille’s traveling and ultimately her local playing. However, for her the love and enjoyment of the music never stopped. She relentlessly followed the career of her son, Victor Lewis, the world renowned drummer. Although she embraced all types of music, for some reason she was partial to saxophone players such as Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Grover Washington, David Sanborn, and Stanley Turrentine. Perhaps she was influenced by another saxophone player in her life…Dick Lewis.
