Vinx

In 1990, while sheltering from rain inside a Santa Monica club, Sting caught a performance by Vinx that prompted an immediate record deal and his involvement as producer on the debut album Rooms in My Fatha's House. Vinx had already worked as a percussionist with Taj Mahal in 1978, yet his earlier focus had been on elite-level triple jumping; he recorded the world’s second-best mark in 1980 only to see the United States boycott the Moscow Olympics, then suffered an injury at the 1984 Olympic trials in Los Angeles that redirected him toward a career as vocalist and percussionist.

He subsequently recorded and toured alongside Ernie Watts, Rickie Lee Jones, and Toni Childs, later assembling his own ensemble of drummers for a European circuit that included a Montreux Jazz Festival slot positioned between Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter. Upon returning to Los Angeles, the chance encounter with Sting led to Vinx serving as opener throughout the singer’s year-long world tour after Rooms in My Fatha's House appeared in 1991. Follow-up releases I Love My Job in 1992 and The Storyteller in 1993 secured stage appearances alongside Herbie Hancock, Baaba Maal, King Sunny Ade, Me'shell NdegeOcello, Cracker, and additional artists; Vinx also exchanged studio contributions with Cassandra Wilson and Stevie Wonder, both among the prominent guests featured on his recordings.

Lips Stretched Out arrived in 1996 on Vinx’s own Internet label, coinciding with the formation of the Jungle Funk side project alongside former Living Colour rhythm section members Will Calhoun and Doug Wimbish. The trio signed with German label ESC Records in 1998 and later reached North American audiences via Zebra Records. That same year Vinx launched the separate Big 'n' Round endeavor, which issued its self-titled album in 1999.