Fans of in your face, honest to goodness, rockin’ jazz fusion better get ready for an explosive earful during the George Lesiw Band’s sets at Spaghettini Italian Grill and Jazz Club in Seal Beach on March 25th and The Baked Potato in Studio City on March 27th. On March 25th, the band also will be interviewed live from Spaghettini’s on 94.7 The WAVE’s Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch show with Barbara Blake. The WAVE’s music is firmly focused on new, emerging artists in the contemporary jazz and pop fields.
The George Lesiw Band had a very successful 2006 with a growing number of tour dates throughout the Northeast playing such famed venues as New York City’s The Knitting Factory and Zebulon in Brooklyn, NY. Also, their music was featured on FOX 11′s News half-hour Special, “Songs of Our Success,” that celebrated Black History Month. The band is extending their success into 2007 with their upcoming tour dates on the West Coast.
Ask any of their legion of fans–there’s nothing like hearing The George Lesiw Band live. But the group’s dynamic debut CD Anuta Was Here is a perfect snapshot of a multi-faceted, adventurous unit that’s constantly evolving and charting new territory. The artistically expansive project combines the true improvisational essence of jazz, the daring electricity of classic guitar-based fusion and the gritty fire of rockin’ blues.
Before George Lesiw, Preston Murphy and Gil Hawkins, Jr formed the George Lesiw Band, they collectively opened for or played with these performers: Luther “Guitar” Junior Johnson (Muddy Waters’ former guitarist), Chieli Minucci, Dave Valentine, Donald Harrison, Debbie Davies, Etta James, Jason Palmer Quartet, Dave Tronzo Trio, Dizzy Gillespie, and a host of others.
Katie Probert of UK Webzine Subba-Cultcha.com said of Anuta Was Here: “Each player is quite extraordinary – exceptionally skilled and accomplished musicians… They use the basic format of jazz, and then push it and manipulate it, throwing in a town of fresh, electrifying energy and seasoning.”