Tipp City, Ohio – Lee Dynes and The Jazz Tellers return to the Miami Valley for a Summer Farewell Tour 2011. This talented trio comprises Berklee College of Music scholarship students including Tipp City graduate (2007) Lee Dynes on guitar, Nate Wong on drums and Callum Mackenzie on sax. The Jazz Tellers recently returned from their second consecutive international tour which included stops from New York to Hong Kong. The tour included over 30 dates of live performances as well as clinics and master classes at grade schools, high schools and universities.
Their music is wildly improvisational, interactive and exciting. Recent reviews said “If Count Basie were the king of dynamics than The Jazz Tellers have just kicked him off his throne. This is easily one of the most exciting jazz groups on the planet at the moment” (P. Kelly, Sidney Jazz Guide, 2011); “…trio bursting with young talent” (A. Alonzo, Dayton Daily News, 2010) and “Berklee’s brightest and most promising…” (Dayton City Paper, 2010). The band plays a variety of originals, free improvisations and standards performed in a completely unique way but dripping in jazz tradition. The trio format allows the three to communicate quickly and spontaneously and showcase their agility on their instruments and as a collective group. A review of their recent appearance at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston said “…The trio’s interaction is key to their performance, as they seem to dance around each other, trading roles repeatedly over the course of a single piece.” (The BIRN, 2011).
Great stage performances are nothing new for the guitarist and Dayton native, Lee Dynes. At a very young age, Lee picked up his dad’s guitar and his life changed. He spent his school days absorbing blues, rock and heavy metal and was exposed to his father’s roots: bluegrass and the best of American acoustic. After he heard a Joe Pass recording his relationship with jazz began and grew rapidly. Lee’s talent as a guitarist was evident and he played hundreds of gigs including many memorable evenings at Pacchia Jazz Room and Gilly’s the premiere jazz club in Dayton. Jerry Gillotti, owner of Gilly’s said: “I had heard about this young, gifted guitarist, then when I hard Lee play for the first time, I was just amazed at his ability, his knowledge of the instrument” ( Dayton Daily News, 2008). Lee garnered numerous awards and eventually accepted a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts where he is completing a dual major in Composition and Performance. This year, he signed with Jazz Revelation Records to record his original, “Finding Strength in Change” for the compilation CD, Octave, presenting the finest jazz composers at Berklee. A review of his song included: “Dynes is a wonderful writer and his original tunes feature both his progressive, compositional voice and his acrobatic guitar playing….Dynes seems to have found an excellent balance between ‘straight ahead’ tradition and ‘fusion’ revolution in his musical collaborations (The BIRN, 2011).
A performance by Lee Dynes and The Jazz Tellers promises to be music that is energetic, beautiful, thought provoking and passionate all at once. This will be their last stop in Ohio this year and they will be playing in new live music venues. Come hear them live at the following locations and experience what everyone is talking about.
Friday 8/26/11: Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, OH. 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Friday 8/26/11: Leaf and Vine, Troy OH. 9:00 PM – midnight
Saturday 8/27/11: Heathers Coffee and Cafe, Springboro, OH. 7:00 – 10:00 PM
Sunday 8/28/11: Spinoza’s, Dayton, OH. 7:00-9:30 PM
www.myspace.com/thejazztellers www.myspace.com/leedynes
