Jeff Lisenby, accordion;
Chris Brown, drums;
Andy Reiss, guitars; Johannes Gerstengarbe, additional guitars; Glen Caruba, percussion; Matt Davich, woodwinds; Tim Smith, electric bass; Roger Spencer, upright bass; Jeff Taylor, keyboards; Ray Von Rotz, drums; Jaclyn Brown, vocals; Abby Burke, vocals
Influences
Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Dave Grusin, Take 6, Duke Ellington, Tower Of Power
JEFF LISENBY, jazz accordionist extraordinaire. Think “accordion” and “jazz” don’t belong in the same sentence? Just wait, it gets better.
Lisenby, who holds a master’s degree from The Conservatory of Music of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, is no stranger to musical oxymorons. His experience runs the gamut of styles.
He has twice been the national accordion champion and a bronze medalist in the Coupe Mondiale international classical accordion competitions. That may not sound like a big deal to us in the U.S., but in Europe, Russia, Scandinavia, China, and New Zealand, where the accordion is as common as the guitar, it’s huge. But classical music wasn’t the only style he practiced.
“When I was a kid,” Lisenby said, “my goal was to win the world accordion championship, which was for ‘serious’ music. So I was practicing 7-8 hours a day when I was a teenager. I would get tired of practicing the ‘heavy’ music, and then I would start playing pop or jazz standard tunes and improvising on them. It was a good musical mix for me.”
Lisenby used his genius on the accordion and keyboards to carve a niche market for himself, and gained performances with the Nashville, Kansas City, and Los Angeles Symphonies, the Palm Beach Pops Orchestra, and a gig accompanying Luciano Pavarotti during part of his recent U.S. tour.
Certainly not limited to classical music, Lisenby toured extensively with the Mills Brothers, Boots Randolph, and Brenda Lee, and has accompanied Lee Greenwood, Donna Summer, Tricia Yearwood, Three-Dog Night, the Coasters, David Cassidy, Marty Stuart, Jo Dee Messina, Pam Tillis, Loretta Lynn, Roy Clark, and Dolly Parton, to name a few. Apparently the accordion has a place in American popular music after all.
Most recently, Lisenby was honored to be the music director for the Broadway smash hit RING OF FIRE: The Music of Johnny Cash, for which he pulled from his extensive experience backing country artists in Nashville.
Lisenby is also one of the first-call accordionist for recording sessions in Nashville. Projects he has worked on include the Grammy-winning album: “Songs from the Neighborhood; the Music of Mister Rogers”, and jingles for Budweiser and Sutherland’s Lumber (which he also wrote and produced).
When he’s not on the road performing around the country, Lisenby teaches for Belmont University’s School of Music and is active in the Nashville recording scene.
Jeff sending you warm and fuzzy Seasons Greetings from 80 degree FL. Wishing you and your family a MERRY CHRISTMAS.. thank you for your continued friendship.. glitter-graphics. com
Jon to Jeff: Greetings from Times Square NYC Jeff, many thanks for the Add-On, you sound fantastic! Everything's A-OK here...I played on the soundtrack for Mike Myers new movie LOVE GURU and am on mornings on KYOURADIO 1550 AM HammondCast Show. Keep up the great work there Jeff and keep in touch! All the best, Jon http://ascap. com/network/audioportraits/Jon_Hammond_Rent/ *Member AFM Local 802, Local 6 / ASCAP Publisher
Mr. Jeff.. How goes it in your world, hope this finds you in fine fettle..:o).. Just stopping by to see whats happening on your page.. Take care.. your friend.. marie
Hi Jeff... I heard you guys on the radio this evening.. you, Carolyn and rest of the bad bunch sounded absolutely flippin awesome.. what a great version of when you wish upon a star!!!,,, great listenng to you, walt, hoot, Dave and the rest of the gang,,, it brought back great mem'ries xx :)
Shish! don't tell anybody, that's me a couple of years ago, just before I met John Mills. See what old music will do to you. Yeah man let's do some more gigs before I get older. Your Music sounds really good Jeff. I really like that sound.
It's been years since we have worked together....would love to play drums with you again sometime! Thanks for making me part of your universe. Keep on grooving…..
Jeff, I really had a blast playing with you last week. Every time I hear you play I learn a lesson in jazz. Can't wait to play with you again. See ya around.
