Lee Waterman and Jazz Caliente

Lee Waterman - Guitarist, Composer

Lee is originally from New York, where his early interest in music was nurtured by his grandmother, a locally prominent classical pianist. At the age of nine he studied drums and later played in the school band. In his late teens, Lee took up guitar and Latin percussion. For the next several years he studied jazz guitar and music theory with internationally known guitarist and author, Warren Nunes. This strong foundation in the classic jazz styles plus the multicultural influences of percussion studies forged his eclectic compositional style.

Among his credits, Lee has led several Bay-Area based combos throughout the last two decades, has performed with sax great John Handy, and opened for many headliners, including Tito Puente and Pancho Sanchez.

"From samba to mambo, bossa to bolero and bebop - to Lee Waterman's original compositions, Jazz Caliente percolates with West Coast cool." -- Jesse Chuy Varela

http://leewatermanproductions.com/

Melecio Magdaluyo - Tenor and Soprano Sax, Flute, Clarinet, and Congas

Melecio is without doubt one of the finest reed men on the West Coast. He has appeared and recorded with Ray Charles, Tito Puente, Eddy Palmieri, George Coates, Pete Escovedo and John Santos' Machete Ensemble. He and Lee are the founding members of the group and have been working together since 1988.

Michael Wilcox - Electric Bass

Michael has performed with Richie Cole, the Fifth Dimension, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Oakland Eastbay Symphony, Eddie Duran, Jules Broussard, Tom Coster, and Larry Schneider. He was an Adjunct Faculty member in the Jazz Department at San Jose State University for five years (1989-1994) and currently teaches at the Jazzschool in Berkeley.

Michael has appeared twice at Chez Hanny with the Sheldon Brown Group.

Dan Foltz - Drums

Dan is one of the hottest young drummers on the jazz scene today. He plays authentic samba, bossa nova and baiao rhythms of Brazil, as well as many Afro-Cuban, jazz, and popular idioms. His energetic and propulsive style is balanced by his impeccable sense of timing and sound color. Dan is one of the few American drummers to have fully absorbed the sound and accent of Afro-Cuban and Brazilian percussion into his own style. He graduated from the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston in the early nineties.

Dan has Recorded with Alex DeGrassi and toured with Shelby Lynne and Linda Perry. Since coming to the Bay Area he has performed with Lavay Smith the Red Hot Skillet Lickers (5 years), Vivendo De Pao (2 years), and many other top Northern California bands.

Tommy Kesecker-Vibraphone and percussion

Tommy graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and currently records and tours internationally with world renowned group Zakir Hussain and the Rhythm Experience. Other recent projects include "the Different Drums and Percussion Group", which performs for and educates local children.

Tommy has appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival and Russian River Jazz Festival as well as a variety of concert venues throughout the U.S. and beyond.

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