Jeffrey Lien: Performer/Educator
05.04.08 | Spring is in the air!
Hello everyone, I hope you are packing up the winter jackets and getting out in the sun...I know I am, and if you are from Chicago, man it's been a long time coming!
May is an exciting month for me with many gigs throughout the city. If you are interested in hearing some jazz I will be playing at all of the Pete Millers venues throughout the month with the great vocalist Myles Hayes. If music and sports are more your game, you can catch me at the White Sox Games performing on May 20th and June 17th!
I am very excited to announce a headline show at Schuba's with the great Gordon Wright on May 27th, more details to come. Our portion of the show begins at 10pm sharp, but come and check out all the great bands opening. I highly recommend purchasing tickets ahead of time!
I'm happy to report that my teaching studio at Boocoo is gaining great momentum with more students signing up each week. If you, or anyone you know, is interested in learning how to play drums or sharpening up their already awesome skills then please contact me at jeffreyliendrums@gmail.com to set up a time.
Lastly, Thank you for visiting as always, and please drop me a note in the guestbook section so I know you stopped by.
Thanks
Jeff
02.28.08 | Schuba's Hoot Night, The Chancey Brothers and More!
Special thanks go out to rock god Tommi Zender for involving me in Hoot Night at Schuba's this year...what a blast! The night was filled with some great performers and some very "interesting" songs based on the concert theme of Streisand vs. Violence...ya, you read that right. For the Barbara Streisand moment we played a nice little jazz standard of "As Time Goes By" allowing Tommi to stretch out into some unchartered territory..followed by a trashy rocking version of Richard Thompson's "Shoot Out The Lights", for our violence portion of the evening! It was a blast and the host, Tom Dunning is a nut!
By the way, for those of you that would like to get your Irish bar songs on I am performing with the great band 'The Chancey Brothers' throughout March...I'm officially Jeff Chancey! We will be performing everywhere from your neighborhood Irish pubs to the southside parade, so come on out for a good time! Erin Go Braugh!
If a jazzy night is what you're looking for, I'm at Pete Millers in Schaumburg every Thursday night with vocal crooner Myles Hayes as well as a few other locations around the city in March. Towards the end of the month I'll be with Chris Greene's great group out at Philanders, always a good time.
Hope all is well..can you feel the spring coming!
Jeff
02.12.08 | Congratulations Herbie Hancock!
A big event in the history of Jazz and the music industry occurred this past Sunday... finally someone got it right! Click the link to the right of the page to watch!
01.16.08 | Happy New Year
Hello everyone and thank you for visiting the site. Lots of exciting things going on and I feel the most inspired I have felt in some time!
With the new year came many new changes. For one, I decided to transition out of the masters in jazz studies major at DePaul into something that I am very interested in, business and entrepreneurship. For the past few months I have been developing an e-commerce site which assists musicians in the management of their careers. The hardest part I feel was taking the idea and turning it into a viable business plan, but I am happy to say that this past week I have made some great headway. I believe that this new website will be a break-thru service for musicians, and being a musician myself, I can see exactly where this could be a very valuable resource.
In performing news, January is going to be an eclectic month. January 24th I will be performing with the Myles Hayes Quartet at Pete Millers in Evanston. On January 27 I will be performing at Vintage Wine Bar with my good friend Roger Panella. And on January 30th will be an outstanding show with singer/songwriter Gordon Wright at Schubas! If you can make any of these shows I'd love to see you.
jeffreylien.com will be undergoing some changes in the next month or so to include more information on my teaching practice and hopefully bring in some new features.
I wish all of you the best in the new year, and I look forward to seeing you at a gig!
Peace
Jeff
11.15.07 | Happy Holidays
Hello everyone-
I haven't updated in a while, so here goes...
I was playing a gig the other day with Tommi Zender and the Trinkets of Joy, where we were opening up for the great Howard Levy... After the gig, I was standing at the bar with my wife and up comes an fellow who I recognized, but didn't know why. Turns out it's Gordon Wright of the band 'Fooled By April' (a popular band back in Boston). While I was in Boston, I remember playing opposite Gordon and his band, but we had never met... So, turns out that Gordon has moved to Chicago with his wife Karen, and is performing and working around the area. Long story short, we have decided to start working together. Gordon is an outstanding singer/songwriter and a very cool character, so I'm excited for the opportunity. We had our first gig at the Uncommon Ground in Chicago last month, but you can catch us again there on Dec. 18th. The band also includes keyboardist Aric Jacouver. You can check Gordon out at www.gordonwrightmusic.com
The holiday season is approaching fast, which means two things to musicians in Chicago...
1. Its going to get cold
2. The gigs are going to come in a little slower
Thankfully my gigs haven't dried up, but I remember last January and February being a pretty slow time. So to take advantage of this time, I am developing a great new e-commerce website for working artists/musicians/entrepreneurs. It is quite the undertaking, but it is going to be such a cool resource, so I'm excited. I will keep updating you on how its going, and soon will probably be using some of the frequent guests on this site for beta testing!
As always, I am very thankful for those of you who I have been working with this year. It is always a pleasure to be working with great singer/songwriters like Gordon Wright & Tommi Zender, along with jazz musicians like Eric Koppa, Marc Piane, Damian Espinosa, Chris Greene, Clark Sommers, etc... I'm constantly learning from these guys and I look forward to future work.
In sad news, my good friend John Thomas, who is an outstanding writer and guitarist, has left Chicago in pursuit of higher callings...best of luck John in your journey, I'll miss the german beer houses and bowling!
Peace,
Jeff
09.11.07 | Update
Hello everyone, and thanks for stopping by the site! Who me, busy? Well, a little more now that I'm doing a Masters at DePaul in Jazz Studies. It's been nice to meet some new faces down there, and I look forward to working with the students and faculty over these next six quarters.
I have been staying busy playing with some great groups around town, and teaching some talented students. For those of you who are 21 and under and aren't able to see me at my club dates, I have an all-ages show coming up this friday! This Friday September 14th, I will be playing with "Tommi Zender and the Trinkets of Joy" at Bill's Blue's Bar in Evanston for an ALL-AGES concert... I will be hitting the stage at 8:45pm, so come on out, bring the family and enjoy some great live rock music.
Thanks for signing the guestbook, as it's always great to hear from all of you. Please go out and support live music, and if you get a chance come out to one of my shows. As always, if you are interested in drum lessons, or know someone who is, please drop me a line at jeffreyliendrums@gmail.com or sign the guestbook!
Thanks
Jeff
08.16.07 | Rest in Peace Max Roach
A moment of silence for the late great Max Roach...
Rest in Peace Max!
07.10.07 | Busy Week
Hi everyone, thanks for stopping by the website. This is a busy week in Chicago for me w/ several performances and recording sessions coming up. Last night was a fun recording session with bassist Marc Piane, and close friend and recent Chicago transplant, Roger Panella on guitar. Roger and I played in a trio together back in Boston, and he also graduated from Berklee. He is a close friend and an outstanding creative musician, and I'm sure you will be hearing his name around town. www.rogerpanella.com
Other performances coming up will be with Shawn Salmon's Trio, Damian Espinosa, vocalist Miles Hayes, and Tommi Zender's Band.
In teaching news, I have moved to a new studio in Evanston, where I am on faculty with a very cool arts organization, Boocoo (www.boocoo.org). I am sharing the studio with drum greats Ted Sirota, and Tim Daisy, and am excited to move my students over to this brand new space. If you are interested in lessons, please contact me on this site via the guestbook or by emailing me at jeffreyliendrums@gmail.com.
Thanks for stopping by!
Jeff
06.10.07 | Time for an update!
Greetings from sunny Chicago! I hope all of you are doing well, and enjoying this nice break from freezing wind and penguin movies. Speaking of movies, I have two great suggestions for you, "Once", and "Before the Music Dies". "Once" is a movie about two singer/songwriters, played by...get this...actual singer/songwriters. Wow, a music movie without lip synching by famous hollywood starlets... Honestly, and I don't say this often, but music lovers should rush out and see this, because this is about as acurate as it gets! Oustanding and very powerful, with an absolutely brilliant soundtrack. "Before the Music Dies" is a documentary about the music business and it's current state of disrepair, showcasing interviews with people like Branford Marsalis, Eric Clapton, Eryka Badu, etc...all giving their thoughts on the major label problem and Clear Channel.
In professional news... I've been continuing to play with various groups around the greater Chicago area. I always seem to attract the vocalists, and these past few months have included some great ones including gigs w/ Heather Moran, Lori McLain, Lady T, and saxophonist/vocalist Juli Wood. Instrumental groups have included the Damian Espinosa Trio, Chris Greene Quartet, Zaragoza, Tommi Zender, and the Shawn Salmon Trio. All of these groups have been great to perform with, and I look forward to more work with these great musicians.
I'm in the beginning stages of putting together a few of my own ensembles, which I will begin booking around August. In other exciting news, 'The Jazz Mentor Program', which is a jazz outreach program that I have been building for the past year, is starting to make some good headway, and I'm hoping for a launch of this new business by March 2008.
In teaching news, I will be moving my teaching over to a brand new percussion studio on Church and Dodge in Evanston, IL, under a company named Boocoo. I will be sharing this studio with drummers Ted Sirota, and Tim Daisy, and I'm excited about the new digs. For more information on this new studio and other programs I will be involved in, please visit www.boocoo.org.
When do I sleep you ask...not too much.
Peace y'all, and keep doing what makes you happy!
Jeff
04.25.07 | Spring is here!
Happy spring to you, and thank you for stopping by the site. It is month 10 since first arriving in Chicago, and I'm still going strong! With the exception of some very chilly days and gail force winds off of Lake Michigan, I have enjoyed my time getting to know this new city and musicians.
In CD release news, I have two new CD's that were released this month; Pablo Picker's "170 nails dropped...", and Zack Orr's "Francisco The Man". If you are not familiar with these artists please visit www.pablosound.com and www.zackorr.com... I can't say enough good things about these guys, both CD's are for sale, so get them while they last!
In April and May I will be performing a lot with various groups around Chicago. Coming this week I will be performing at the Abbey w/ rock star Tommi Zender, jazz w/ singer Lori McLain, and jazz with saxophonist Chris Greene's Quartet. Keep checking the calendar for shows!
I've amped up my practicing a great deal during the cold winter months, and it feels great. Currently I'm focusing on Bob Kaufman's great book "The Art of Drumming", and transcribing Lewis Nash, Elvin, and Bill Stewart.
Thanks again for visiting, and keep checking in for updates!
Peace
Jeff
01.06.07 | Happy New Year
Happy New Year! This is officialy the beginning of my seventh month in Chicago. Since moving here in July 2006, I have been grateful to meet and perform with some great musicians, and make some good friends along the way. I'm looking forward to a busy 2007, and hope to see some of you at upcoming performances!
I had a great new years eve with the Chris Greene Quartet, headlining as part of Evanstons "First Night" celebration. Chris' quartet consists of Marc Piane on Bass, Damian Espinosa on Piano, and Chris on Saxophone...outstanding musicians! I was filling in for their regular drummer, Tyrone Blair! This group is fun to play with and reminds me of a group I used to play with back in Boston... a little bit funky, a little bit hardbop, all energy...which is what I love.
This february and march I have a few tours in the works, so I hope that will bring me closer to some of you, more details on that later.
I am continuing to build up my teaching studio, and am looking foward to working with some great students in the new year! If you are visiting the site for the first time and are interested in lessons, please contact me and we will set up a time to chat.
In the new year I will be setting up my own hardbop/new standard group, so I will make sure and let everyone know the details on that.
peace to everyone, and keep checking back here and www.myspace.com/jeffreyliendrums for updates!
Jeff
11.09.06 | Happy Holidays
Happy Holidays everyone, and thank you for visiting the site!
I'm nearing month four in Chicago, and things are getting busier and busier, and colder and colder! I'm blessed to be working with several groups, both live and in the studio, and I'm excited to work with even more new faces in the coming months.
Special thanks go out to drummers Ted Sirota and Tyrone Blair for hooking me up with jobs they need a sub on. You should check out both of these guys, both great drummers and people. Recently I played a gig with Eddie Harrison and the Jump Stars, which was a great experience, probably the funkiest rhythm sections I've worked with. Tonight I rehearsed for a cool show called 500 Clowns. 500 Clowns is a theater production, that is taking place at the Storefront Theater in the Theater District of Chicago. Basically it is three clowns/acrobats/dare devils, trying to put together a christmas party... sorta Blue Man Groupish mixed in with songs, etc.. I am subbing some nights for this show, so watch the schedule for details, should be fun! Last year every night was sold out, so get your tickets early if you want to come.
In the next two months I have some cool work coming up with saxophonist Eric Koppa, Emily White Group, and in December another recording session, this time with experimental musician Patrick Quinn.
If I don't update this section before Christmas, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukah, oh yah, Happy Thanksgiving too.
10.06.06 | Busy
Hey everyone, thanks for visiting! I am reaching the three month mark here in Chicago, and things are going quite well. Drop me a line and let me know how all of you are doing... I'm working with some talented individuals and bands lately including: Emily White Band, Peacock Theory, David Rothstein Group, Damian Espinosa Trio, Chris Greene Quartet (as a sub), and John Thomas Trio.
On Monday I will be doing my first internet recording session with my good friend and talented singer/songwriter Zack Orr. Zack will be submitting to South By Southwest Music Festival, which takes place in Austin, TX in March. I've played it before with Beth Boucher, and I'm hoping to play it again. The recordings will also be used for Zack's newest CD release.
Keeping you updated, write me some notes!
Jeff
09.09.06 | New Teaching Studio, Sign up Today!
As of today, I am available for lessons in the historic and beautiful 'Fine Arts Building, located near Millinnium Park and The Art Institute of Chicago. Please visit the 'teaching' page for further details. Special thanks go out to vocalist/actor/educator Jill Gabrielle, www.jillanngabrielle.com for sharing the space with me and my students!
Jeffrey Lien Music
Fine Arts Building
410 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60605
www.fineartsbuildingchicago.com
09.08.06 | The Windy City
Greetings to all, and thanks for visiting the website! Chicago is beautiful this time of year, and i'm enjoying the lake, the millions of parks, and the public art that is spread throughout the city.
I have enjoyed meeting with new people, and especially with fellow musicians as I get aquainted with this city. My thanks go out to those who have allowed me to sit in on their regular gigs, those who have given me gigs, and those who have been nice enough to introduce me around. Special thanks to Ted Sirota, Jordan Baskin, Chris Greene, John Thomas, Oz, Scott Burns, Kyle Asche, Damian Espinosa, Marc Piane, Jonathan Gaska, Emily White, Jake Vinsel, and many others, you know how to make a guy feel welcome.
This past week I met a wonderful singer/songwriter by the name of Emily White. Emily is a fellow Berklee alum out here in Chicago, and a multi-talented woman. A lot of my work in Boston was with some tremendous folk singer/songwriters, and I'm happy to keep that alive in Chicago. Emily and I will be working together in the coming months, so please check the site for showtimes.
Enjoy the final days of summer, and I will keep you updated on my doings!
Peace,
Jeff
08.31.06 | Thanks to Chris Greene
As I have been getting settled into town, I have met some great people... One in particular is saxophonist Chris Greene. I first met Chris when I was a house drummer at jam session in Chicago, and last week I performed with him at a club in Evanston. To say the least, Chris is a powerhouse saxophonist, great entertainer, and overall excellent guy. Check out his website at www.chrisgreenejazz.com. Thanks to his wonderful band, Marc Piane - Bass and Damian Espinosa - Piano, and to Tyrone for letting me sit in for him.
I'm off to see Brian Blade w/ Josh Redman tonight! Hope all is well, please drop me a line if you get a chance.
Peace
Jeff
07.30.06 | Upcoming Chicago appearences
Greetings from my new home of Chicago. I am happy to report that I am unpacked, and ready for action. I have already met some wonderful musicians, and have played in a few jam sessions. I have some new gigs, so check the itenerary section. I will also be adding in more information to the teaching section of the site, as I will be teaching out of a great studio on the North Shore.
Thanks for stopping by
Jeff
07.11.06 | Farewell to Boston, Hello Chicago!
Thank you for visiting the site! This has been a crazy summer to say the least, and there are two big news items to report. First and foremost, I got married on June 24th to my beautiful wife Erin, and it was an amazing and perfect day. For those of you who were in attendance, it was great to see you, so much fun.
The second set of news is that I will be relocating from Boston to Chicago effective July 14th. I have loved my time here in Boston, especially my years at Berklee College of Music, but there is a time to go, so i am venturing out with my wife and cat to the Windy City. Thank you to all of my friends and mentors from Berklee (you know who you are), my students at Bosse School of Music, and to the people I have performed with regularly including: the beautiful Beth Boucher, Andrew Doolittle, Jehu Goder, Mike Murray, Jonah Kraut, Neil Lawrence, Pablo Picker, Roger Panella, Sven Larson, Keith Greenfield, Zach Orr, Tim Paul Weiner, Jonathan Hart Price, Paul Im, Ian Rapien, Jeremy Ragsdale, Rachel Praino, Christy Bluhm...etc. etc...to name a few...I've been blessed and honored to have shared the stage with you fine musicians.
I'll keep everyone updated as I move on to Chicago! Please stay in touch!
Peace
Jeff
05.26.06 | More Recordings
Hey everyone, thanks for visiting the site. Last I wrote, I was finnishing up the drum tracks for Pablo Pickers album, and I'm happy to say we completed them today. It really turned out amazing, and we plan on many more in the future. I have also been asked to perform on a few other recordings, which will make a total of six recordings in the past six weeks...
I completed a demo for singer Trina Aitken last week, where I played drums and also engineered the tracks, a first for me using both my 16 track and Logic. Tommorow I will be performing on a jazz trio recording with my fellow bandmates Roger Panella, and Sven Larson. Sometime in the next week I will be performing on the new release by singer/songwriter Zack Orr. A student of mine, and a great guitarist Jamie Harrison, will be putting together his demo to audition for Musicians Institute of Technology. I will be joined by guitarist Ron Bosse, and bassist Ervin Dhimo.
Hope everyone is well, and keep checking the site for updates. I've enjoyed the messages in the guestbook.
05.03.06 | Recording
This past weekend I performed on two new albums, one with the fantastic singer/songwriter Pablo Picker, and another with my regular rock group Mike Murray and the Secret Service.
Pablo and I have been working on this album for close to two years, and I'm proud of the work we have put in. The vision of the record is clear, and I think that it was a great journey to produce it. We still have a song or two to add some drums on, but it should be complete within the next few weeks.
Mike Murray and the Secret Service spent the weekend in Lowell, MA just north of Boston working on the new record, "The Drunken Prayer Sessions". This will be a collection of some of Mike's older repertoire mixed in with several of his new songs. We recorded everything live to digital, with one bass drum mic, one snare drum mic, and one overhead...no click track, so what you hear is what you get, and it turned out great!
Both albums should be do out in late summer/early fall, so keep your ears out for them. I'll post info on where you can purchase these albums online, as well as put up a few sample sound clips.
Peace
Jeff
04.16.06 | A few things to check out
Hey everyone, welcome to the new site...If you have time, click on the contact page and give me a shout, it will appear in the guestbook section.
Last night I went to the Somerville Theater in Davis Square to see one of my favorite bands of all time, Solas. It was my second time seeing them, and I almost had to miss it, but my gig got cancelled. For those of you familiar with irish trad. music, then you know exactly who these guys are, but if you don't, check out www.solasmusic.com... What an unbelievable show! The musicianship was over the top and it was awesome to see the vast array of people that attended the show. A friend of mine Antje Duvekot, who is an absolutely incredible singer/songwriter, www.antjeduvekot.com, was there to perform with the group, who uses her songs often.
In my news, I will be headed into the studio to begin work on Mike Murray's new CD, as well as finnishing up a long awaited CD with Pablo Picker. Outside of this, I have also been doing some great work with guitarist Roger Panella and Sven Larson, the Solstice jam session band. We have been rehearsing some original work, and hopefully will be laying down some tracks in the coming weeks. I'll post the tracks from all the upcoming CD's as soon as they are complete.
I hope all is well with everyone, I will try and update this site weekly, and let you know where you can see upcoming performances.
Peace
Jeff
04.09.06 | Brand New Site
Thank you for visiting the new jeffreylien.com. The pages are still under construction, but please look around, and let me know what you think!
Thanks
Jeff
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