NEWS ARTICLES ABOUT lee genesis
THE BOSTON GLOBE
By Marc Hirsh
Globe Correspondent / January 11, 2008
Lee Genesis At: Johnny D's, Wednesday (second set)
An ageless mix of jazz and blues
SOMERVILLE - "Praise and worship only last 15 minutes," said Lee Genesis more than an hour into his second show Wednesday night at Johnny D's. "This is like a workout." Certainly, the exertion he put into his mix of jazz, R&B, funk, and blues for two 90-minute sets would have been enough to make anybody feel a bit winded. Anybody except, perhaps, Genesis himself. Despite his comment, there was nothing about the performance that suggested the 65-year-old found the effort the least bit taxing. Indeed, it was hard to believe at times that the man with the soulful delivery and a constant, irrepressible bounce had reached retirement age. Genesis performed with the hunger, but not the desperation, of someone at the start of his career.
The show didn't feel like a homecoming, which it was, considering Genesis was a mainstay on the local music scene in the 1970s with his band, Heat. Nor did it seem like a warm-up for an important New York showcase later this month or a celebration of his overdue debut album, "The Soul of Lee Genesis." And it was all the better for it. Instead, sidestepping most of the lost-legend worship that has accompanied Bettye LaVette and Sharon Jones, a loose Genesis simply led a crack band that pumped out one tight groove after another like the thought just occurred to him.
The songs ranged from the jazzy ballad "How Do You Say Goodbye" to the upbeat, shuffling nightclub
funk of "Told You So." "In My Darkest Hour" and "A Simple Act of Faith" tilted toward overproduced '80s pop and R&B, but Genesis saved them with the soulfulness of a voice that had just a hint of grit and a dollop of butter, smooth and raspy at the same time. He emphasized the latter on a funky blues where he called out a key and a tempo and let the band figure it out. (It turned out to be "Stormy Monday," but not quite.) He admitted afterward that the song was simply "a stretch," but if it was simply to kill time, the band did a fine job of it. Each of the musicians got at least one spotlight through the show, as did backing vocalists LaTasha S. Jordan and Stazee Burnett, who each tore up the stage during a cover of Al Green's "Love and Happiness." By then, Genesis had left the stage and sat down at a table to watch. But he still kept moving.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
PRIMED
Lee Genesis at Johnny D's, January 9, 2008
By JON GARELICK
January 15, 2008 4:06:51 PM
Lee Genesis
Even among the greatest soul singers, there are probably few who can work a sermon about the evils of the sub-prime-mortgage fiasco into a song and make it hip. But Lee Genesis did it in the first of his two sets at Johnny D’s a week ago Wednesday. He had sung a couple of verses of his original “Reachout,” with his excellent band and two back-up vocalists cooking behind him, when he got to the part of the song where soul singers traditionally take it down and talk to the people. With spare keyboard accompaniment, he flowed through the state of
the election year, the mortgage mess, and the need for something different (“I don’t care who it
is, just bring the difference!”), and without dropping a beat he came out into the song’s lyrics
about the need for people’s voices to be heard: “Here we are!”
Genesis came through Boston like a comet more than three decades ago — landing at the
Wilbur Theatre with the touring company of Godspell in 1972 and sticking around through the
Blizzard of ’78 before heading back to New York. In the meantime, he was everywhere: with
his soul band Heat, with the jazz-funk group Ghetto Mysticism, showing up at clubs all over town to sit in with the night’s band and bring down the house with his electrifying gospel
falsetto.
The years have taken a little bit of the power off that falsetto (he’s worked in and out of music
since his Boston days), but he still commands the stage like a man imbued with the spirit.
Handsome and trim at 65, with the shiny bald pate he had 30 years go, he kicked, danced, and
joked, and he pushed the falsetto for all it was worth at the climax of his songs of uplift. The
line-up included two musicians from Heat, guitarist Dave Acker (now in New York) and bassist
Tim Ingles (the George Porter Jr. of Boston), plus keyboardist Frank Wilkins, drummer Jim
Arnold, and tenor-sax Chuck Langford. Along with his own pieces from his new The Soul of
Lee Genesis (Burger Platters), Genesis sang Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love” and Al Green’s
“Love and Happiness.” For a night, Johnny D’s was a soul church.
THE SOUL OF LEE GENESIS NEWSCLIPS
Lee Genesis Returns to Boston
by Kay Bourne
EDGE Contributor
Wednesday Jan 2, 2008
Lee Genesis bopped around the specially constructed rink at the Coliseum in New York on roller
skates. "I got talked into doing this," the singer admits. It was the height of the disco era, the 80ties,
and Genesis was a featured singer on a program of Polygram Records’ Delite artists - The Crown Heights Affair and Kool & The Gang, among others. Genesis with his group Site, four back up skaters and singers, two guys and two girls, swirled around the floor to his hits "Love Either Grows or Goes" and "I Want To Do It."
Grace Jones, however, was wobbly. The statuesque
black Jamaican film actor (May Day in James Bond
spy pic "A View To A Kill" 1985) and high fashion
model hadn’t had the advantage of skating lessons
beforehand. Gamely, she pushed towards Genesis,
her mood less than celebratory. She at 5’10 1⁄2 ";
Genesis maybe three or four inches shorter. A lady
with a temper, Jones in 1981 had slapped chat show
host Russell Harty across the face live on air after he
turned to interview other guests. As Genesis recalls
that performance what stands out in his memory is
Grace Jones shakily coming at him, as she snarls
"Don’t you let me fall!"
Genesis is acclaimed as a singer of many styles from
Broadway show tunes to complex jazz compositions,
performing at jazz fests internationally and with such
as dates at the Knitting Factory with free jazz
keyboardist Cecil Taylor, to R&B and gospel. He
teamed up with major dejay disco entrepreneur Bob
Sinclair, Jr. to do "My Only Love" (1998).
Genesis originally traveled to Boston with the New
York production of the musical "Godspell," which
settled into the Wilbur Theater for a two year run.
After bringing down the house for seven months with
"We Beseech Thee," the singer branched out, forming
a band, Heat, and performing with some of the area’s
greats such as Stanton Davis’s Ghetto Mysticism and
George Russell’s Living Time Orchestra. Jazz titan
Russell called Genesis his "secret weapon" because
when Lee sang, he brought the crowd to their feet
cheering.
With a sparkling new CD to his name "The Soul of Lee
Genesis," the singer returns to Boston for a rare
Boston appearance. Jan. 9 sees him with two shows,
8:30 and 10:30 pm, at Johnny D’s Uptown Restaurant
& Music Club, 17 Holland St. in Davis Sq., Somerville.
Genesis will be rocking with a band that sports stand-
outs Frank Wilkins on piano, Chuck Langford on tenor,
Dave Acker on guitar, Jim Arnold on drums, and Tim
Ingles on bass, with New York back-up singers
LaTasha S. Jordan and Stacy Burnett. Admission is
free but reservations for a table and dinner are
recommended; you can phone 617-776-2004 or go
on-line at Johnny D’s Uptown Restaurant & Music Club
website.
That performance is followed by a New York concert
date Tues., Jan. 22 at the sit-down supper club
Highline Ballroom, 431 W. 16th St. in Manhattan’s
Chelsea neighborhood. The night begins at 7:30 with
top house performer Barbara Tucker whose "Love
Vibrations" is a current hit. Tucker works with the
noted production team Masters At Work - Little Louie
Vega & Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez, a relationship that’s
produced "Deep Inside," "Beautiful People," "I Get
Lifted," "Stop Playing With My Mind," and "Stay
Together." After her show, she’ll emcee Genesis’s.
Out as a gay man for decades, and with the same
partner, Bob Leach, for 30 years, Genesis uses
Leach’s art for his CD covers and operates a 44 foot
printer to digitalize Leach’s art into posters and giclee
print fine art.
Born in Brooklyn to rigorous preacher parents,
Genesis began his singing career in Pentecostal
churches. (His father had been one of the famous
Selah Jubilee Singers who recorded extensively in the
30ties and 40ties.) But Genesis says living by that
sect’s restrictions which denied his sexuality made
him feel "so bound, so guilt ridden. I want to love
God and still live life."
He found the church for him with Reverend Ike,
founder and pastor of Christ United Church with its
philosophy of the science of living. Rev. Ike’s church
in New York is the block long Palace Cathedral at
175th and Broadway, a gorgeous facility that
Carnegie Hall used when it did its 3 day fund raiser to
renovate its building.
"Rev. Ike is interested in the betterment of his
congregant’s minds and believes in leaving their
personal lives alone," says Genesis. Genesis became
the director of music for the popular television
evangelist, a paid position he recently left to devote
himself to making a pair of CDs, the second of which
will be a jazz excursion.
When Genesis looks back over his years as a singer,
he finds that the rewards for plumbing so many styles
is "that I understand my music better; I can
differentiate my music from everyone else’s. I’m a
chameleon. Now I’ve taken the time to shut down
and out of that reflection I am singing as myself. Yet I
am just as excited about singing as I was as a
teenager."
The Return of Lee Genesis
Wednesday, 09 January 2008
Wed. Jan. 9
“I lived here for five years and left after the Blizzard
of ’78,” says soul/R&B/gospel singer Lee Genesis.
“When I thawed out, I got out.” Genesis ha
d been on Broadway, singing in “Godspell,” and came
to Boston when it went on the road. The show played
11 months and Genesis decided to stay. He formed
the R&B band Heat, and played many of the areas
clubs. But he was drawn back to New York, where he
worked a day job as an accountant and as a music
director for Rev. Ike, an evangelist. (He still
volunteers for Ike.) But, at 65, Genesis is jumping
back on stage – he has two free shows at Johnny
D’s Wed. Jan. 9 at 8:30 and 10:30 - and has
recorded his first (!) solo album, “The Soul of Lee
Genesis.” It’s a classic mix of old-school soul and
R&B, most of the songs originals. He has a house
remix version of the CD coming soon, too. The album
is put out by Al Hemberger’s Burger Platter label –
Hemberger also does work for “American Idol.”
Genesis says Hemberger’s been bugging him for
years to do this.
Genesis is an eclectic artist. He’s sung jazz, gospel,
rock. He’s started singing professionally at 32 –
already too old for music business execs to sign him,
says Genesis – and has sung on many stages and
albums. “Everybody I performed with or worked with
has six or seven albums,” he says. “I never went at
music full time,” he says. So, now as most people his
age are retiring, Genesis is taking the stage. He says
the album’s been getting played by “the international
blues community” even though some American blues
djs find the mix “too soulful.” Imagine ... At any rate,
you can hear what Genesis does with this no-risk, no-
risk gig at Johnny D’s. Pick an early or late show –
they will consist of the same material, mostly music
drawn from the new album. (While admission is free,
you might want to reserve a table, and thus, dinner,
to assure yourself a good vantage point.)
17 Holland St., Somerville, 617-776-2004
www.johnnyds.com
going
Sue
invites you to
The Soul of Lee Genesis
Wed 1/9/08 (8:30PM) at Johnny D's Uptown 17
Holland St. , Somerville, MA
LB Productions announces a rare Boston appearance
of singer Lee Genesis at Johnny D’s Uptown
Restaurant & Music Club* [ http://www.johnnyds.com]
located at 17 Holland Street, Davis Square, Somerville,
MA 02144] on Wednesday, January 9 at 8:30 and
10:30 p.m. Admission is FREE, but reservations for a
table and dinner are recommended [$10 minimum at
table seating]! Call: 617-776-2004. *Johnny D’s is
wheelchair accessible except for the restrooms.
WBOS 92.0 fm's Holly Harris will host this evening!
This is one band that is sure to rock out Davis Square
night owls! The band members include: Frank Wilkins
on keyboards, Chuck Langford on tenor, Dave Acker on
guitar, Tim Ingles on bass, Jim Arnold on drums and
two New York-based backup singers: LaTasha S.
Jordan and Stacy Burnette.
And, Genesis has a hot new CD on Burger Platters
entitled: The Soul of Lee Genesis. For musical samples
go to: www.leegenesis.com.
Cost: FREE! Official Site: http://www.johnnyds.com
New England Entertainment
Digest - Online
Offered by JAC Publishing & Promotions - Serving
New England Since 1979
The Soul of Lee
Genesis: Rare Boston
Appearance by Soul
Titan
SOMERVILLE, MA: LB Productions announces a rare
Boston appearance of singer Lee Genesis at Johnny
Dís Uptown Restaurant & Music Club*
[ www.johnnyds.com ] located at 17 Holland Street
on January 9 at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Admission is
FREE, but reservations for a table and dinner are
recommended! Call: 617-776-2004. *Johnny Dís is
wheelchair accessible, except for the restrooms.
This is one band that is sure to rock out Davis Square
night owls! The band members include: Frank Wilkins
on keyboards, Chuck Langford on tenor, Dave Acker
on guitar, Tim Ingles on bass, a hot drummer soon to
be announced and two New York-based backup
singers: LaTasha S. Jordan and Stacy Burnette.
And, Genesis has a hot new CD on Burger Platters
entitled: The Soul of Lee Genesis. For musical
samples and more, go to: www.leegenesis.com.
The name of Lee Genesisí Boston band WAS Heat and
Genesis knew then and knows now--how to get you
on your feet! Singer Lee Genesis was a regional icon
in the late ë70s and early ë80s. This band was the
toast of the region and would jam pack fans into jazz
and pop clubs such as Poohís Pub, Jackís, Paulís Mall,
The Chicken Box [Nantucket] and all the hot clubs
throughout the area. Genesis also knocked peopleís
socks off with his show-stopping vocals with Stanton
Davisí Ghetto Mysticism, with George Russellís Living
Time Orchestra and with pianist Jaki Byard. Dave
Acker and Tim Ingles who will perform with Lee at
Johnny Dís are two of the original Heat band
members.
Genesisí last appearance in Boston was in December
of 1990 at Scullers Jazz Club. The Boston Globe wrote
ì. . . the crowd nestled neatly in the palm of his hand.
After he engaged in a playful dialogue with each of
the instruments in his quintet, busting a perfectly
good microphone in the process, Genesis moved into
a gritty rendition of ìMan In The Mirrorî that could
teach Michael Jackson a few things about soul.
EDITOR’S PICKS
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 09, 2008
SOUL
The great gospel-inspired soul singer LEE
GENESIS was a fixture on the Boston scene in
the ’70s before taking off for New York. He’s back
at Johnny D’s with a new CD, The Soul of Lee
Genesis.
---------------MUSIC
COOLING IT
A wealth of winter jazz
By JON GARELICK
December 26, 2007 9:53:56 AM
In a couple of must-see one-offs, the great gospel-
infused jazz-and-pop singer LEE GENESIS, a
fixture on the local scene in the ’70s, returns
behind his first-ever solo CD, The Soul of Lee
Genesis, at Johnny D’s (17 Holland St,
Somerville; 617.776.2004) on January 9, and the
superduo of banjoist BÉLA FLECK and CHICK
COREA play Symphony Hall on February 29 (301
Mass Ave, Boston; 617.876.7777). And remember,
for a complete calendar of jazz events around
Boston you can visit www.jazzboston.org.
Lee Genesis at Johnny D's
Wednesday, January 9 9:00p
at Johnny D's, Somerville, MA
Lee Genesis has performed alongside many
artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Cassandra
Wilson, the
Marsalis
brothers and
Jon Hendricks.
He is currently
releasing his
first CD.
Event Web
Site
Categories:
Music, Blues
Creator: johnnyds
Last Editor: BostonDotCom
CALENDAR
Lee Genesis +
By Tristam Lozaw
Globe Correspondent / January 3, 2008
1/9
Lee Antley is the proverbial son of a preacher man,
and preacher woman, who encouraged him to sing
atop soap boxes when he was 3. That led, after a
phase as a Wall Street accountant, to a decades-
long career - illustrious if not always well known -
singing and arranging gospel, R&B, rock, jazz, and
house music. During a stint with "Godspell," Lee
adopted the name Genesis, fitting for a testifying
soul icon who was ordained at age 15. The Rev.
Lee Genesis hasn't performed here since 1992,
when he earned raves from the Globe for his
spectacular "Baroque falsetto embroideries" in a
performance of George Russell's "Time Line." He's
back with a new album, his first, "The Soul of Lee
Genesis," and Wednesday he performs free shows
at Johnny D's with a crackerjack funk crew.
Reservations recommended. 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.
Free. Johnny D's, 17 Holland St., Davis Square,
Somerville. 617-776-2004. johnnyds.com
This onetime clubman
is a soul survivor
At 65, Lee Genesis is releasing his
debut album– +
By Ken Capobianco
Globe Correspondent / January 4, 2008
If life really does not have second acts,
someone forgot to tell Lee Genesis. The 65-
year-old soul singer, who was a Boston
resident and prominent club presence in the
1970s, has just released his first record, "The
Soul of Lee Genesis" (LB Creative Works), and
he hopes that it will help spread the word
about his old-school blend of gospel, jazz, and
sweaty R&B. He's also returning to the stage
after a long absence and will make his first
Boston appearance in nine years when he
takes the stage at Johnny D's Wednesday.
"Everyone from my era has already put out
numerous records, but I always had
diversions that prevented me from doing
this," Genesis says from his home in Brooklyn.
"But now the time is right, and instead of
singing for other people or taking care of
practical matters that
proved time-consuming,
I'm dedicating my energies
to showing what I can do
and what I've been
planning and preparing for
years."
Genesis, born Lee Antley,
first made a name for
himself in Boston more
than 30 years ago when,
after an 11-month run in
"Godspell," he broke out
on his own to storm the
Boston club scene.
He soon formed his band,
Heat, which developed a
reputation for its vivid live
shows. "We were what
people now call funk; we knew how to throw a
party and we brought many different genres
together: soul, dance, whatever would work,"
he says. "That was always key to all my music,
being eclectic and raising spirits."
Now, being a soul singer in Boston may sound
like being a vegan at a Green Bay Packers
tailgating party, but Genesis says he
experienced nothing but warmth and
acceptance from the music community back in
the day.
"I was embraced, and I played in clubs like
Jack's and the Paradise - Don Law
was great to me - and I have
nothing but good memories trying
to give the city a little soul music,"
he remembers. "And as you can
imagine, it was a tough time to play
in the mid-'70s for someone like
me. There was a lot of racial
tension at the time, and very few
singers were doing what I was
doing. But Boston is a great city,
and I have nothing but good
feelings toward it."
He left the city after the Blizzard of
'78 and moved back to Brooklyn,
where he'd grown up as the son of
ministers at a Pentecostal church.
He broke away from the church
early on to pursue music, but he
retained the gospel influence that
has informed his musical vision
through the years.
Since leaving Boston, he has sung
with jazz musician George Russell,
who Genesis says is the most
influential artist in his development
as a singer, and sang backup for
various dance vocalists, including
Joi Caldwell.
Raising spirits with music
is his calling
"I loved working with everyone, but I always
knew that I had to step out on my own and
make a record for myself," he says. "But it was
tough. I got no help from anywhere, and labels
don't want to hear from people my age. So I
was forced to do it on my own."
It took a while. Genesis had to do that thing
known as making a living, and he worked for
an advertising agency and also for the
flamboyant televangelist the Reverend Ike, for
whom he served as musical director. But as
Bettye LaVette and Sharon Jones can attest,
it's never too late to break through if the soul
music is real and cuts to the core, and
Genesis's debut proves he can really deliver.
"The Soul of Lee Genesis" is a confident
record that, despite its shoestring production
budget, sounds bright, and Genesis's songs -
he co-wrote more than half the record - are
buoyant and deeply felt. His rich, honeyed
vocals are colored by more than a bit of the
grit that comes with age. He's clearly relishing
the chance to be front and center instead of in
the background. His commanding and
passionate performance sounds like he knows
he has a lot on the line with this album.
To up the ante, in the spring, Genesis will
release another record of house-inspired
dance music. "There was just too much when I
recorded this time, too many contrasting
styles, so I'll put out two records. Why not?"
he says.
Genesis, who took his moniker from his stint
in "Godspell" ("It could have been Zachariah,"
he says good naturedly), says he hopes to put
real soul back into modern pop music.
"I know that it's going to be tough because I
really have little distribution and won't get
major airplay, but what I hear on the radio
today isn't soul. These singers could be
anybody. It's all about technology and
production," he says. "You knew when you
heard Al Green, when you heard Stevie
[Wonder] and Otis [Redding], but today, the
singers are interchangeable. I want people to
know what soul sounds like with real
instruments, real voices, real feeling. Without
that, it's something else, not soul."
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.