Skip to content

PRESS RELEASES

AVAILABLE NOW: The Lao Tizer Band’s “Songs From The Swinghouse” on Yse Records

Available Now on Yse Records:
The Lao Tizer Band’s CD & DVD combo-digipak:
Songs From The Swinghouse
 
Purchase Now on Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify | Google Play
With more than five years since their last release, TheLao Tizer Band has taken the time to grow in every aspect. An updated larger band is exploring some new methods on their upcoming CD/DVD combo, Songs From The Swinghouse: recorded live in just three days at Conway Studios in Hollywood, the band explores three cover tunes with vocalist, a first for the group, alongside original instrumental tracks, bringing them to new heights of excellence and exuberance.
Featuring a thoughtful and at times surprising choice of tracks, while adding to an already stellar lineup of players with the addition of a seasoned vocalist, this is an album that has set a new path for the band and its dedicated fans. Songs From The Swinghouse features eight blistering original instrumentals and three iconic classic rock songs with reimagined arrangements. “We’ve never done anything with a vocalist and we’ve never done any cover songs, so this is the first time that I decided to delve into that realm, to basically expand the scope of our music,” says Tizer. Critically acclaimed music-film director, Andy LaViolette (Snarky Puppy, Bokante, David Crosby, etc), documented the entire session in a simultaneous, 8-camera HD video shoot for the included DVD.
If the choice of Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On,” U2’s “Pride (In The Name Of Love),” and Cat Stevens’ “Sad Lisa” seem astonishing, Tizer’s arrangements render them almost entirely original. They are taken to the transcendent through the warm and soulful vocals of Tita Hutchison, who sang with the likes of Michael McDonald, Rick Rubin, Michael Jackson, and Foreigner, among others.
Hutchison joins Tizer’s regular collaborators who are celebrated in their own right: Chieli Minucci, the three-time Emmy-winning and Grammy® Award-nominated guitarist and composer; Grammy® Award-winning saxophonist Eric Marienthal, who is a permanent member of the Chick Corea Elektric Band; longtime member and EWI/saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist Steve Nieves; guitarist Jeff Marshall, who co-wrote the beautiful track, “A Prayer for Unity” with Tizer; and violinist Karen Briggs, who has graced the stage with Yanni, Diana Ross, Wu-Tang Clan, Chaka Khan and more. Tizer also credits the powerhouse rhythm section (bass players include Grammy® Award-nominee Ric Fierabracci and Cheikh Ndoye, Grammy® Award-nominated drummer Gene Coye, and percussionist Munyungo Jackson) with underpinning the dynamic force and arrangements for the project.
The group stretches to 15 members at times with the addition of a string quartet, horn section and a marimba player. Songs From The Swinghouse shows the group’s vast ambitiousness of the undertaking. Tizer praises each musician for his and her contribution to the whole, praising the concentration of each musician in the studio playing live together and feeding into work that was so much grander than the breathtaking individual performances.
The evolution of the Lao Tizer Band is revealed joyously in Songs From The Swinghouse. Now incorporating a vocalist into the recording and touring band, the road ahead is enthralling to the group’s founder. “I spent my whole life writing instrumental music, and now I’m working on original material for the group including vocals.” Ultimately, Lao Tizer eschews being formulaic. “I try and just stay true to my muse and to use every bit of my facility to create great music that hopefully has its own voice and continues to evolve as I continue to evolve as a person. It’s very reflective of me, it’s all I’ve done all my life.”
The Lao Tizer Band U.S. Performances
March 22 | Desert Willow Golf Course | Palm Desert, CA
March 28 | Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Grill & Jazz | Bel Aire, CA
April 21 | Chino Hills Jazz & Blues Festival | Chino Hills, CA
April 27 | Bakersfield Jazz Festival | Bakersfield, CA
May 11 | Atlas Center for the Performing Arts | Washington, DC
June 2 | Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival | Temecula, CA
June 23 | Wine & Jazz Festival | Charleston, WV
July 20 | Huntington Summer Arts Festival Jazz Weekend | Huntington, NY
July 22 | Summer Concerts | Springettsbury Township, PA
August 5 | Telluride Jazz Festival | Telluride, CO
August 11 | Wildflower Music Festival | Honesdale, PA
August 15 | Jazz @ 5 | Madison, WI
August 18 | Harbor Park Jazz & Blues Festival | Kenosha, WI
August 23 | Blue Jay Jazz Festival | Skylark, CA
** more dates to be announced **
 
Lao Tizer also tours with GRAMMY® Award-nominees