- Genre :: Urban
- Listen :: BIGUP
- View :: Band Website | MySpace | Baba Israel's Blog
- download :: HiRes Image
The Dana Leong Band has an incredible musical chemistry that combines live grooves, electronically charged tracks, rhyme and reason. Bandleader Leong uses a laptop both onstage and in the studio to create soundscapes of electronic beats and to manipulate the sound of instruments through real time processing. The result is a unique fusion of computerized instrumental hip-hop funk rhythms and rock propulsions.
Dana Leong (trombone, cello, laptop) has been performing, recording, composing and producing in almost every musical genre since his 1998 debut on the New York music scene. Over the past decade he has played with The 2006 GRAMMY® nominated Jazz Chamber Trio led by eight-time GRAMMY® winning clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera, as well as Ray Charles, Kanye West, Matisyahu, Norah Jones, Earth Wind & Fire, Barry White, Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, Lauryn Hill, Alanis Morrisette, Zap Mama, Wynton Marsalis, Yoko Ono, Christian McBride and the Balkan Beat Box. Leong has recently completed his debut album, Leaving New York, which features his own original compositions with guest appearances by Christian McBride and Paquito D'Rivera.
Since his critically acclaimed 2006 debut album, "Nat Turner Reloaded," performer and producer Mtume Gant a.k.a. Core Rhythm (MC) has become a fixture on the New York independent hip-hop scene. He has collaborated and shared the stage with such artists as Grandmixer DXT, O.C., The Juggaknots, C Rayz Walz, and Wordsworth. He is currently putting the final touches to his next release, entitled "Ronin," due out this summer.
Elliot Humberto Kavee (drums) is known for both his polytimbral/polyrhythmic drumming technique and his passion for music for theater. He has performed and recorded with a wide variety of artists including Omar Sosa, Joseph Jarman, Henry Threadgill, Steve Coleman, Don Cherry, Cecil Taylor, John Tchicai, Tim Berne, Rudresh Mahanthappa and Vijay Iyer. In addition to his musical pursuits, Kavee is also an actor and writer with the Tony Award winning San Francisco Mime Troupe. He has provided scores for G. W. Pabst's Pandora's Box and CBS's The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat.
Adam Platt (keyboards) began playing the piano at the age of four, and at ten was the youngest recipient of the solo piano competition award at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. He continued his formal training at the New England Conservatory and Berklee College of Music in Boston, studying under such jazz luminaries as Michael Cain and Joanne Brackeen. He has released three original jazz albums and resides in New York City where he is currently completing an original soul/hip-hop recording.
