The Lao Tizer Band featuring Chieli Minucci & Karen Briggs

Church Street Jazz Series

Hailing from Boulder, CO, keyboardist Lao Tizer’s career spans nine albums over nearly a quarter century. From the 2007 album “Diversify,” which showcased the multi-faceted, richly textured musicality of an already celebrated career, to 2009's minimalist “Passages,” and the pulsating full band of 2012’s “Downbeat,” this ensemble of world-renowned musicians has no limits. Their latest, “Songs from the Swinghouse,” recorded live in just three days at Conway Studios in Hollywood, California, takes Tizer’s vision to a new level. The jazz and world-fusion group adds rock to its repertoire with a sizzling new collection of eleven songs. 

Tizer's regular collaborators, celebrated in their own right, include: 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 CoreaElektric Band; longtime member and EWI/saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist Steve Nieves; 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. 

Ultimately, Lao Tizer eschews the 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." 

Blue Pyramid Productions is proud to have keyboardist Lao Tizer, guitarist Chieli Minucci, and violinist Karen Briggs headlining the 2nd performance in the 4th season of the Church Street Jazz Series at The Attucks Theatre in Downtown Norfolk.