Guitarist and composer Lee Waterman's Latin jazz ensemble, Jazz Caliente, percolates with infectious Afro-Cuban and Brazilian rhythms. Members have appeared with such luminaries as Wynton Marsalis, Gil Scott Heron, Joshua Redman, Barry Manilow, Gerry Mulligan, Rosemary Clooney, Bette Midler, Dionne Warwick, Zakir Hussain, Narada Michael Walden, and Mark Murphy. The band's repertoire ranges from Lee’s original compositions to songs by Miles Davis, Tito Puente, Duke Ellington, and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Lee Waterman - Guitarist, Composer, Producer Originally from New York, Lee's early interest in music was nurtured by his grandmother, a locally prominent classical pianist. At the age of nine he studied drums and later played in the school band. In his late teens, Lee took up guitar and Latin percussion. For the next several years he studied jazz guitar and music theory with internationally known guitarist and author, Warren Nunes. This strong foundation in the classic jazz styles plus the multicultural influences of percussion studies forged his eclectic compositional style. Among his credits, Lee has led several Bay-Area based combos throughout the last three decades including the Silver Moon Big Band, and Jazz Caliente. He has also performed with sax great John Handy, Vocalist Mark Murphy, and Narada Michael Walden, and opened for many headliners, including Tito Puente, Hermeto Pacoal and Pancho Sanchez.
Tommy Kesecker - Vibraphone and percussion Tommy graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and currently records and tours internationally with world renown group Zakir Hussain and the Rhythm Experience. Other recent projects include appearances with jazz piano legend Larry Vukavich and "the Different Drums and Percussion Group", which performs for and educates local children. Tommy has appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival and Russian River Jazz Festival as well as a variety of concert venues throughout the U.S. and beyond.
Kevin Dillon - Drummer Born in Napa California, Keven studied drums and percussion for over a decade, including with the great Chuck Brown. He started gigging professionally at the age of 17 and has been one of the top drummers in Northern California for over 40 years. Kevin also has taught drumming and percussion in Marin and Sonoma Counties for many decades. He’s a master of many styles including Jazz, Latin, Brazilian, Rock, Blues, and Zydeco.
Marc Levine - Bass Marc went on the road with his first band at age 17. Called"Stonybrook People", they were signed to Columbia Records and released 2 singles before disbanding. Finding himself in LA with no more band, he started working as a freelance musician and soon found gigs doing session and touring work.
His first gold record as a session bassist was with Johnny Rivers, playing on the song "Slow Dancin', Swayin' To The Music". Some other artists he worked for either live or in the studio included Barry Manilow, Bette Midler, Dionne Warwick, Olivia Newton-John, Melissa Manchester, Michael Damien, David Hasselhoff, Burt Bacharach, and Kid Creole in the pop music field: Dianne Schuur, Rosemary Clooney, and Gerry Mulligan in the jazz arena: The Undisputed Truth, Freddie Stewart ( Sly Stone's guitarist brother ) in the funk zone: and K.T. Oslin in the country music area. He also played on sessions for Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain ( 2 members of the rock group Journey), and guitarist Jimmy Crespo, who was with Aerosmith at the time.
Marc appeared on TV for 3 years in the daytime drama "The Young and the Restless", and did a short stint on "General Hospital". He also did movie work, appearing in Neil Simon's "Chapter II" , and in "American Pop", which was an animated film which featured Marc as a cartoon character with his own voice. He also appeared in the production of "Barry Manilow, Live on Broadway", which became a double CD and Showtime special; with Barry, he did numerous "Tonight Show" appearances, "Arsenio Hall Show" appearances, and specials on CBS TV.
While touring with Barry Manilow for 9 years, he started his own jazz group called "Uncle Festive", with whom he released 5 CDs and played jazz clubs and festivals in the US, Europe, and Japan. He also played with the smooth-jazz groups "Kilauea" and "Pocket Change". Now living in the SF area, he continues to enjoy playing bass both live and in the studio.
LIVE-STREAMED ON 6/20/21, AND ON-DEMAND FOR THE WEEK FOLLOWING! You can watch it at your leisure, wherever, whenever, and as many times as you like.