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Based in Melbourne Australia, The Dynamic Gentlemen is a calibration of musicians from China, New Zealand and Australian local based musicians specializing in the jazz idiom. This instrumental group consists of Howard Lee on Drums, Tom Lee on Bass, Richard Ashby on Guitar and Brad McCarthy on the alto saxophone.
With over 35 years of professional experiences between them, these musicians have performed in festivals such as The Umbria Jazz Festival in Melbourne, the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland. International tours include New Zealand, Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Netherlands and the USA.
Tom Lee - Bass
Tom Lee completed the Bachelor of Music Performance at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2002. While at the VCA he studied under bassists Geoff Kluke and Ben Robertson, as well as Assistant Principal Bassist for the MSO, Andrew Moon. In 2004 he also studied at the School of Improvised Music, located in New York, under bassist Drew Gress. In 2005 Tom has recorded with the Aaron Choulai Sextet, the Michelle Nicolle Quartet and the Mark Lockett Quartet. He has toured to Sydney, Singapore and the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland. He has also played this year at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Melbourne and the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz. Tom has also recorded with Vada, vocalist Gian Slater and flamenco group Contrabanda. He is currently working on new projects with Ronnie Ferella, Marc Hannaford and contemporary tango influenced group Tangazo.
Howard Lee - Drums
Howard Lee first picked up a pair of drumsticks when he was 9, and since then he has studied with Alan Browne, David Jones, Colin Hoorweg, Edu Ribeiro and John Riley in Australia, U.S.A. & Brazil.
In 1997 he released the CD “Groovin’ at Studio G” with his quartet “Somethin’ Else” and quintet “Melisma”. “Somethin’ Else” received the award for “Best Jazz Band” from Empire Records as part of the first youth recording competition held in Melbourne by Empire Records.
He has performed with Dale Barlow as part of the Jazz Works finale concert at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1998, The Wangaratta Jazz Festival (1998) with the Canberra Youth (Jazz) Orchestra, the Old Australian Parliament House (1998), the Australian National Press Club with Phil Slater (1999) and the Manly Jazz Festival (2000) in Sydney.
He graduated from the jazz course at the Canberra School of Music (part of the Australian National University) in 2000 with a Bachelor of Music (Jazz). While at CSM he was under the tuition of Colin Hoorweg (Nat Adderley), Miroslav Bukovsky (Wanderlust, Ten Part Invention), Eric Ajaye (Freddie Hubbard, Barry White) and Dave Panichi (Buddy Rich, Blood Sweat & Tears).
Between December 2000 and 2002 he has successfully organised and performed from Australia to Hong Kong with such musicians as Anton Delecca, Nick Freer, Julie O’Hara, Glenn Cannon (Australian National Jazz Awards Finalist), Ben O’ Loghlin (Wynton Marsalis), Tim Mark Wilson and Martin Breeze (Australian National Jazz Awards Finalist) at such venues as the Hong Kong Jazz Club, Brown, Fringe Club, Cubana, the Hong Kong Exchange Square, FCC, The Macau Jazz Club and Manhattan Ing.
To further his studies and knowledge of jazz music, he travelled to U.S.A. in 2002 where he studied with Johnny Vidacovich (James Booker, Professor Longhair, Astral Project) in New Orleans and John Riley (Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, John Scofield, Stan Getz) in New York.
From 2003-2004 he undertook a 14 month trip to South America through Argentina & Brazil. Cities included Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Recife, Olinda and Buenos Aires to study and research the music unique in each of these regions. To further his studies in Brazilian music he also took the time out studying with internationally renowned percussionists such as Márcio Bahia (Hermeto Pascoal, Joyce) and Samba jazz drummer Edu Ribeiro.
Richard Ashby - Guitar
Originally from New Zealand, Richard Ashby has been performing professionally since 1997. Although now focusing primarily on jazz and original music, he has spent over ten years performing with rock, pop, soul, funk, Big Band, Show Band and country groups.
Following the release of his debut album in mid 2004, Richard has been performing throughout New Zealand and Australia promoting the album and his original music.
A regular performer at the Christchurch Arts and Jazz festivals, the Queenstown Wine and Food festival, Richard has also worked as a festival/concert co-ordinator for the ‘New School Jazz’ concerts, held in the Creation ArtSpace, Worcester St, Christchurch.
Since relocating to Melbourne early this year, Richard has been performing with Australian musicians from Melbourne and Sydney; he has recorded with post-graduate students from the VCA and has been teaching guitar and improvisation privately.
A wealth of playing experience combined with a recently completed Bachelor of Music (Hons) from the University of Canterbury, NZ, has enabled Richard to both engage an audience on a personal level, and to impress them with a mix of soulful original compositions and uniquely arranged jazz standards.
Inspired by the thriving Melbourne scene, Richard is planning to write and produce another album, as well as continuing to promote his current release.
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