Ezra Lee (musician)

Ezra Lee
Birth name Ezra Lee Matzenik
Born (1986-10-15) 15 October 1986
Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia
Genres
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments Vocals, piano, guitar, drums, bass guitar, saxophone
Years active 1999–present
Labels Preston, Rhythm Bomb
Associated acts Johnny Green's Blues Cowboys
Website ezralee.weebly.com

Ezra Lee Matzenik (born 15 October 1986), who performs as Ezra Lee, is an Australian singer-songwriter and pianist. He has issued five studio albums, Preston Rockabilly #2 (2008), You Can't Stop a Freight Train (April 2009), Cashed Up 'n' Crazy (2012), Coal Fired Man (14 December 2012) and Motor Head Baby (2014).

Biography

Ezra Lee Matzenik,[1] was born on 15 October 1986 in Tamworth.[2][3] His father, Ed Matzenik (born 28 December 1944), helped run Enrec Studio in the rural city with Steve Newton.[4] Ed is also a country blues musician and has played bass guitar in Johnny Green's Blues Cowboys, alongside Pete "Flash" Sheedy (Lee's uncle), on lap steel guitar.[5][4] Lee started playing piano at the age of four, learning the Floyd Cramer tune, "Last Date", from his father.[2][4] Lee used his father's record collection to teach himself boogie woogie and barrelhouse piano styles.[4] He obtained blues lessons from Dr John and Johnny 'B. Goode' Johnson when they toured Australia. Lee developed his piano style within these genres.

By 1999 Lee was living in Maitland, and played piano on weekends with different country artists at the local club, The Tin Hut.[6] He was a session pianist for Flash Sheedy,[4] at Angelwood Studios in Currabubula and toured outback New South Wales with guitarist, Buddy Knox. At 14 Lee joined Johnny Green's Blues Cowboys and toured with them for six years.[6] In 2009 the Melbourne rockabilly label, Preston Records, released two of Lee's albums, Out of the Valley (February), and his first full length album, You Can't Stop a Freight Train (April), which was engineered by Grahame Thomas and Cal Robinson.[7][8] For that album Lee used Robinson on bass guitar, Pat Capocci on guitar and Ricky "the Goat" on drums.[7] In May 2010 he travelled to Barcelona, Spain to perform at the Screamin' Rockabilly Festival to support Bill Haley's Original Comets.

In November and December 2010 and the following February, Lee performed in a musical theatre show, The Ultimate Rock 'n' Roll Jam Session, with James Blundell, Nick Barker, Dave Larkin and Doug Parkinson.[9][10][11] David Kary of Sydney Arts Guide website specified one of the highlights as "Whiz kid Ezra Lee banging away at the keyboards with everything, including his sandshoes!"[11] On 22 April 2011 Lee performed at the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend in Las Vegas, supporting Jerry Lee Lewis.

In 2012 Lee recorded, Ca$hed Up n Crazy ín Maitland. Dominique Wall of theMusic.com.au website caught his live album launch gig in September, "[his] onstage persona has gone from a rather quiet but incredibly talented performer to a brazen, fully fledged madman with a touch of lothario thrown in for good measure."[12] He performed in the UK and Europe and recorded his latest album Coal Fired Man in Berlin for Rhythm Bomb Records. In March 2013 Ezra Lee and his band opened, and were the backing band, for the "Queen of Rockabilly", Wanda Jackson, on her six date Australian tour.[13]

2014 has seen Ezra move to Melbourne, Victoria and along with former drummer Shaun 'Havoc' Lees, formed the new band, Ezra Lee & The Havoc Band, which also features Mark McGurgan on sax, Kevin Spiers on guitar and Pete Mavric on double bass. In 2015, Ezra Lee & The Havoc Band have recorded a debut self titled album, which features Alison Ferrier on fiddle and Shane Riley on pedal steel guitar, set for limited release in Australia in August and released by Rhythm Bomb Records in November 2015. Amnplify's Gary Bradshaw felt their set in April was "songs best described as Americana... Or Rockabilly... Or Blues... You know what, I don't really have a pigeon hole that this band will fit into" and that "the tunes and music style is very infectious. It is hard to watch the band's enthusiasm for what they are playing, as well as listen to well-constructed tunes, and not get sucked into having a good time."[6]

The Reverb Nation Americana chart shows the band at number 1 in Australia and number six world wide. The band has been interstate to Perth, WA and Adelaide, SA, and Ezra Lee is performing at The Rhythm Riot Rockabilly Weekender in November in the UK and an American tour is planned for April 2016. The band has a large following and is known for their spontaneous antic with chairs being broken, rolling on the floor and jumping on tables and pianos. The sax player, Mark can regularly be seen back-flipping off stage while the band play to have a dance or lead the audience in a Congo line. There have been two kick drums even on occasion two full drum kits for drum battles with other bands. Ezra Lee & The Havoc Band also have had guests from Hank Elwood Green on slide guitar and T.K. Reeve on Harmonica and double bass. Since the band has started Ezra has been performing on the honky-tonk upright pianos or the beat up grands that fill the dance halls and that is what shapes the bands sound, Rock 'n' Roll, Blues and Country are a major influence on the bands songwriting with there most popular Americana song "My Baby Don't Lie To Me".

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Other appearances

References

  1. ↑ "'88 Keys' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 13 June 2015. Note: User may have to click 'Search again' and provide details at 'Enter a title:' e.g 88 Keys; or at 'Performer:' Ezra Lee
  2. 1 2 3 "Oh Baby, it’s Ezra Lee". Forte Magazine. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  3. ↑ "An impromptu interview with Newcastle's Ezra Lee at The Central Club (Vic)". Melbourne Roots. 9 May 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Rose, Anna (1 January 2015). "Birthday 'gig' turns into bash". Northern Daily Leader (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  5. ↑ Scully, Anthony. "10 years ago in Newcastle Music – Blues Cowboys Live Review". ABC New South Wales (Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)). Archived from the original on 8 December 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 Bradshaw, Gary (21 April 2015). "Ezra Lee and the Havoc Band – The Cherry Bar, Sunday April 12". Amnplify. Australian Musician Network. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  7. 1 2 Turgis, Fred "Virgil". "Ezra Lee". jumpingfrom6to6.com. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 "Ezra Lee – Honky Tonk King". MatMan Promotions. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "The Ultimate Rock 'n' Roll Jam Session". Fox Media Marketing (Clive Fox Photography). Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "Win Tweet Seats to the Ultimate Rock 'n' Roll Jam Sessions". 774 ABC Melbourne (Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)). 29 October 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  11. 1 2 Kary, David (22 February 2011). "The Ultimate Rock 'n' Roll Jam Session". Sydney Arts Guide. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  12. 1 2 Wall, Dominique (28 September 2012). "Ezra Lee The Luwow". theMusic.com.au. Street Press Australia. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  13. ↑ Evans, Neil (22 March 2013). "Wanda Jackson". Tone Deaf. Nicholas Jones. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  14. ↑ "Out of the Valley – Preston Rockabilly CD Launch @ Empire Hotel". Live Guide. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  15. ↑ "Coal Fired Man: Ezra Lee". Amazon.com. Retrieved 15 June 2015.

External links

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