Jazz Articles about Lee Tomboulian

Lee Tomboulian: Imaginarium

by Bruce Lindsay
March 24, 2013

Terry Gilliam's 2009 movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was a complex, complicated, fantasy tale. Lee Tomboulian's Imaginarium doesn't quite match Gilliam's ambitious, if flawed, breadth of vision--after all, Tomboulian constructs this particular Imaginarium with just a piano and an occasional accordion--but he still displays an impressive range of ideas on this enjoyable recording.Tomboulian leads a variety of bands, including the Brazilian/Uruguayan Circo and Whenevs (formerly Return to Whenever). This solo outing finds him drawing on a mix ...

Take Five With Lee Tomboulian

by Lee Tomboulian
March 2, 2013

Meet Lee Tomboulian:Composer/improviser Lee Tomboulian plays keyboards, accordion and sings. He leads Whatevs, the Weekly Reeders and Circo. He has played with Maria Schneider, Kenny Wheeler, Jimmy Witherspoon, Benny Golson, Terell Stafford, Horacio Hernandez, Greg Bissonette, Steve Houghton, Eddie Harris and many more. He was the Instructor of Jazz Piano and Improvisation at Lawrence University Conservatory of Music for six years and before that at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth and other universities. Instrument(s):

Lee Tomboulian and Circo: Return to Whenever

by Michael P. Gladstone
February 11, 2008

Pianist/accordionist Lee Tomboulian is the leader of Circo, an exciting ensemble that performs World jazz (Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and Uruguayan). Tomboulian first relocated the group from Arkansas to Dallas, and now to Appleton, Wisconsin, where he serves as a musical educator at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music.

What makes a good portion of this album so diverting is its use of Brazilian and Brazilian-influenced music, sung by Elizabeth Tomboulian (nee Betty Elkins), who brings a lot of Luciana ...