By Lindy Shepherd, Orlando Sentinel
Title Of Article: Review - Christmas 2000: A Thousand Years of Christmas Music
For a trés traditional Christmas revelation, slide into jazzy guitarist Michael Leasure’s easy-listening self-release "Christmas 2000," a solid hour of locally produced spiritual reverie. Subtitled "A Thousand Years of Christmas Music," Leasure’s selections, orchestrations and arrangements are steeped in European lore. His classical guitar roams romantic history for true-to-their-roots revivals of evergreens, including lead track "Angels We Have Heard on High," "What Child Is This" and "The First Noel."
Lengthy classical sophistications such as "Jesu, Joy of Mans Desiring" by J.S. Bach and the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" by Peter Tchaikovsky are rich and fulfilling. Then there’s a touch of gothic shadow in "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence," a traditional French number that keeps company with several other historical ghosts, like "Sanctus," from 13th-century Italy.
By Jamie Anderson, Orlando Sentinel
Title Of Article: Experience seasons Leasure's thoughtful 'Christmas 2000'.
Orlando musician Michael Leasure, who recently released 'Christmas 2000', takes time out from a hectic holiday schedule to appreciate the season. "I'm always compelled to thank God for my life and music during the Christmas season," Leasure said. "Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ and is a Christian experience for me. That's why I released 'Christmas 2000'. It's my hope that all who hear it will be moved in the spirit. I hope they will say it's beautiful and that it's respectful of Christmas". Leasure began working on the album nearly two years ago while performing on a Carnival Cruise Line ship and recorded it in his Orlando studio, releasing it earlier this year on MTL Records. Throughout 'Christmas 2000', Leasure has taken traditional holiday favorites and added a personal touch, giving songs like 'Silent Night' and 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing' a new flair. The CD, co-produced by Leasure and Cathryn Smith, is scored for harpsichord, string quintet, woodwind quartet, solo flute, two voices, guitar synthesizer and classical guitar. "This project was really serious for me," he said. "I've been playing Christmas music my whole life and I decided for the new millennium to take my time and really think about the music".
By Jim Ash, Florida Today
There is far too much electricity surging through Michael Leasure for his wiry, diminutive frame to manage. The excess flows from him in bursts of animated gestures and waves of intense conversation. Unable to sit still very long, Leasure quickly ushers his guest into a makeshift studio in the rear of his spartan, Satellite Beach apartment. The converted bedroom is dominated by racks of blinking electronics, which are in turn tethered by snaking cables to a foot-operated console resting in the middle of the floor. Leasure fingers a miniature floppy disk before allowing it to be swallowed by a mysterious digital computer. Turning around, he straps on a sawed-off electric guitar small enough to fit into a large briefcase, one that looks as if it was designed for the alien nightclub scene in the original Star Wars. Shortly after Leasure plucks the first string, it is clear where his overwhelming personal energy was always meant to flow - The Sound. Bigger than any room it occupies, Leasure's music is lush with synthesized orchestrations, swirled with electronic clarinets and trumpets, and punctuated by laser sharp, operating-room clean guitar riffs. The entire package is bound tightly together with the rich pulsing of electronic drums and percussion. At the twist of a dial, the unmistakable sound of a full choir rises and falls in cadence with the dance of his fingers across the frets. He pushes another button and woodwind solos bolt from the strings. It's almost too much to believe all this music is coming from the single intense man with the Star Wars guitar. The scene is something from 'Fantasia', with Leasure the wizard-like conductor of an awesome but invisible orchestra - each wave of his hand producing another musical synesthesia. A strong element of magic surrounds Leasure and his music.
By Gary Hritz, Marietta Times
Simply referring to Michael Leasure as a guitar player doesn't begin to describe him. Bending and twisting with each shift in the mood of his composition while performing an intricate tap dance to activate the numerous foot pedals in front of him, Leasure resembles a dancer interpreting the very music he is creating. And the music he creates is truly something unique. A blending of technology and emotion programmed into the thousands of dollars worth of equipment he uses to perform his works.
By Richard Rickey, Florida Party Guide
Rare is the opportunity for a person to experience something great, something truly beautiful. The time has come, for us, and for them, the Michael Leasure Band. If you are of an inquisitive nature, with a sincere desire for education, and not to mention a love for musical growth, then you need to experience the Michael Leasure Band. A band that is not only musically sound but mentally sound as well. The MLB is an original music project. Their relationship between mind and music should only be interpreted by your own personal experience. Their goal is to move you spiritually, musically. Raw power that seizes your inner thoughts and transforms them into a beautiful melodic painting. In closing, don't be surprised to overhear the following, "Hey, I saw this show last night and this guy was playing a guitar (that looked like a space weapon) but, the sounds coming from it were...piano, flute, steel drums, and trumpet"! You have to see it to believe it!
By Arleen Zorbis, Brevard Magazine
Michael Leasure clearly took over the evening with his computers, synthesized sounds and incredible creative talent. A slim, young looking man, one would never suspect that his powerful, soaring, emotional and well-practiced classical style could be bent into the shape of the high tech astonishment that he manages to produce. It is a fusion. He interacts with his electronic equipment in such a way that while you can see he is well planned, he doesn't lose that spontaneous, giving quality that reminds you of genius. You become enraptured by sound. His total involvement with what he does comes through. Leasure has several hundred original compositions behind him. He infects the audience with his energy and enthusiasm when he talks about his music and especially when he plays.
By Lisa Olen, Observer
The Michael Leasure Trio performs for the art of making glorious music. With their innovative style and harmonious sound, audiences who hear the band cannot stop raving about their performances. The trio includes Michael Leasure, a composer, guitar synthesizer player and creative stylist; Michael Bocchicchio, an innovative and acclaimed bassist and improviser and Michael Welch, a musical pioneer whose quadragrip drum technique has been hailed as diverse and unique. Attendees at the 1997 Winter Park Autumn Art Festival will have the unique opportunity to hear this highly acclaimed trio perform compositions of impressionalism, expressionalism, abstract, jazz, classical, world music, and more. Their performances have been praised as 'fearless and defying all musical categorization'.
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