LEZLIE HARRISON AT BRUSH CULTURE

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – ANGELA MAYOU

On Friday, July 7, vocalist, radio show host, and actress LEZLIE HARRISON and her trio held court at Brvsh Cul7ur3 (Brush Culture), a new, intimate jazz and dinner club in the heart of Teaneck, New Jersey, founded by drummer Rodney Greene.  

Lezlie hosts the radio show “Come Sunday,” which broadcasts Sundays from 8 AM to 12 PM on WBGO Jazz Radio 88.3 FM and performs regularly in and around New York City.

My relationship with Lezlie dates back to the original Jazz Gallery, a not-for-profit jazz cultural center that once stood at 290 Hudson Street in the West Village. In addition to co-founding the space with Dale Kelly Fitzgerald and the late great trumpeter Roy Hargrove, Lezlie was the meeter and greeter, office manager, director, publicist, event planner, MC, performer, and creator of the Jazz Gallery Membership Program.  

Lezlie is a product of the Black Church. Her maternal grandfather was Reverend R.L. Brown, founder and pastor of St. Johns CME Church in Winston-Salem, where she learned the spirituals, gospels, and hymns. During her college years at Amherst, she was introduced to the spiritual jazz music of John and Alice Coltrane, Lonnie Liston Smith, Yusef Lateef, and Pharaoh Sanders, among others. She is a consummate show woman and interpreter whose passionate and socially conscious repertoire hone in on the fragile matters of life. Whether interpreting a jazz standard or an R&B classic, Lezlie hits all the right notes and transforms a performance space into a house of worship.

Soulfully and solidly backed by guitarist Ron Johnson, drummer Russell Carter, and bassist Dishan Harper Lezlie put her stamp on Dinah Washington’s “September in the Rain,” Chet Baker’s “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” “All of Me,” Bill Withers’s “Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone” and Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” all of which elicited an enthusiastic and joyous response. The event was billed as Lezlie’s birthday celebration, but, in the end, it was she who bore the gift of music. 

Here’s hoping Lezlie returns to Brush Culture soon. In the interim, check the song, Fly Like An Eagle, from Lezlie’s upcoming CD, Let Them Talk.

ABOUT BRUSH CULTURE

Brvsh Cul7ur3 is a new, intimate jazz club in Teaneck founded by drummer Rodney Greene that serves music, dinner, and drinks on the Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge. In addition to featuring various artists, Greene hopes to “nurture the area’s multi-generational talent.” Teaneck was once home to Jon Faddis, Nat Adderley, Hilton Ruiz, the Isley Brothers, Sam Jones, Thad Jones, Pat Boone, Ron Ben-Hur, Donald Byrd, Roland Hanna, and Regina Belle, to name a few. Visit Brush Culture’s Website HERE.

FEATURED PHOTO: WBGO