ArtistInfo

Leif Totusek

acg, *1964 US
Musician / Composer of Jazz, Folk and World
A.k.a. Leif Sebastian Totusek

Leif Totusek - Composer/Musician/Guitarist Leif Totusek (born 11 May 1964) is an American guitarist, band leader, and composer. He has played, collaborated and been special guest with African Artist Mose Fan Fan , Ali Birra, Geoffrey Oryema, Diblo Dibala, Orchestre Virunga, Tabu Ley Rochereau, I. K. Dairo, Koo Nimo among others. He is also well versed in the be-bop idiom, and many other musical styles and cultural music. Contents 1 Early Life 2 Performances 3 Newspaper Articles and Radio Reviews 4 References 5 Discography 6 External Links Early life Raised in a musical family on Capitol Hill in Seattle,WA, Totusek began performing at age 15 with Seattle's F.A.M.E and St. Teresa Gospel choirs and numerous musical groups, including: Lora Chiorah-Dye And Sukutai"(Zimbabwe), "Paisley Sin"(Seattle-grunge), with "M.T.Q." [aka Martin Totusek Quintet] (jazz and blues originals, standards, and the music of Thelonious Monk at the 1987 Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival, and others. At age 17, he traveled to London and immersed himself in the London ethnic jazz scene. He toured with Soukous veteran Mose se Fan Fan, (former member of the late Franco Luambo Makiadi and TPOK Jazz) and his group "Somo Somo" - members included: Roy Dodds, John Glyn, Huw Warren Doreen Thobekile Webster, T. Daniel Howard. He also performed with Nigerian jazz artist Gasper Lawal "The African Oro Band" - Salah Dawson Miller's World fusion band "Orquesta Chakckouka" - Eddie Edem "Hi-life" and with many other world and jazz musicians. In 1982, Leif first created his jazz influenced band "Freestyle Candela" adding Arne Livingston on bass and percussionist Mamadi Kamara on percussion in 1984. It was called "Seattle Jazz" then "Freestyle" before settling on "Freestyle Candela". At age 26, Totusek moved to Boston, hiring local musicians Joshua Redman, Mark Turner (2), Scott Gilman, and Jessica Lurie. Blending Soukous, blues, and jazz in his compositions, he helped popularize Zairian soukous guitar in the Boston music scene. He also performed and recorded with the Senegalese band "Ibrahima Camara and Safal". At age 29, Totusek returned to Seattle, creating his new band name Freestyle Candela. "Today Totusek resides in Seattle still performing shows with his groups " Leif Totusek and 1-2-3 Album:"Go" 1-2-3 Sparks, Jones, Totusek , Freestyle Candela Album:Freestyle Candela" and other artists. Performances: FREESTYLE CANDELA: Bumbershoot (1994, 1996, 2002) The Jazz Café London, England Watermans Arts Centre London, England Riverside Studios London, England Adams House (Harvard College) Boston, MA Massachusetts Institute of Technology Boston, MA Rhode Island School of Design Wesleyan University - Middletown, Connecticut Johnny D's Uptown Restaurant & Music Club - Boston, MA Zootz Nightclub - Portland, Maine The Plough and Stars - Cambridge, MA The Middle East (nightclub) - Cambridge, MA Ryles Jazz Club Cambridge, MA Midway Cafe - Boston, MA River Festival - Cambridge, MA Northwest Folklife (Mercer Arena) Seattle WA Fremont Fair Seattle WA Anthony's Somerville Boston,MA 2005 July 23 The Scarlet Tree, Benefit for Ghana 2006 January 22 and November 26, HIDMO African Nights Seattle, WA 2007 June 30 Masquers Theater Soap Lake, Washington 2007 Whidbey Island Festival 2007 May 26 The Triple Door 2007 August 2 Seattle Art Museum 2007 July 6 Columbia City "Beat Walk" 2008 The Shrine and Otto;s Shunkin' Head (NYC) 2008 February 28, Nectar Lounge 2009 Seattle Weekly's REVERB Seattle WA 2009 Connecticut Yankee, San Francisco, California 2009 April 7th and 8th The Triple Door , with J. J. Cale Seattle WA 2009 Seattle OnHold Music 2008/2009/2010 The Triple Door . . . 2008 September 8 The Triple Door 2009 March 13, Egan's Ballard Jam House 2010 Benaroya Hall - Inside/Out Jazz Awards 2011 Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) 2012 Egan's Ballard Jam House 2012 The Conway Muse 2012 October 20, 2nd Annual Positive Seattle Festival, Seattle,WA 2013 August 10, Longbranch, WA "Drum Fest" 2013 July 12 Woodland Park Zoo 2013 March 2 Blue Nile Children’s Organization - St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Seattle 2013 Nov 2 GLOBAL HEALTH GALA Healing the Children Oregon and Western Washington Chapter - The Mountaineers, Seattle, WA 2013 August 23 "Special guest Tjovi Ginen", GEP Foundation free Education for Haitian youth - Lucid Lounge 2013 Waterfront Blues Festival Portland, Oregon 2013 September 14, High Dive, Seattle, WA 2014 May 10 Hotel Decca = Healing the Children Oregon and Western Washington Chapter 2014 High Point Community Center West Seattle, Seattle WA 2014 Waterfront Blues Festival Portland, Oregon 2015 St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Seattle - Blue Nile Children's Organization 2016 World Rhythm Festival - Seattle Center 2017 Salif Keita - Kings Hall 2017 Latona Pub 30th Anniversary [https://www.facebook.com/leif.totusek] LEIF TOTUEK & 1-2-3 2018 - 1/5/18 Latona Pub 2017 - Latona Pub 2016 - The Washington Center for the Performing Arts 2016 - Seattle Public Library - Seattle PlayBack 2015 - High Point Community Center 2014 - March 24 High Point Neighborhood House 2013 - January 4 Latona Pub GEP Foundation: Groupe en Priere (“Group in Prayer”) Haiti Benefit Show 2012 - HighPoint Bataan Park Grand Opening 2011 - September 2 - Colombia City Beat Walk 2010 - Latona Pub 2009 August 13 Earshot Jazz "The Art of Jazz" Seattle Art Museum 2007 August 5 The Royal Esquire Club 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 The Triple Door 2006 Jazz in the Park, Seward Park Amphitheatre [1] 2002/2009 Earshot Jazz Seattle Art Museum 2002 Experience Music Project Museum of Pop Culture . . . Boka Kouyate ~ Djeliyah Band 2017 Festival Sundiata - Seattle Center 2017 World Rhythm Festival - Seattle Center 2016 Columbia City Theater - Seattle, WA 2016 Mamaya @ Seward Park Amphitheater 2016 Festival Sundiata - Seattle Center 2016 World Rhythm Festival- Seattle Center 2016 The Triple Door 2016 Kunta Kinteh Island Tacoma Film premier - Life Center Central 2015 Nectar Lounge - Seattle, WA GEOFFREY OREYEMA 1999 WOMAD Seattle World of Music, Arts and Dance - Marymoor Park 1999 - France Tour LORA AND SUKUTAI MARIMBA AND DANCE ENSEMBLE Northwest Folklife - Memorial Stadium Moore Theater Nectar Triple Door 1999 WOMAD Seattle World of Music, Arts and Dance . . . SOMO SOMO Band Member 1984-1989 WOMAD World of Music, Arts and Dance England Glasgow, Scotland Edinburgh Festival Fringe Edinburgh, Scotland The Bass Clef, London, England Africa Centre, London,England Lake District, England Sheffield, England Band on the Wall, Manchester, UK Hackney. London IBRAHIMA CAMARA Orpheum Theatre (Boston) . . . Cumberland Fair Cumberland, Maine Johnny D's Uptown, Boston, MA Ibrahima Camara and Safal Bumbershoot 2003 Fremont Fair Seattle WA Northwest Folklife Seattle WA 2007 Nectar Lounge - Seattle, WA ALI BIRRA 2004 Northwest Folklife (Seattle Opera House) McCaw Hall and Mural Amphitheater Seattle Center ORQUESTA CHAKCHOUKA 1989 Glasgow International Jazz Festival , 1989 WOMAD World of Music, Arts and Dance Bill Summers "Bill Summers (musician)" "Hands Across America" 1986 The Bagley Wright Theatre. . . Newspaper articles and Radio Reviews FREESTYLE CANDELA: Banning Eyre/Boston Phoenix, March 22, 1991 [http://www.leiftotusek.com/oldsite/leif_totusek-phoenix.html] Norman Weinstein/NPR (Monitor Radio) Dec. 13,1996 Danny Housman/Seattle Stranger - January 24, 1994 [http://www.leiftotusek.com/oldsite/leif_totusek-stranger.html] Fernando Gonzalez Boston/ Globe - Friday, March 6, 1992 [https://www.facebook.com/freestylecandela/photos/a.414190852795.214761.411180227795/10157623355482796/?type=3&theater] Boston Music Awards March 2, 1992 James Kirchmer/The Stranger 1999 1-2-3 review [https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/up--coming/Content?oid=1379] James Kirchmer/The Stranger 1999 [https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/up--coming/Content?oid=2152] James Kirchmer/The Stranger 2000 FREESTYLE CANDELA [https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/up--coming/Content?oid=2924] David Meinert/Seattle Weekly 2002 Erik Neumann/Seattle Weekly 2009 [https://www.facebook.com/freestylecandela/photos/a.414190852795.214761.411180227795/10150160807802796/?type=3&theater] NICK FELDMAN/Seattle Weekly 2011 [https://www.facebook.com/notes/leif-totusek/leif-totusek-freestyle-candela/10155240439015878/] The Entertainer/Tri-Cities, WA 2012 Portland Blues Festival 2013 [https://web.archive.org/web/20171227122513/http://www.waterfrontbluesfest.com/archive-2013/artists/leif-totusek] Portland Blues Festival 2014 [https://web.archive.org/web/20171216091248/http://www.waterfrontbluesfest.com/archive-2014/artists/leif-totusek] Jeff Melton/Oregon Music News July 5, 2014 The Stranger/****Recommended Aug. 14-19, 6:30 p.m. 2017 [https://www.thestranger.com/events/25337054/latona-pub-30th-anniversary] other reviews: London jazz Cafe - Elijah Wald - Paul de barros - James Kirchmer - Boston Music Awards - City Limits - Earshot Jazz - Norman Weinstein Monitor Radio References Boston Phoenix 1997 "OFF The Record" by Norman Weinstein [http://www.leiftotusek.com/oldsite/images/reviews/fcreviews2.gif] Boston Phoenix 1997 - December 26, 1996 - January 2, 1997 "Reviews and Features" by Norman Weinstein [https://web.archive.org/web/20110606011953/http://www.bostonphoenix.com/alt1/archive/music/reviews/12-26-96/OTR/FREESTYLE_CANDELA.html] The Stranger September 30,1999 James Kirchmer [https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/up--coming/Content?oid=2152] Seattle Weekly September 29,2009 Erik Neumann [http://archive.seattleweekly.com/2009-09-30/music/reverb-lineup-volterra] NICK FELDMAN/Seattle Weekly 2011 [http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/leif-totusek/] Bumbershoot 1994 [http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19940902&slug=1928409] Smithsonian Folkways Recordings 2000 [https://folkways.si.edu/lora-chiorah-dye-and-sukutai/nyoka-musango/world/music/track/smithsonian] Smithsonian Folkways Recordings 2000 [https://folkways.si.edu/lora-chiorah-dye-and-sukutai/chemtengure/world/music/track/smithsonian] Bumbershoot 1996 [https://www.facebook.com/freestylecandela/photos/a.414190852795.214761.411180227795/10150160917687796/?type=3&theater] Seattle Weekly Reverb Festival 2009 [http://archive.seattleweekly.com/2009-09-30/music/reverb-lineup-volterra] Benaroya Hall - Inside/Out Jazz Awards 2010 [https://aidgblog.wordpress.com/2010/05/04/haiti-and-aidg-jazz-fundraiser-at-benaroya-hall-seattle-may-31st/ Garth Hudson from The Band with Eric Fridrich Band at Cypress Lounge, Bellevue,WA and Upstage,Port Townsend,WA 2011 [https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/189333] [http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/beyond-the-band-garth-hudsons-river-of-sound-comes-to-port-townsend/] Sidi Touré , Leif Totusek with Atlantic Melody at The Crocodile 2012 [http://kexp.org/events/details/7016] [https://www.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/07/18/tonight-in-music-sidi-tour-the-soft-white-sixties-stickers-and-many-more] Africa Music Summit 2014 [https://africanmusicnites.org/2014/06/06/africa-music-summit-june-28/] Waterfront Blues Festival 2013 [https://leiftotusek.wordpress.com/2018/03/01/portland-waterfront-blues-festival-2013/] Healing the Children Oregon and Western Washington Chapter 2014 [https://www.facebook.com/leif.totusek] [https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152623978185477&set=a.10152170395005477.1073741828.615245476&type=1&theater] Waterfront Blues Festival 2014 [https://leiftotusek.wordpress.com/2018/03/01/portland-waterfront-blues-festival-2014/] Waterfront Blues Festival 2014 [http://www.oregonlive.com/bluesfest/index.ssf/2014/07/maceo_parker_waterfront_blues_festival.html] Thomas Mapfumo, Leif Totusek with Thione Diop's Afro Groove, Nectar Lounge 2015 [https://www.thestranger.com/events/19350381/thomas-mapfumo-and-the-blacks-unlimited-bongo-love-and-thione-diops-afro-groove][http://kexp.org/events/details/9569] Boka Kouyate & The Djeliyah Band, Columbia City Theater 2016 [http://www.columbiacitytheater.com/events/37910678/boka-amp-the-djeliyah-band][https://www.thestranger.com/events/24616340/africa-night-with-boka-and-the-djeliyah-band] Leif Totusek at Washington Center for the Performing Arts 2016 [https://www.meetup.com/OlympiaJazzCentral/events/230519884/?_cookie-check=S7EQNRvmiyokl33P] Salif Keita - Leif Totusek at Kings Hall 2017 [http://www.bomayeet.com/event/salif-keita-live-in-seattle/] Spirit Of Africa Festival 2017 - Leif Totusek with L'orchestra Afrisound Seattle Center https://www.thestranger.com/events/24873829/spirit-of-africa] 2017 COLUMBIA CITY THEATER - Leif Totusek with L'orchestra Afrisound A Benefit for the ACLU & The Northwest Immigration Rights Project [https://www.thestranger.com/events/24857765/seattle-labor-chorus-anzanga-marimba-ensemble-naomi-wachira-orchestra-afrisound-soyaya] 2017 Festival Sundiata - Seattle Center Leif Totusek with "Kouyate Arts "Boka Kouyate ~ Djeliyah Band [http://www.festivalsundiata.org/festival.html] 2017 Broadway Center for the Performing Arts Tacoma,WA Arturo Rodriguez & Leif Totusek Discography Freestyle Candela [https://itunes.apple.com/ke/album/freestyle-candela/291038805] Lora Chiorah & Leif Totusek "Mbira & guitar" Album [https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/lorachiorahleiftotusek] Leif Totusek 1-2-3, Go [https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/123sparksjonestotusek] The Totusek, Butkovic, Iochev Trio [https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/thetotusekbutkoviciochev] The Jamisons, Banshee [https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/thejamisons] Love Gangsters, Never Say Goodbye [https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/lovegansters] External links [http://www.leiftotusek.com/ Official site] Footnotes: 1. The Boston Globe Archives:_Gonzalez, Fernando_"Leif Totusek - Freestyle Candela" publication date Mar 6, 1992 publication description The Boston Globe https://secure.pqarchiver.com/boston/offers.html?url=%2Fboston%2Fdoc%2F294662932.html%3FFMT%3DFT%26FMTS%3DABS%3AFT%26type%3Dcurrent%26date%3DMar%2B6%252C%2B1992%26author%3DGonzalez%252C%2BFernando%26pub%3DBoston%2BGlobe%2B%2528pre-1997%2BFulltext%2529%26e 2. The Boston Globe _"...Freestyle plays Zairean Soukous and Rumbas with surprising flair..." by Gonzalez, Fernando publication date May 29, 1992 publication description The Boston Globe https://secure.pqarchiver.com/boston/offers.html?url=%2Fboston%2Fdoc%2F294676190.html%3FFMT%3DFT%26FMTS%3DABS%3AFT%26type%3Dcurrent%26date%3DMay%2B29%252C%2B1992%26author%3DGonzalez%252C%2BFernando%26pub%3DBoston%2BGlobe%2B%2528pre-1997%2BFulltext%2529%26See%20publication%20The%20Boston%20Globe_%22...Freestyle%20plays%20Zairean%20Soukous%20and%20Rumbas%20with%20surprisig%20flair...%22%20by%20Gonzalez,%20Fernando

Instruments

• Acoustic guitar
• Guitar

Genres

• Jazz
• Folk
• World
• Blues
• Rock