Christie Lenee's FunkGrass Groove
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Christie Lenee's FunkGrass Groove

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Music

The best kept secret in music

Press


"The Local Buzz Entertainment Magazine"

"Lenee's live show spirits vocals that are as soothing as a mother singing to heal her child but create the energy and passion of a rollercoaster screaming off the tracks." - Jason Collins, The Local Buzz Mag, Article by Phil Grech


"Performance Review"

Have you ever gotten so caught up in a song you felt yourself fuse with the melody, grasped by a spiral of energy that would not let go until sound ceased?

How about in a completely sober state of mind? Well, that's how I feel when I have the pleasure of witnessing Christie Lenee's musical genius. Her guitar work liquifies me, even vaporizes me and finally, it makes me whole again. Solid yet fluid, still one with her strumming, I can't help but ride the waves her sounds induce. Watching and listening to her play is intoxicating. It entrances and moves me into dance, even if I'm just sitting on a couch at Sacred Grounds. I can't sit still, or maybe it's the caffeine, all I want to do is get up and MOVE. Each note has it's own ripple, processed by my body and purged forth, back to her. We are a system. In equilibrium. She gives. I take. And then I reciprocate.

Christie smiles and internal organs are liquified, melding together. Now this conglomeration of gunk might not seem all too appealing if it were not that it eventually turns to light and radiates out of me, lifting me to greater heights. [Everyone should experience music from the ceiling at least once in their life. It's much better than standing or sitting on uncomfortable furniture.] Her beauty is woven through her guitar fingering. She owns the guitar, but it is no slave to her. They are a merger of profound soul--one human, one instrument.

Watching her sway with the music is hypnotic. Her dance is not orchestrated or choreographed, she moves with sound freely and spirited.

Christie inspires a desire to become one with positive change. The energy she radiates through song washes over me, fills me, gushes from me so that I feel as if I could flood the venue, drowning every blessed soul with the highest concentration of pure love and harmony that could ever flow from a human being.

- Penny Lane


"Rhythm, Writing, 'Rithmetic"

Tampa Tribune
Tampa Tribune, The (FL)
March 14, 2004
Rhythm, Writing, 'Rithmetic
Author: KURT LOFT; kloft@tampatrib.com
Edition: FINAL
Section: BAYLIFE
Page: 12
Dateline: TAMPA

Article Text:

A young Tampa musician tunes her talents through a love for the guitar and songwriting ¡X and an understanding of math.



By KURT LOFT

kloft@tampatrib.com


TAMPA ¡X While many an 18-year-old fresh out of high school tinkers with music, Christie Lenee Jimenez is making a bigger noise.

She's not just playing tunes on her guitar, but also teaching, composing and recording.

"It's easy for me to write music, and that's what I want to do," Jimenez says. "Who I am is being behind the guitar and talking with my fingers."

Jimenez is fashioning a career through the six strings of her instrument and an urge to create. Technically, she has got the chops ¡X confident in the classical style, fluid in jazz, versed in pop and rock. She tackles solo concert repertoire, jams in a band, sings homemade ballads and strums what sound like rivers of rhythm.

"Learning different styles has made me blossom into being able to play and write anything I feel at the moment," she says from her home in Temple Terrace. "If I'm really happy and relaxed, I can write a classical song that's happy and relaxe! d. If I'm upset or angry, I can write a hard rock tune. But that doesn't happen often because I'm a happy person."

Jimenez has reason to be happy. She recently recorded a collection of classical guitar favorites called "Soothing Sounds at the Sea," accompanied by her 22-year-old pianist sister, Carla. The compact disc will be released in the next few months. Jimenez also finished a disc of her own songs and keeps her technique sharp by giving guitar lessons and playing at weddings and parties and in local restaurants.

Every Thursday night, she can be heard doing the Pachelbel "Canon" and other classical arrangements at Trang Viet Cuisine, 1524 E. Fowler Ave. But like many teenagers who take up an instrument, Jimenez went for rock, not Bach.

"When I was younger, about 13, I wanted to play the piano, and my parents forced me to practice," she says. "But I got sick of it really fast because I wanted to play guitar. So I promised them I'd stick with i! t.

"Then I got my first guitar, which was electric, and I fig ured out a bunch of rock songs by ear. I loved Pink Floyd and was always trying to figure out the chords. Pretty soon I'd be jamming along to "Dark Side of the Moon.' "


A Burst Of Interest

Her interest in music turned serious when she was at Blake High School, an arts magnet school in downtown Tampa, where she graduated with honors in 2003. She attended a recital by John Michael Parris, Blake's classical guitar instructor. On the program was "Sunburst," a contemporary piece by Andrew York of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. Little did she know it would become one of her signature pieces.

"When I heard the sound, I was in awe," she says. "And I said to myself, "If I can do that, I can do anything.' "

Jimenez decided to become a serious classical guitarist but knew the technical demands would be enormous. Unlike instruments that use pedals, hammers, valves or bows, sounds on the classical guitar are created by manipulating vibrating strings with the flesh or nail of both hands, making it a true extension of the performer's body.

"I knew it would be tough, and my teacher told me I'd have to practice a ! lot, go through technique books and learn to read music," she says. "I sat around in the middle of the night and practiced until I couldn't practice anymore."

For the next few years, practice was her companion, often up to 15 hours a day. Her dedication paid off when she played a recital before a musical judge at a high school music festival. She chose Francisco Tarrega's evocative "Recuerdos de la Alhambra" ("Memories of Alhambra") and managed to get through it with nerves intact.

"He just sat there and didn't say a word," she says. "And that was one of the best compliments I ever got. He said he didn't know what to say, except to play it again ¡X backward."

Jimenez went on to win an honorable mention in the 2002 National Foundation for Advancement for the Arts competition, which placed her in the upper 5 percent in the nation among musicians competing on classical guitar. But her musical progress, she believes, comes in part from her unders! tanding of mathematical concepts.

"Music is all just math, an d if you can figure out the patterns, then putting together chords is no problem at all," she says. "It's just your own arrangement of mathematical patterns."


Separation Anxiety

Jimenez has worked her mathematical magic through more than 40 original songs, each composed on one or more of her five guitars ¡X two electric, two classical and a steel-string acoustic. When she's away from any of them, she feels separation anxiety.

"I feel naked without a guitar," she - The Tampa Tribune


Discography

Peace Is..., 2005, Christie Lenee & Orenda, Self produced
Live in Taiwan 2005, ORENDA, self produced
Live at The River (Taiwan) 2005, ORENDA, self produced
Shine ~single~ 2005, ORENDA, GTSX Productions, Taipei, Taiwan
88.5 FM WMNF Tampa, Florida
Streaming/Radio airplay:
EXPAT Radio(englishradiotaiwan.tripod.com/index.html)
myspace:
www.myspace.com/christieleneemusic
www.myspace.com/orenda

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

Energy, mind, and soul are three words that characterize Christie Lenee Jimenez. The ripening songwriter, jazz/classical guitarist, and vocalist is enriched with a sweet, luscious variety of musical flavor and tasteful lyrics that deliver passion in positive messages to an assorted audience.

Scribbling thoughts on notebooks and napkins as far back as the memory takes her, the virtuoso performer has been involved in musical theatre acts and entertainment groups since the age of five. After studying classical guitar exclusively for three years she joined her high school jazz band and grew an interest towards improvisation. She is currently pursuing two degrees in jazz guitar performance and music composition at the University of South Florida.

An eighth month tour and journey through Taiwan opened new doors of opportunity as Christie performed at major international music festivals with her band Orenda, coalescing her experience with the popular rock style to create an innovative sound. Some festivals they played at include Spring Scream, Peace Festival, May Jam, and Mountain Fest, along with various outdoor stages and venues around the country. Instrumentation included guitars, bass, drums, percussion, keyboard, trumpets, and saxophones with an extensive range of musicians from all over the world. The wide array of strings, drums, horns and harmonies filled the stages and painted smiling faces on audiences.

Be prepared to get swept off your feet with Christie Lenee’s innovative style profuse with dance grooves, jazz-influenced melodies, eloquent lyrics, and the magnitude of music that’s produced acoustic and with the band!