San Diego Reader

Chase Morrin: Keyboards, Piano | Ira B. Liss: Composer, Saxophone

Genre: Jazz

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Related Links

• Ira B. Liss Big Band Jazz Machine website

Synoposis

Inception: San Diego, 1979

Influences: The Temptations, the Four Tops, Bobby Caldwell, Diane Schuur, Natalie Cole, Harry Connick, Sr. Bill Acosta, Charmaine Neville, Nelson Riddle Orchestra

Background:

Founded in 1979, the Ira B. Liss Big Band Jazz Machine plays 1930s & 1940s big band music, as well as rock, mambo, salsa, and more. Bandleader Liss attended San Diego State University in the early 1980s.

The debut album First Impressions was released in 1994, and they backed Bobby Caldwell on his 1996 album Beyond The Sea, a tribute to Frank Sinatra.

Their second CD Everything Under The Sun was nominated Best Jazz CD at the 2000 San Diego Music Awards. They have gone on to become one of the most solid and oft-employed jazz bands in San Diego.

Discography