Fisherman
NYC
Fisherman is a crazy-cool bandleader and mallet player (vibes, marimba, xylophone) who has been making the hep cats and chicks groove across the nation for over a decade. His shows deliver the kind of action not seen since the golden years of Be-Bop, Burlesque, and Lounge Exotica. With his fez, goatee, and vast collection of Tiki shirts, he looks like he stepped out of a Technicolor beatnik drive-in extravaganza. And the way he playsÉ well you probably haven't seen anything like it, unless you caught Lionel Hampton or Red Norvo back in the day.
Fisherman is the alter-ego of Brian Lease, a classically trained percussionist who exited the stuffy concert-hall to raise the banner of vaudeville showman. After releasing albums and touring with Frenchy (one of California's proto-loungecore acts in the early 90's), he founded Fisherman's Famous San Francisco Burlesque, the first live music burlesque seen on the West Coast in our memory. He co-produced the first Tease-O-Rama, now the largest annual Burlesque convention in the world. Lately, he can be seen mostly in New York, playing with his epiphanous trio at the hottest Tiki bar in town (Otto's Shrunken Head) every week and producing his Burlesque at such venues as The Slipper Room, Siberia, and Marquee.
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