Emory Lester

Bluegrass mandolin player. Has also performed with many jazz groups as a violinist, and with several new age ensembles playing a variety of instruments. Born in 1962. Brother of Dale Lester. A life-long Virginia native, but lived in Ontario, Canada from 1988 to 1993, and again from 2002. Lester formed a band in 1979, named "Hollywood", with banjo/mandolin player James Hann, guitarist Sheridan Minnick, and bassist Missy Raines, and the band performed a mixture of bluegrass and new acoustic jazz. Lester's first solo mandolin album, "Jerusalem Ridge", was recorded in 1983, followed by "Mando-Motion" in 1985, a new acoustic effort with Lester playing all the instruments tracked one at a time, and writing all the material. Lester won the Central Canadian Mandolin Player of the Year award four times, and performed bluegrass and new acoustic jazz throughout the entire country. "The Great Chase", Lester's third mandolin project, was recorded for Rodeo Records in 1991, with distribution across Canada, but limited availability in the U.S. In the early 1990s, Lester formed a new acoustic band, "the Emory Lester Set", and become a working sideman to one of his new age influences, guitarist William Ellwood. In 1993, Lester produced "Pale Rider", featuring such sidemen as Tony Trischka, Ray Legere and Slavek Hanzlik. The 1995 release of "The Emory Lester Set", an all acoustic jazz project, with band members Marion Linton on violin, bassist Kene Hyatt and guitar player Allan Gorman, showcased Lester's mandolin playing in a jazz setting, as well as his songwriting abilities. In 1995, Lester joined up with local banjo legend Bill Emerson, and former Virginia Squires leader Mark Newton, and has appeared with the "Emerson / Newton Band", playing shows all over the eastern U.S. On the jazz side of his music, Lester has performed many shows with his long time friend - jazz guitar virtuoso Francois Vola, and his band, in and around central North Carolina, contributing his violin and mandolin playing to the group. The summer of 1997 saw Lester performing a series of jazz concerts in Martha's Vineyards alongside jazz guitar legend Babik Reinhardt - son of the great Django Reinhardt - and the Francois Vola Group. In 1999, Lester joined the Gary Ferguson / Sally Love band, and travelled across the U.S. doing performances, and produced their popular project entitled 'Our Old Home', receiving a lot of airplay with songs such as 'Take It Out Back'. Lester, as well as members of the Emory Lester Set, still occasionally perform with Gary Ferguson, at bluegrass festivals and private concerts. It was in 1998 that Lester met the highly creative banjoist Mark Johnson, known for his unique brand of clawhammer banjo music, called 'Clawgrass', which came from the title of his noted debut recording with the Rice Brothers. Since their meeting, Lester and Johnson have found a new niche in their music, and a common respect and creative partnership that has resulted in many shows as a duet, across the U.S., and is documented in their debut recording entitled 'Acoustic Campaign'. A new recording, due to be released in October of 2005, will be called 'Acoustic Rising'. In 2002, Lester and his wife Barb relocated from Virginia to Ontario Canada. Since that time, the Emory Lester Set was reformed, including mainstay members Marion Linton and Kene Hyatt, with the addition of the talented Marc Roy on guitar. They have been busy since 2003, doing festivals and concerts across Canada, from Vancouver to Prince Edward Island, as well as across the U.S. When new acoustic guitarist Slavek Hanzlik teamed up with Ottawas' jazz vocalist sensation Tena Palmer, they called Lester, and these three artists have now formed a trio, that has been performing in the summer of 2005 across Ontario and Quebec, with plans for a new recording for early 2006. In the past several years, Lester has taught master series workshops at events such as the Steve Kaufman Acoustic Kamp, the Mandolin Symposium, the Swannanoah Gathering, the Goderich Celtic College, the Alaska Guitar Camp, the Transatlantic Bluegrass School in Wales U.K. and many other prestigious schools and workshops far and wide. He has also produced many recording projects for other prominent artists.