Lee Torchia
Singer/Musician of American Jazz, East Indian Classical and JazzRaga Fusion:
The Journey of a Catholic American to the
world of Classical Hindu/Muslim Music and back again
Lee Torchia, born in Buffalo,
New York to a military family, lived in the Azores Islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean when she was young. There she
spent hours on the lava rocks amongst the crashing waves. These meditations on sound
were preparing her for the music of the East.
Indian Classical Music was developed by mystics living in the
ancient forests who meditated on
the 24-hour cycle of nature, observing the movements of
the sun, moon, sky, trees, water and wind. These sadhus (holy men and women) discovered special sounds
that were connected to the passing moments of time, and they developed modal scales (using 22 notes in one octave), and
created Ragas (compositions). When sung at the proper time, the raga evokes and reflects the natural atmosphere and mood of the morning, night, or seasons*. A drone instrument, the tambura, accompanies the singer and is often
compared to the composite waveform sound of the ocean.
Lee received a B.A. degree in Drama and Voice
from the University of Maryland in 1970. She moved to New York City in 1975 to pursue acting when she met her Indian Music
Guru, Pandit Pran Nath..
For the next twenty years, Lee studied
classical Indian music privately with Pandit Pran Nath, the greatest
of North Indian Raga masters, as well as with his Disciples, La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela and
Terry Riley. They are among the highest authorities of the American
Minimalist and Microtonal tradition. She went to India four times with this select
group of musicians for extended visits in order to study, travel and absorb the
culture and traditions.
Drawn into the New York jazz community, she joined Barry Harris' workshop in 1978, studied privately with Helen Merrill, and performed with many of the top jazz musicians
including Walter Bishop, Jr., Doc Cheatham, Jackie
Williams, Ray Mantilla, Slide Hampton and Muhal Richard Abrams. In December of 1985 she
assembled an all-star rhythm section and recorded the CD: Loverman, A Tribute to Billie
Holiday.
This album features the composer, Ram Ramirez on Piano, Milt Hinton on Bass, Mel Lewis on Drums, and Ricky Ford on Sax, and is available on the web at CD Baby or ITUNES.
In 1996 Lee assisted her Guru, Pandit
Pran Nath in workshops in India and and Paris, which culminated in a "Coming Out" performance with him in Paris, France. She continues solo Hindustani Classical Vocalist concerts in the traditional Indian style, and has performed at the Bruno Walter
Auditorium at
Lincoln
Center, Pace University, Pratt Institute, Penn
State Scranton and Schuylkill, among many.. She was adjunct faculty as Raga Vocal Teacher in the Jazz Department at the New School University in New York City.
Lee received a Music Fellowship from The National Endowment for the Arts. She has composed several pop tunes in the blues and
country genre. And it is her work in Jazz/Indian
fusion which has put her on the "cutting edge" of jazz. She has premiered fusion performances of Monk compositions "Round Midnight" and
"Straight No Chaser" at the Village Gate and the West End
Gate. The spiritual "Amazing Grace" was premiered at St. Peter's Jazz Church, and "All Blues" by Miles Davis was premiered in August of 2009 at the Memorial service for her friend, Duke Ellington's guitarist Lawrence "Larry" Lucie.
Lee has chronicled her performances on video as a bandleader, composer,singer, teacher and producer, and has presented
them on Manhattan Cable TV for the New York community. Her jazz CD, "Loverman" is available on CDBaby, or on ITUNES. Her CD, "Meditations on Morning Ragas", is currently in process.
www.jazzraga.com 212.695.1906
leetorchia@yahoo.com