Tucson Jazz Festival
Music was a pandemic lifeline for Jake Leckie of The Guide
Folk-jazz band to play Hotel Congress on Sunday
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Jake LeckieThe Guide is a folk-jazz trio that will take the stage at the Hotel Congress Plaza during the Tucson Jazz Festival.
When the pandemic hit, countries entered periods of lockdown and people self-isolated. For Jake Leckie, Elizabeth Goodfellow and Nadav Peled, music was a lifeline.
Leckie, who plays the upright bass in the trio, said their band The Guide was a good thing that came out of a bad one.
"There was this social need," Leckie said. "So we started playing in the front yard for our neighbors."
The acoustic folk jazz band would gather weekly and play together. Leckie said that as a collective, the band draws musical inspiration from different places. For example, Peled — who plays the guitar — brings his Ethiopian style into the mix while Leckie adds the folk flair. He said he is also influenced by Nogales-born jazz legend Charles Mingus.
"We're deeply rooted in jazz but we pull influences from different places," Leckie said.
Leckie's main source of inspiration comes from the community around him and the people who surround him, he said. And during the pandemic, music gave him a connection to his community. They currently play in different venues and they rehearse daily.
''Not many jazz bands rehearse weekly, but we do, aside from playing regular gigs," Leckie said. "Yet, we improvise together. And when we do, you can hear the chemistry. You can hear the telepathy that occurs when we improvise, and over all, you can hear the trust. Improvisation can feel like jumping off a cliff."
The Guide will play at the Hotel Congress Plaza on Sunday, Jan. 22 at 2 p.m. They will play songs from their eponymous album as well as some new songs they're excited to "air out."
Bianca Morales is TucsonSentinel.com’s Cultural Expression and Community Values reporter, and a Report for America corps member supported by readers like you.
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Tucson Jazz Festival 2023
Jazz up January with performances by over 100 world-class musicians. The Tucson Jazz Festival is returning Friday, Jan. 13 to Sunday, Jan. 22.
Some of this year's headliners include Pink Martini featuring China Forbes, Tatiana Eva-Marie and Avalon Jazz Band, Samara Joy, Tall Tall Trees, and The Guide among others.
There will be two other components aside from the main festival shows - the TJF Jam and the Downtown Jazz Fiesta. The Fiesta will be a free event for the public, Monday, Jan. 16 on the Hotel Congress Plaza, starting at 11 a.m., with performances by jazz bagpiper Gunhild Carling, plus Gabriel Ayala, Homero Cerón Latin Jazz Nonet, Elliot Mason and others.
The festival starts Friday, Jan. 13, at 8 p.m. with a performance by Joshua Redman at the Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd.
All the shows will take place in the following venues: Centennial Hall, Hotel Congress Plaza, Century Room, Tucson Convention Center, the Century Room, The Playground, Fox Theatre, the Monica and the Rialto Theatre.
People who wish to attend can purchase tickets through the TJF website.
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