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About
Valerie & GrooveLily Valerie, electric violinist and singer, is the founding member of GrooveLily. Originally from McLean, VA, Valerie is a classically-trained musician and an honors graduate of Princeton University. She has toured the world with Cyndi Lauper (opening for Tina Turner and Cher), Joe Jackson and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. A former Army lieutenant, Valerie stars with her bandmates in print and on TV in the ongoing "Perseverance" ads for "Today’s Military." She founded GrooveLily (originally "The Valerie Vigoda Band") in 1994, with a critically acclaimed CD called "Inhabit My Heart." Dirty Linen Magazine wrote: "to call Valerie Vigoda talented barely seems to do her justice. She has a great voice, is an intelligent lyricist...and an ace violinist. Methinks we'll hear more of her." GrooveLily, a New York City trio, inhabits that contemporary space where creative musicians ignore the boundaries laid down by words like rock, folk, jazz, and pop. Intelligent original songs with no shortage of wit connect lush musical textures and soaring vocals with the blazing six-string electric violin of Valerie Vigoda, the lightning-fingered piano of Brendan Milburn, and the joyful drums of Gene Lewin. With backgrounds in classical music, musical theater, jazz, and rock, the three members of GrooveLily are making a new music that's all their own. Poised to open Off-Broadway this fall with their critically-acclaimed holiday concert-musical "Striking 12," GrooveLily and their 2005 Tony-Award-winning team — co-writer Rachel Sheinkin (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) and director Ted Sperling (The Light In The Piazza) — look forward to making your acquaintance. GrooveLily member Brendan Milburn plays keyboards and sings. Before joining GrooveLily, he graduated from Pomona College and NYU's MFA program in Musical Theatre Writing. He does a lot of arranging for GrooveLily, and he’s an accomplished record producer as well. He often yearns for his native San Francisco. Seth Rogovoy wrote:"...Milburn was a deft pianist, his nimble fingerwork doing double-duty as the band’s bassist and provider of its harmonic foundation, delivered with the jazzy sophistication of Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen and the rock and roll theatrics of Billy Joel." GrooveLily member Gene Lewin plays the drums and sings, and hails from Princeton, NJ. Like many of his heroes (Jack DeJohnette, Russ Kunkel, Vinnie Colaiuta), Gene joyfully blurs the lines between jazz and rock, supporting and complementing the music but unafraid to instigate when the time is right. After graduating from Princeton University, Gene earned a Master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music. He has appeared on CDs with George Coleman, John Patitucci, and many others. "His gift lies in his frenzied dynamo attack of cymbals and skins. Think Tony Williams sits in with Weather Report" (Mark Corroto, All About Jazz). Valerie and GrooveLily appear on Discovergirls' new CD for the benefit of the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Click on the Catalyst 18 banner to learn more about the hottest album of 2006!
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