Leszek (Lez) Karski
Born 1950 in Worcester U.K. of Polish parents. Attended U.S. army high school in Munich, Germany where Lez first heard and started to play, rhythm & blues music.
Returning to ‘swinging’ London in the mid 60’s, he continued a mixture of music & art, watching Peter Green and Clapton,
studying at Ealing Art College and playing the blues at night.
Music eventually dominated, and he found himself touring Europe with a Liverpool funk
outfit 'Supercharge' bringing him to Australia in the late 70’s with a 1 hit record ‘Get Up & Dance’.
Sydney in the 80’s found Lez as a singer/guitarist and songwriter/record producer, working with Flash & The Pan, Midnight Oil, Spy v Spy, The Triffids, Yothu Yindi, Jeff Lang and many others, whilst playing the blues with The Hippos, Bondi Cigars, and The Foreday Riders.
Lez's unique guitar and vocal delivery is highly respected across the board, and his current band The Nervous Investors are a regular feature of the Australian Blues scene.
They've performed nationally as the late great Johnny Johnson's band, playing the Narooma and East Coast Blues festivals and appeared on the ‘Live at the Basement’ TV special. They were Chris Cain's band at the Narooma festival two years running, and Kenny 'Blues Boss' Wayne's backing band.
In 2007 'The Nervous Investors' toured through Germany, Holland & Poland, where Lez represented Australia at the Wroclaw ‘Thanks Jimi’ 1st of May guitar festival, helping to establish a new Guinness record for the number of guitarists (1881) playing a Hendrix classic.
Now based in Albany, Lez's other projects include duos & trios with local and interstate musicians (including one with daughter Kasia ), as well as solo acoustic performances.
He’s helped to establish the Albany Blues Club as a committee member and is part of their house band, 'MooseKnuckle'.
He’s also a facilitator at the annual ‘Recipe For Jam’ music workshops at the Vancouver Arts centre in Albany, and a casual music lecturer at the Denmark TAFE.
Profile Created by Kasia Karski - www.myspace.com/misskasiaxo
