Pianist Bobby Lyle learned long ago that success and
longevity in the music business are directly related to versatility and
the ability to constantly refine and re-invent God-given talent. Thus in
a career that has spanned some three decades, Lyle has established
himself as a songwriter, producer, arranger, music publisher, sideman,
bandleader, musical director, and world-class performer. Audiences at home
and abroad have been mesmerized by Bobby's melodic compositions and
dazzling piano techniques.Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Bobby's parents joined the
post-war flight of African-Americans from the south to urban northern
cities. The family ended up in Minneapolis, Minnesota-and that's where
Lyle's musical odyssey began. "My love affair with the piano began at age
six with Mom as my first teacher" Lyle fondly recalls." growing up in a
climate where you have six months of winter every year provided lots of
practice time" he added with a smile. The resulting development
eventually got him noticed by musicians and club-owners and soon the gigs
began to pour in. This "on the job" training coupled with exposure to the
great jazz piano masters (Art Tatum, Erroll Garner, Oscar Peterson,
McCoy Tyner, Ahmad Jamal, and Hammond B-3 pioneer Jimmy Smith) advanced Lyle's performing skills. He left college after two years, feeling that
the time was right to join the mainstream of national touring musicians.
The first opportunity arrived in the form of Red Holt and Eldee Young
(Young-Holt Unltd.), ex Ramsey Lewis band members, who whisked Bobby
away from the Twin Cities and into the national jazz club circuit. They
also exposed him to his first major studio recording on the
Atlantic-Cotillion label-a precursor of things to come.Events happened quickly from this point in the early
70's. There was a meeting and subsequent jam session with Jimi Hendrix
(who was planning on starting a jazz-rock group with Lyle and fellow
Minnesotans Willie Weeks [bass] and Bill Lordan [drums] as the rhythm
section before his untimely death later that year). Next came a permanent
move (with his young family) to Los Angeles in 1974. Then a nine month
tour that same year with Sly and the Family Stone and a stint with the
Ronnie Laws band. This led to a meeting with Wayne Henderson of the Jazz
Crusaders-who then took him to Capitol Records for his first solo
recording deal in 1977. After three albums ("The Genie", "New Warrior", and
"Night Fire"), Capitol abandoned their jazz division and Lyle returned
to the touring circuit-hitting the road in 1981 with George Benson.
Extensive tours followed with Bette Midler, Al Jarreau, and Anita Baker
(all as musical director) which covered most of the eighties. While
performing with saxophonist Gerald Albright in 1987, Bobby came to the
attention of Sylvia Rhone-then VP of Jazz and Urban music at Atlantic
Records. This resulted in a recording deal in 1988 which spawned six albums
in nine years including "Ivory Dreams", "The Journey",-which became a
..1 jazz album in 1990, "Pianomagic"-a critically acclaimed solo piano
project, "Secret Island", "Rhythm Stories", and "The Power of Touch".In the meantime, Lyle continued to tour with his own
bands as well as with Bette Midler. He received an Emmy nomination for
his musical direction on her HBO Special, "Diva Las Vegas" in 1997.Bobby's last project "Straight and Smooth" was released in April
2004. It is a groundbreaking two disc effort that features Lyle in his
classic smooth jazz format on one disc, and lends his touch to a mixture
of jazz classics, standards and originals in the acoustic piano trio
format on the other. Coming off last year's "Joyful" project, which
peaked at .. 8 on the Billboard contemporary jazz chart, Lyle is excited
about taking his musical message to the next level. "Combining smooth AND
straight ahead jazz in the same package has never been tried before"
explained Lyle. "I'm really pumped about the live performance
opportunities the two formats will create for me to take my music to the people.""Straight and Smooth" made Bobby the first artist to ever chart on BOTH
the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart and the Straight Ahead Jazz
Chart.Lyle's future plans also include breaking into film scoring, and
setting up musical seminars in schools and colleges to make sure future
generations continue to have an awareness of America's original art
form, Jazz.
