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Live Music: ~êILê~

Live Music

~êILê~ Spiritual Jazz

At the midway point of our weekend Calligraphy Workshop with Gerow Reece, we'll put down our brushes (or perhaps not?) to experience the Spiritual Jazz of ~êILê~. ~êILê~ are a multi-cultural Integrated Arts quartet in organic spontaneous collaboration with healers, poets, dancers, yogis, photographers, videographers, actors & artists, with a vision base on One. Arts. Love. Healing.


You don’t have to be a Calligraphy Workshop participant to attend this event.
All are welcome!


~êILê~ Spiritual Jazz
, co-founded by Leisei Chen with Emile Porée, later joined by Joey DeRusha and Alma Cielo. It is the synergy of four distinct artists, co-creating as a tribute to Michael White, Spiritual Jazz Violinist. We are a multi-cultural Integrated Arts quartet in organic spontaneous collaboration with healers, poets, dancers, yogis, photographers, videographers, actors & artists, with our vision base on One. Arts. Love. Healing.

Leisei Chen is a co-founder of ~êILê~ Spiritual Jazz. Leisei is a jazz artist specializing in vocals, keyboard & special shimmering percussion, and she is a Qigong healing artist. Born and raised in Kobe, Japan of Chinese heritage, surrounded by a rich multi-cultural environment inspired her artistic vision & expression. Leisei was mentored by and performed with Jazz luminaries in late '80s to '90s in New York & Seattle. She united with groundbreaking legendary Jazz violinist Michael White in 2003. Soon they became life and music partners, and formed Michael White Quintet. They recorded the award-winning album ‘Voices’, performed in Japan, USA & Europe, and locally in Royce Hall UCLA, Grand Performances, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Eagle Rock Music Festival & Angeles Jazz Festival.

Emile Porée is a Jazz musician and vocalist who enjoy performing to a broad music-loving audience. Either solo, or with his Trio he likes and fuses many musical genres. To this end, Emile Porée considers himself a musical activist. Today, Emile Porée is recording his own music and performing on the music scene locally, with bands and various artists. It’s no wonder that bands and producers are big supporters and advocates of Emile Porée.  One of Emile Porée’s passion projects has been his documentation of Jazz in Los Angeles, exploring and recording the soundscapes and images of musicians in our city.

Alma Cielo is a ritual/performance artist; dancer and musician, with over 30 years experience on the violin, and more recently the viola and ancient Indian instrument, the sarangi.  She has traveled and performed in Russia, the U.K., Mexico, Canada, and the Philippines, as well as local venues such as Disney Hall, Dorothy Chandler and the Hollywood Bowl.  In ensemble work she has won the Lester Horton Award in world dance, in theater Fringe Firsts and the Audience Choice Award in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and in ~êILê~ Alma has found a spiritual collaboration that allows her spirit to sing in total freedom, exhilaration, healing and peace.

Joey DeRusha has taken his approach to integrative design across genres and around the world. A multi-instrumentalist born and raised in Los Angeles, he was a founding member of Ocean 11 and The Alef Project and Jiode origami design.  He draws inspiration between the connections between people and the architecture of the cosmos as expressed by music. Joey is pleased to bring his experimental approach culture, sacred geometry and collaboration to ~êILê~.

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