Lady BLue, by Leon Russell, as sung my Cliff Lopes - Lead Vocalist, Drummer,
The Smooth Jazz Ensemble
Mr. Lopes has been performing vocally for most of his life. As a child and
teen he sang in school choirs, musicals and had private voice training in his
teens. He started singing professionally when he joined his first band at age 21.
From that point he sang in various bands throughout CA. By age 25 he studied
percussion instruments. Notably, Conga and Bongos. At 31, he learned to play drums.His instructors included LA’s Murray
Spivak and CSFU’s Brian Callahan. His most notable performances were:
...with Jazz Celebration for 3 years
...with Miles Creek (the Cruise Nightclub)
...as Featured Vocalist for UC Bakersfield Jazz
Band
...singing “So very hard to go” with Tower of
Power
...with the East bay band ‘Street Wise’, the opening act for top recording artists
The Bakersfield Californian - By Steve Hall - Contributing Columnist
From the Bakersfield Californian:
"Five Sets Fill Coffeehouse Crowd"
"If you missed the third set on Saturday Night, you missed something
worth hearing, in which vocalist Cliff Lopes made his first Coffeehouse
appearance. Lopes, a baritone, is an impressive singer whose phrasing is
reminiscient of Al Jarreau.
He glided through a lovely version of Leon Russell's "This Masquerade"
and Jarreau's lyrics to Chick Corea's Spain", which is a very complex vocal
piece."
Notice: This song is licensed to The Smooth Jazz Ensemble via The Harry Fox
Agency as a DPD. This video shows a performance of the song, but only an
excerpt of it. Lady Blue is one of the tunes available on their Album, 'Slow
Easy Pace'. The album is available on I-tunes, Napster and at
www.smoothjazzensemble.com. 'Misty', 'Angel Eyes', 'Summer Time', 'Take Me
There' 'Lady Blue' and the title song 'Slow Easy Pace' are showcased.
and 
