(Bruce) Williams and (Mike) Lee
provided a beguiling blend of tones and asides during the theme. Powerhouse
Lee, who boasts tremendous technique and improvisational acumen, played a solo
full of complex ideas that were deftly resolved. His affinity for early 1960s
John Coltrane was front and center.
- Zan Stewart - New Jersey Star Ledger - May 11, 2006 - Review of Bruce
Williams' Gig at Cecil's Jazz Club
Bill Holmans's arrangement of "Too Close for Comfort" afforded (Mike) Lee the
space to show his mastery of technique and umimpeded flow of ideas. His control
of the altissimo register permits his carrying a full, clear tone to the
uppermost reaches, feeding each climax and contrasting with the flurries of
notes he spits out in the middle range.
- Eric Erickson - Northeast Wisconsin Music Review - August 1, 2005 Review
of Birch Creek Academy Band
This gifted composer and masterful
saxophonist has crafted tunes of character, lilt, and elegance, buoying them
with his fat back, velvety saxophone.
- Carlo Wolff, Jazziz (February 2001) - Review of My Backyard (Omnitone)
An inventive improviser, ideas flow
from [Lee's] horn in great profusion.
- Harvey Pekar, JazzTimes (March 2001) - Review of My Backyard (Omnitone)
Mike Lee is a very gifted and exciting
young saxophonist who has the future in his sound.
- Joe Lovano, Blue Note Recording Artist
The saxophonist has been gaining a
reputation as one of the — baddest — improvisers on the scene which was evidenced
on his brand new release, titled My Backyard.
- Glenn Astarita,
All
About Jazz.com - Review of My Backyard (Omnitone)
(Joe) Lovano....and (Mike) Lee
(filling the Role taken by Joshua Redman on the record) played off each other
with all the uncanny musical symbiosis that the great tenor teams of yore - Al
Cohn and Zoot Sims, Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons - used to exhibit.
- David Sowd Akron Beacon-Journal,
January 2, 1995
...a wonderful saxophonist and
composer as well...
- Michael Brecker, Impulse Recording Artist
On the basis of The Quiet Answer,
Michael Lee has joined the ranks of the Cats (Branford Marsalis, Ralph Moore,
Courtney Pine, Ralph Bowen): Fresh voices who are widening the envelope of
possibility within the tenor/soprano saxophone post-bop mainstream. His sound on
tenor is clean and strong...He writes good songs and he possesses the discipline
and fluency to shape the flow of every improvisation into meaningful form...
-Thomas Conrad CD REVIEW August/1991
Tenor saxophonist Michael Lee
represents the latest luminary in a long tradition of outstanding Cleveland
saxophonists. His writing and playing exhibit a consistently high intelligence
and concern for continuity and purpose. ...I have noticed an assimilation of
varied influences in the hard-bop mainstream, and a marvelous fluency. His
command of the instrument is masterful, and he has refined an incisive posture
within his approach to improvisation.
- Mark C. Gridley, author Jazz
Styles: History and Analysis (Prentice-Hall)
Mike Lee? Wow!! I really enjoyed
creating with him. His sensitivity is superb.
-Marcus Belgrave Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra