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Rodney has made a name for himself in L.A. circles as a remarkably versatile
player. He is equally at home in jazz, R&B, funk, pop, and electronica.
Rodney’s sound is honed from years of work on the road and in
the studio with diverse artists such as Anastacia,
Jody Watley, Mindi Abair, Chante Moore,
El DeBarge, Dakota Moon, Chris Standring, Marc Antoine, Terence
Trent D’Arby, The Solsonics, The B-Sharp Jazz Quartet,
Freddie Hubbard, and the Jazz Crusaders.
In 1994, Rodney began a five-year stint with the critically acclaimed
L.A. based post-bop jazz group B-Sharp. He recorded
three CD’s with B-Sharp and toured extensively through America
and Europe. In May 1996 Sonic Images records released an acid jazz project
entitled “solarsystem” written and produced by Rodney and
Chris Standring. In 1998, Lee produced soul jazz vocalist Jeff
Robinson’s debut release “Any Shade of Blue”
for Wild West Records. The CD was released to rave reviews, surpassing
expectations from abroad (London). Also in 1998, Rodney co-produced
the debut release for jazz guitarist Chris Standring.
The first single from which reached the top 10 on the Gavin/R&R
charts.
The new millennium has seen new releases from Chris Standring (“Hip
Sway”) that hit #2 on R&R, and two CD’s by pop soul
diva Jody Watley all co-produced by Rodney. In addition, there was the
release of his first solo record of soul and jazz infused electronica
entitled “Innocent Bystander”. Most recently, Rodney
completed production on Jeff Robinson’s sophomore release “Eyewitness”
which was released in 2005. In the past few years, Rodney has begun
composing music for television and film. He recently
scored the reality based show “Beyond Tough” for The Learning
Channel (TLC). The show, hosted by Ice T, began airing
in September 2002. Currently, Rodney can be seen on tour with contemporary
jazz saxophonist Mindi Abair, as musical director
for Jody Watley, playing keys behind the pop diva Anastacia,
or performing with his latest project, Alien Chatter,
which is a unique blend of Jazz and Asian Underground.
Rodney’s music has become a regular on KCRW,
Los Angeles’ premiere radio station for modern music. In addition
to the above, Rodney’s television appearances include The
Tonight Show, BBC’s Top of the Pops,
The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Rosie O’
Donnell Show, and Entertainment Tonight.
Rodney began studying piano at age 10. After earning both a B.S.
and M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering, Rodney spent a few
years as an integrated circuit designer for Bell Laboratories. However,
his musical ambition inspired Lee to leave corporate America and pursue
a career in music. Heralding from Austin, Texas with a background in
both classical and jazz piano, Rodney relocated to Los Angeles in the
1990’s to take his music talents to a wider audience.
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