After nearly 15 years of touring together, well over 1000 shows in more than 25 countries, The Elevator Collective was formed.
Chris Church, Nicolas Hernandez, Chendy León and Dennis Mohammed were the live band and featured performers for guitarist Jesse Cook. They played countless iconic concert venues like the Greek Theatre and Massey Hall, and performed at jazz festivals throughout North America and around the world, from Montreal to Dubai, Mexico to Poland and Saudi Arabia.
Through that experience, a musical brotherhood and chemistry developed and they started TEC. With backgrounds in Trinidad, Atlantic Canada, Spain and Cuba, they combine their own blend of vocal and instrumental music, seamlessly integrating elements of flamenco, classical, electronic, rock, pop, folk, jazz fusion, Afro-Cuban and funk. They are all multi-talented session players and composers, and have worked with hundreds of artists, including Larnell Lewis, Carly Rae Jepsen, The Tenors, Alex Cuba, Sass Jordan, Emilie-Claire Barlow, The Parachute Club, Whitehorse, and Crash Test Dummies.
The Elevator Collective is a powerhouse live ensemble. Their music features a vast array of instruments, including the Armenian duduk, flamenco guitar, violin, hurdy-gurdy, as well as percussion from Cuba, Brazil and Africa.
Their debut album The Elevator Collective was released in 2021, followed by the self-produced performance film Inside the Bubble in 2022. A new album is in the works and will be released in spring 2024.
“Multi-instumentalist Chris Church on violin, accordion, piano, vocals, and sundry other instrument, Dennis Mohammed with some of the finest electric bass you will ever hear, Nicolas Hernandez on guitar, and Chendy Leon on drums and percussion are as talented and as flawless in their execution” Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver Sun.
“Chendy Leon on percussion to Dennis Mohammed on fretted and fretless electric bass and percussion to Nicolas Hernandez on rhythm guitar and the astounding Chris Church on violin and a host of ethnic instruments, some of which go back thousands of years ago, allowed for a performance that was fueled with passion and delivered with precision All these elements drew the crowd in deeper and deeper to a degree that lead to the entire audience rising to their feet and standing through the last 20 minutes of the second set and on into the first of 2 encores.’ Montreal Gazette.
Awards:
Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Factor.
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