George Lawler is an accomplished percussionist and music producer who has been involved in the Chicago music scene for over 30 yrs. He has been playing drum set for 42 years, and is adept at many genres of percussion, from ancient to electronic, with an emphasis on styles from the Middle East and Mediterranean region. George began learning the art of Middle Eastern percussion in 1995 through a 12 year mentorship with Tunisian master percussionist Najib Bhari.
His experience in various genres is as follows:
Arabic/Middle Eastern music:
George has toured the U.S. with Egyptian pop star Natacha Atlas; Performed 3 times at Arabic music festival in Milwaukee; Performed at the Jaipur Literature Festival with East Meets Middle East; Performed at the The Festival International de Louisiane and Chicago Arabesque Festival with the Arabic fusion group Lamajamal; Played percussion with legendary Egyptian Jazz drummer Yehya Khalil; Presented a seminar with Lamajamal at Georgetown University's Center for Arab Studies; Taught Middle Eastern rhythms at the Old Town School of Folk Music; Presented Middle Eastern percussion workshops and residencies at 8 Chicago Public Schools; Presented Palestinian music with the Turath Ensemble.
Turkish Music:
George has played percussion for Turkish clarinet virtuoso Selim Sesler, played Chicago Turkish Fest 5 times with Lamajamal and worked closely with TACA (Turkish American Cultural Alliance) when the band provided the music for their 20 piece choir. George has performed in Istanbul with A Hawk and a Hacksaw and Lamajamal; he has studied in Istanbul under a student of the great master Misirli Ahmet.
Greek/Balkan Music:
From 2007-2017 George and his wife Eve were musical directors for the Orpheus Hellenic Folklore Society, providing instruction for their student music group and performing folk music from the many regions of Greece as well as the Balkans. The two have toured Greece as backing musicians for a greek folk music choir, and performed in the USA at many festivals and weddings with bands such as Hellas 2000 and the Linardakis Orchestra; They have performed in Bulgaria with the group Lamajamal, as well as in Chicago at Balkan Music Fest; George has performed Balkan music with Chicago's Mucca Pazza, and Black Bear Combo.
Ethno-Fusion:
George believes that electronic music is today's "folk music" and has been combining elements of House music, Trap, Drum n Bass, and Techno with folk music from cultures around the world. His group Byzantine Time Machine has been picked up by the label Outtallectuals, London UK, and this partnership has spawned many cross-cultural collaborations fusing electronic music with folk genres. George has taught private workshops showing how to use ethnic percussion instruments such as a Persian Tombak to trigger MIDI and electronic sounds. George has also produced 2 albums of Kashmiri folk music for Funkar International, an organization dedicated to the preservation of the culture of Kashmir. He is currently recording an album of Afghani folk music for Intercultural Music Production.
Other genres George has performed extensively include:
Afro-Cuban percussion (L’Orchestre Super Vitesse, Occidental Brothers, Roccambu jazz), Chinese surf-pop (Red Chamber), electronic music (Frequency Lab, Tranquility Bass), reggae (DaDa Do, Family of Souls), Poetry, (Marvin Tate, Dan X O'neil, Richard Femere), and indie rock (Dan Wallace, Bobby Conn), along with his hobbies, ragtime piano and Spanish guitar.
Background
Discography
