Leif Totusek is an American born guitarist, band-leader and composer. A major player on the scene in London, Seattle, Boston, who has played, collaborated and been special guest with African Artist Mose Fan Fan

Mose Fan Fan

Mose Se Sengo is a guitarist, composer, band-leader from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is one of the pioneers of Congolese Soukous....

, Ali Birra

Ali Birra

Ali Birra is a famous Oromo singer, composer, poet and nationalist. He was born in Lagaharre village in the city of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.- Early life :Ali birra was born in Dire Dawa ....

, Geoffrey Oryema

Geoffrey Oryema

Geoffrey Oryema is an internationally renowned Ugandan musician. In 1977, at the age of 24 and at the height of Idi Amin's power, Oryema was smuggled across the Ugandan border in the trunk of a car, after the death of his father, Erinayo Wilson Oryema, who was a cabinet minister, beginning a life...

, Diblo Dibala

Diblo Dibala

Diblo Dibala, often known simply as Diblo, is a Congolese soukous musician, known as "Machine Gun" for his speed and skill on the guitar. He was born in 1954 in Kisangani. He moved to Kinshasa as a child, and aged 15 won a talent competition which led to him playing guitar in Franco's TPOK band...

, Orchestra Virunga, Tabu Ley Rochereau

Tabu Ley Rochereau

Tabu Ley Rochereau is a musician from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is the leader of Orchestre Afrisa International and one of Africa's most influential vocalists and prolific songwriters...

 and many other important artists.He is also well versed in the be-bop idiom, and many other musical styles and cultural music.

Early life

Raised in a musical family on Capitol Hill in Seattle, WA, Leif first began performing at age 15 with Seattle's F.A.M.E and St. Teresa Gospel choirs and numerous musical groups, including: "Lora and Sukutai"( Zimbabwe) . "Paisley Sin"( Seattle-grunge). "MTQ" Martin Totusek (jazz) and others.

At age 17, Leif traveled to London, England and immersed himself in the London ethnic/jazz scene. He toured with Soukous veteran Mose se Fan Fan, (former member of the late Franco Luambo Makiadi and TPOK Jazz) and his group "Somo Somo" - members included: Roy Dodds, John Glyn, Huw Warren,Doreen Webster, T. Daniel Howard. He also performed with Nigerian jazz artist Gasper Lawal "The African Oro Band" - Salah Dawson Miller’s World fusion band "Orquesta Chakckouka" - Eddie Edem "Hi-life" and with many other world and jazz musicians. In 1982, Leif created his African/jazz influenced band "Freestyle Candela" adding Arne Livingston on bass and percussionist Mamadi Kamara on percussion in 1984. It was originally called "Seattle Jazz" then "Freestyle" before settling on "Freestyle Candela".

At age 26, Leif relocated to Boston hiring local musicians Joshua Redman

Joshua Redman

Joshua Redman is an American jazz saxophonist and composer who records for Nonesuch Records. He won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition in 1991.-Biography:...

 , Mark Turner

Mark Turner

Mark Turner may refer to:*Mark Turner *Mark Turner *Mark Turner *Mark Turner *Mark Turner , jazz saxophonist...

 , Scott Gilman

Destiny (Chaka Khan album)

Destiny is the sixth studio album by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, released on Warner Bros. Records in 1986.Destiny was Khan's follow-up to the platinum-selling I Feel for You and was as high tech as its predecessor - symptomatically and characteristically for its period with more producers...

 , Jessica Lurie

Jessica Lurie

Jessica Lurie is an American composer, performance artist and woodwind player, originally hailing from Seattle and now living in Brooklyn, New York....

 and others. Blending Soukous

Soukous

Soukous is a dance music genre that originated in the two neighbouring countries of Belgian Congo and French Congo during the 1930s and early 1940s, and which has gained popularity throughout Africa...

 , blues and jazz in his original compositions, Leif helped popularize Zairian Soukous guitar in the Boston music scene. He also performed and recorded with the Haitian band Batwel Rada and the Senegalese band Ibrahima Camara.

At age 29, Leif returned to Seattle creating his new band name Freestyle Candela ." Today he resides in Seattle still performing shows with his groups "Leif Totusek and 1-2-3" , "Freestyle Candela" and other artists.

Performances

FREESTYLE CANDELA:

• Bumbershoot
  Bumbershoot
  Bumbershoot is an annual international music and arts festival held in Seattle, Washington. One of North America's largest such festivals, it takes place every Labor Day weekend at the 74-acre Seattle Center, which was built for the 1962 World's Fair. Seattle Center includes indoor theaters,...
  
   (1994, 1996, 2002)
• Northwest Folklife (Mercer Arena)
• Fremont Fair
• 2007 Whidby Island Festival
• 2009 Seattle Weekly's REVERB
• 2009 Seattle OnHold Music
• 2008/2009/2010 Triple Door . . .

GEOFFREY OREYEMA

• 1999 WOMAD Seattle - Marymoor Park, France 1999 Tour

LORA AND SUKUTAI MARIMBA AND DANCE ENSEMBLE

• NW Folklife - Memorial Stadium
• Moore Theater
• Triple Door
• WOMAD Seattle . . .

LEIF TOTUEK & 1-2-3

• Seattle Art Museum
  Seattle Art Museum
  The Seattle Art Museum is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, USA. It maintains three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill, and the Olympic Sculpture Park on the central Seattle waterfront, which opened on...
  
  
• 2002/2009 Earshot Jazz
  Earshot Jazz
  Earshot Jazz is a regional jazz non-profit organization in Seattle Washington. The organization publishes a free monthly journal in the Seattle area and hosts numerous jazz related events annually. The most prominent annual event is the Earshot Jazz Festival in October and November which started in...
  
   Seattle Art Museum
• 2002 Experience Music Project . . .

SOMO SOMO

• band member 1984-1989, WOMAD . . .

IBRAHIMA CAMARA

• Boston Orpheum Theater . . .

BATWEL RADA

• Boston Strand Theater
• Sommerville, Theater,
• Tour 1997 Haiti. . .

ALI BIRRA

• NW Folklife(Seattle Opera House)

ORQUESTA CHAKCHOUKA

• 1989 Glasgow International Jazz Festival, WOMAD

Bill Summers

• "Bill Summers (musician)" "Hands Across America
  Hands Across America
  Hands Across America was a benefit event and publicity campaign staged on Sunday May 25, 1986 in which approximately 6.5 million people held hands in a human chain for fifteen minutes along a path across the continental United States...
  
  " 1986 The Bagley Wright Theatre. . .

Newspaper articles and Radio Reviews

FREESTYLE CANDELA:

• Banning Eyre/Boston Phoenix, March 22, 1991
• Norman Weinstein/NPR (Monitor Radio) Dec. 13,1996
• Danny Housman/Seattle Stranger - January,24 1994
• Fernando Gonzalez Boston/ Globe - Friday,March 6, 1992
• Boston Music Awards March 2, 1992
• David Meinert/Seattle Weekly 2002
• Erik Neumann/Seattle Weekly 2009

other reviews: London jazz Cafe - Elijah Wald - Paul de barros -
James Kirchmer - Boston Music Awards - City Limits - Earshot Jazz -
Norman Weinstein

Reference

http://www.bostonphoenix.com/alt1/archive/music/reviews/12-26-96/OTR/FREESTYLE_CANDELA.html
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/up--coming/Content?oid=2152
http://www.seattleweekly.com/2009-09-30/music/reverb-lineup-volterra
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ambgnLv3HdwJ:community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/%3Fdate%3D19940902%26slug%3D1928409+freestyle+candela+bumbershoot&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
http://www.folkways.si.edu/trackdetail.aspx?itemid=40727&GLMU=1

External links

• Official site
• THE STRANGER January 24-30 1994"from the Freestyle Candela Archives"
• Boston Phoenix/Banning Eyre, March 22, 1991"from the Freestyle Candela Archives"