Lee Townsend
Lee Townsend is an American independent music producer, curator, artist manager and co-owner of Songtone, specializing in recordings of singer-songwriters, contemporary composers, improvising musicians, and cross-cultural musical collaborations. He is also a psychotherapist in private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Background and career
Since 1983, Townsend has produced albums by Bill Frisell, John Scofield, Loudon Wainwright III, Kelly Joe Phelps, Rinde Eckert, Vinicius Cantuaria, Shweta Jhaveri, Dino Saluzzi, Gabriela Anders, Petra Haden, Viktor Krauss, Elvis Costello/Bill Frisell, Choying Drolma & Steve Tibbetts, Pat Metheny/John Scofield, Joey Baron, Charlie Hunter, T. J. Kirk, Dave Holland, Hank Jones, John Abercrombie, Jerry Granelli, Marc Johnson, Jonah Smith, Noe Venable, Crooked Still, Paul Dresher, Marty Ehrlich, Dusan Bogdanovic, Paul Sprawl, Blue Rubies, and Stephen Yerkey.Townsend is a member of the cooperative group, Floratone, with Bill Frisell, Matt Chamberlain, and Tucker Martine. He has collaborated on motion picture soundtracks and theater music. Additionally, he has been producer of the Century of Song program for the Ruhr Triennale Arts festival in Germany, Vice President of Artists and Repertoire for Verve/Polygram Records in New York, General Manager and Director of United States Operations at ECM Records in New York, Producer of Music Programming at the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, California, and a staff producer at National Public Radio affiliate, KCRW-FM in Santa Monica, California.
Townsend graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, majoring in psychology and earned his graduate degree in psychology from The Wright Institute, Berkeley.
Discography
Bill Frisell- Lookout for Hope
- Before We Were Born
- This Land
- Go West: Music for the Films of Buster Keaton
- The High Sign/One Week
- Quartet
- Gone, Just Like a Train
- Good Dog, Happy Man
- Ghost Town
- Blues Dream
- With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones
- The Willies
- The Intercontinentals
- Further East/Further West Download-only
- East/West
- Frisell/Carter/Motian Download-only
- Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian
- Floratone
- History, Mystery
- All Hat,
- Disfarmer
- Beautiful Dreamers
- Lágrimas Mexicanas
- Sign of Life
- All We Are Saying
- Floratone II
- Big Sur
- Guitar in the Space Age!
- When You Wish Upon a Star
- Music IS
- Harmony
- Valentine
- FOUR
- Deep Dead Blue
- The Sweetest Punch
- Petra Haden and Bill Frisell
- We Still Love Our Country
- Love and Circumstance
- Give Me All You Got
- Lola
- Slingshot Professionals
- Tap the Red Cane Whirlwind
- Here Come the Choppers
- Hand Jive
- Groove Elation
- A Go Go
- Bump
- I Can See Your House from Here
- Finding My Way Home
- Do the Day Over
- Story In, Story Out
- The Natural World
- Anahita
- Selwa
- Rios
- Detras del Sol
- Viento Rojo
- El Viaje
- Vinicius
- Lagrimas Mexicanas
- Far from Enough
- II
- Triplicate
- The Oracle
- Getting There
- Down Home
- We'll Soon Find Out
- Bing, Bing, Bing!
- Ready...Set...Shango
- Natty Dread
- Return of the Candyman
- Friends Seen and Unseen
- T. J. Kirk
- If Four Was One
- Right Brain Patrol
- The Sound of Summer Running
- A Song I Thought I Heard Buddy Sing
- Another Place
- News from the Street
- Broken Circle
- Sand Hills Reunion
- Dance Hall
- Shaken By a Low Sound
- Jonah Smith
- Doug Wamble
- Early to Rise
- Yano Mori
- Distances
- Botanicas
- Kalaban Coura
- Night of 1000 Stars
- No Curses Here
- Four Little Sisters
- Blue Suitcase
- Medicine Hat
- Dirty Picnic
- Confidence, Man
- Chicken Scratch
- Underskin
- Songs We Know
- ''Electric Rosary''