The Bruce Lee Band (or B. Lee Band) is the name given to the releases of
Mike Park
Mike Park is a Korean American musician and progressive activist. His musical ventures include Skankin' Pickle for whom he both played the saxophone and sang, The Chinkees, The Bruce Lee Band, and Ogikubo Station, as well as an acoustic solo proj ...
and his backing band which up until 2005 included members of
Less Than Jake
Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes (guitars, vocals), Roger Lima (bass, vocals), Matt Yonker (drums), Buddy Schaub (trombone), and Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxoph ...
and the
Rx Bandits
Rx Bandits are an American four-piece band based in Seal Beach, California, United States. The band formed in 1995 in Orange County, California. They have appeared on the Vans Warped Tour, at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Valle ...
. As of 2014, the collective consisted of touring and recording members from
Skankin' Pickle
Skankin' Pickle was an American ska punk band formed in San Jose, California that was active from 1989 to 1997.
Biography
Skankin' Pickle first formed in December 1988, made up of students from Westmont High School and Los Gatos High School. T ...
,
MU330
MU330 are an American ska punk band from St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Formed by students of St. Louis University High School in 1988, MU330 played a self-described brand of music called "Psycho Ska", high energy ska punk marked by manic ...
, Hard Girls,
The Chinkees
The Chinkees are an American ska punk band fronted by Mike Park (formerly of Skankin' Pickle). The group debuted with 1998's ''The Chinkees Are Coming!'', and followed with 1999's ''Peace Through Music'' and 2002's ''Searching for a Brighter Fut ...
,
Bomb the Music Industry
Bomb the Music Industry! (commonly abbreviated as Bomb or BtMI!) were an American punk rock musical collective from Baldwin, Nassau County, New York, United States, led by singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Rosenstock.
...
,
The Arrogant Sons of Bitches
The Arrogant Sons of Bitches (commonly abbreviated as ASOB) was a 6-piece ska punk band from Long Island and Baldwin, New York. The band was known for its strong DIY punk roots, self-releasing two albums and two EPs. Their final album, ''Three ...
, among others.
The music played by Bruce Lee Band spans nearly all subgenres of ska music. Their 2005 release, ''Beautiful World'', showcased a heavily two-tone influenced sound, using exclusively clean guitar and unusual song structure. In contrast, the debut release features more third-wave qualities, and a sound that was very typical of 1995—the year in which it was released.
Park has also used the name the B. Lee Band at times, in order to avoid legal complications with the estate of the late
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...
. The first album was released under the name Bruce Lee Band and Lee's brother Robert, who happened to be the manager of the CD manufacturing plant responsible for pressing the album, contacted Park informally to warn him that Bruce Lee's name and likeness were copyrighted by the Bruce Lee Foundation and offered the friendly suggestion that Park change the band's name. Later pressings of the album were released under the B. Lee Band name.
Their ''Community Support Group'' EP was released January 28, 2014 on Really Records and introduced a new lineup that includes
Jeff Rosenstock
Jeffrey Ernest Rosenstock (born September 7, 1982) is an American musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter from Long Island, New York. He is known for his former bands Bomb the Music Industry! and The Arrogant Sons of Bitches, as well ...
, Mike Huguenor, and Kevin Higuchi.
The Bruce Lee Band - Community Support Group / Really Records
/ref> Later on that year, the band released "Everything Will Be Alright, My Friend." The band played a few shows in California in 2014, along with the New Generation of Ska Festival in South Korea. In 2019, Mike Park posted a picture on social media indicating that the band was working on new material. Featured in the picture were Dan Potthast, Mike Park, Kevin Higuchi and Jeff Rosenstock. Trombonist Gerry Lundquist of MU330
MU330 are an American ska punk band from St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Formed by students of St. Louis University High School in 1988, MU330 played a self-described brand of music called "Psycho Ska", high energy ska punk marked by manic ...
and Skankin' Pickle
Skankin' Pickle was an American ska punk band formed in San Jose, California that was active from 1989 to 1997.
Biography
Skankin' Pickle first formed in December 1988, made up of students from Westmont High School and Los Gatos High School. T ...
and John DeDomenici of Bomb the Music Industry!
Bomb the Music Industry! (commonly abbreviated as Bomb or BtMI!) were an American punk rock musical collective from Baldwin, Nassau County, New York, United States, led by singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Rosenstock.
...
frequently perform live with the band as well.
Releases
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce Lee Band, The
1995 establishments in California
Asian Man Records artists
Musical groups established in 1996
Musical groups from California