Paul JB Lee is a guitarist, composer, an educator based in New York City. Born in South Korea in 1993, Paul moved to Houston, TX in 2004. Though he has received general music education and started playing the guitar in the elementary school prior to coming to the US, he began his serious musical endeavor on the guitar at the age of 12. At age 14, he began to perform around Houston and other parts of Texas with the Blue Lion Jazz Band and Sound Of The South Dance Orchestra. He was selected to perform at the TMEA All-Region and All-State Jazz Band at age 18 prior to graduating high school. 

 

In 2011, Paul moved to New York City  to attend the prestigious The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York, where he completed his BFA in Jazz Performance as the class of 2011- 2015. While in school he was given the opportunities to study with some of the most renowned musicians in the world including such as the likes of Adam Rogers, Peter Bernstein, Jonathan Kreisberg, Doug Weiss, Will Vinson, and Mike Moreno to name a few. Then he attended New York University Steinhardt as the class of of 2016-2018 for the Master of Music degree where he was under a strict discipleship under Adam Rogers through out his time there. Along with academic pursuit, Paul was given an opportunity to be an adjunct professor at New York University teaching classes to in-proficient non major students for three semester (Spring of 2017 till Fall of 2018). 

Additionally, he has recorded and shared the stage with some of the most world renowned musicians such as Dave Holland, Alan Ferber, Mark Ferber, Alex Sipiagin, Randy Brecker, Danny Mixon, Diane Moser, Dave Glasser, and more.

 

In 2017, Paul was selected as a semi finalist for Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition. After his return to NYC, he actively performed at numerous venues all around NYC such as Blue Note, 55 Bar, Bar Next Door, Minton's Playhouse, Cornelia Street Cafe, Nublu, The Knickerbocker Hotel, and etc. Besides performing, Paul was also given many opportunities to partake in recording some fine musicians’s project as sidemen guitarist. The most notable one would be SuKyung Kim’s “Lilac Hill” released in 2020 which was nominated for Best Album for Jazz & Jazz Crossover by the national Korean Music Awards in 2021

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Starting in 2020, Paul’s music career has came to a halt as he was ordered by the nations calling to mandatorily returned to South Korea for his martial duty to serve in the Republic of Korea Army where he played trumpet and guitar at 51st Infantry Division Military band for 18 months. Sergeant Paul Ju Bong Lee was granted an honorable discharge on September of 2021 and currently has made his comeback to performing and working especially with his soon to be released debut album which was recorded in May of 2018 featuring stellar line up of musicians of NYC comprised of Lex Korten, Nathan Bellott, Daniel Durst, and Mark Ferber.

 

In the midst of planning his return to NYC Jazz Scene, Paul is actively performing and recording around every clubs and festivals in Seoul and all over  South Korea exploring his home country’s music scene. 

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프로필

- The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music (2015 학사)

- New York University (2018 석사)

- New England Conservatory (준박사, 휴학중)

- New York University 출강 (2017-2018)

- Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition 몽트뤠 국제 재즈 기타 콩쿨 참여 (세미파이널리스트, 2017)

- 뉴욕 프리랜스 재즈기타리스트 활동 (2011-2020)

- Adam Rogers, Mike Moreno, Peter Bernstein, Jonathan Kreisberg, Ben Street, Doug Weiss 등 사사

- Dave Holland, Randy Brecker, Alex Sipiagin, Alan Ferber, Mark Ferber 등 협연

- Minton’s Playhouse, 55 Bar, Blue Note, Cornelia Street Cafe, Bar Next Door 등 뉴욕 재즈클럽에서 연주

- 뉴욕 타임 스퀘어 The Knickerbocker Hotel 에서 Residency 로 매주 연주 연주

- Sukyung Kim “Lilac Hill” 앨범 참여 (2019)