Sussex is the brainchild of Michael Emenau and Rob Lutes. The two renowned musicians were childhood friends and high school band mates in New Brunswick. They went their separate ways
Biography
Sussex is the brainchild of Michael Emenau and Rob Lutes. The two renowned musicians were childhood friends and high school band mates in New Brunswick. They went their separate ways following university: Michael to Tokyo, San Francisco, and Paris, where he made a name for himself as a world-class jazz percussionist and composer, and Rob to Montreal, where he has recorded six albums and earned a reputation as one of Canada’s finest songwriters and roots performers. Reunited in 2012, the pair began to write together for the first time in 20 years. Encouraged by the results, they enlisted the services of some of Montreal’s finest musicians and produced their first recording, Parade Day, in 2015. This album is an astonishing blend that defies classification, but is essentially a modern take on the early jazz, blues, and folk sounds that were the primary influences on the two musicians. Rob Lutes last brought his hook-laden songs and richly textured vocals to Folk Harbour in 2013; this is his first appearance with jazz vibraphonist Michael as the duo, Sussex.