Finn's to host Tizer

The group Tizer blends the sounds of jazz, rock and pop music. PETER KOROLOV Enlarge

Tizer, the Los Angeles-based band led by keyboardist Lao Tizer with former Toledoan Jeff Kollman on guitar, shifts gears more often than a race car driver as it zips through jazz, world, rock, and pop music.

In an interview last week, Lao Tizer said the label that seems to describe his band the most accurately is "world fusion."

At the same time, the lineup of the group varies from four to six musicians depending on their schedules, and the fluid format makes each gig an adventure for the musicians as well as their fans. Tizer will play as a quartet Saturday night at Mickey Finn's Pub.

"Every time you change one or two pieces in the band, it takes a different shape," Tizer said. "It really feeds the creative need. But as diverse as the music is, I think it has a common thread because most of the material we play are my compositions. Even when we're touching on different styles, having a consistent writer gives you a signature sound."

Tizer, 31, studied classical music as a child in Boulder, Colo., and explored jazz, rock, pop, and world music before moving to Los Angeles to start a band in 1998.

One of the first musicians he teamed up with was Kollman, a versatile guitar virtuoso who moved from Toledo to L.A. in 1995.

Kollman has led several of his own rock and fusion bands and is in constant demand in the studio and the road, having toured and recorded with artists ranging from UFO and the Michael Schenker Group to Bruce Hornsby and Lyle Lovett.

A recent Kollman project is the Bombastic Meatbats with drummer Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kollman said in an interview last week he's set to release a CD with the Meatbats as well as a solo recording that is "guitar-playing driven, but I'm also singing on it."

He enjoys being in Tizer because of the band's openness and its high level of musicianship.

"The cool thing about the band is that we never talk about what we do, we just play. It's like therapy. We play for all the right reasons - because we like each other's company and because we like to play music," he said.

Joining Tizer and Kollman in Toledo will be bassist Andre Manga and drummer Raul Pineda.

Tizer performs at Mickey Finn's Pub, 602 Lagrange St., Saturday; doors open at 9 p.m. and the show starts at 10. Tickets are $12. Information: 419-246-3466.

Contact David Yonke at:

dyonke@theblade.com

or419-724-6154.