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Many business people know Les Sabler as a senior property manager for EastGroup Properties Inc. in Tampa. If they don't know he is also widely recognized as a contemporary jazz musician, they're about to find out.
Sabler has released “Crescent Shores,” his sixth album over the last 20 years, on Big Deal Records. He will perform at a CD release party Aug. 14 in the upscale Council Oak lounge at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa, where he and his six-piece band play each month.
The new disc is his first in which he plays an acoustic guitar throughout, featuring a mix of jazz and Latin music.
“It's kind of a diverse collection of tunes,” Sabler tells Coffee Talk. He adds that he tried some of his works out on local audiences before committing to record them and went with those that got the best response.
Recorded in Tampa and co-produced by local jazz artist Allon Sams, “Crescent Shores” features seven Sabler compositions plus a few covers of familiar hits like Stevie Wonder's “Overjoyed.” Sabler says the new music was inspired by frequent visits to Crescent Beach on Siesta Key, as well as a recent trip to Brazil.
A Canadian native, Sabler studied jazz at Concordia University in Montreal and continued graduate studies at the University of Miami. His father wanted him to go into commercial real estate, and he did so after discovering the painful reality of being full-time musician.
He has had prior success with his music, getting Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards nominations for album and guitarist of the year. His last studio album, “Sweet Drive,” got some radio play up there over the last three years.
Sabler is still hanging on to his day job at EastGroup, overseeing a portfolio of 2.7 million square feet at 12 properties around Hillsborough County. “We're doing as well as can be expected, given the current state of the market,” he says.
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