Leroy Emmanuel has been on stage since the age of 12 and, with The LMT Connection, has been delivering authentically soulful and electrifying sounds to the Niagara Region and world-wide for more than two decades.Internationally revered for his work with legends such as Marvin Gaye, the late 1960's-early 1970's funk band The Fabulous Counts and the proto-disco group Bohannon, the now-65-year-old Emmanuel shows no signs of slowing down as LMT Connection has just released its new LP, Expedition, and he's also featured on the Super Deluxe 40th anniversary edition of Marvin Gaye's landmark classic What's Going On.
The self-taught, Atlanta-born guitarist spent his childhood in Detroit at a magical period in music history: the glory days of Motown Records.
“I was right in the midst of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and The Temptations,” recalls an affable Emmanuel from his home in Niagara Falls. His resume at this juncture reads like a who's who of soul and blues music royalty: spending his teen years playing with the likes of John Lee Hooker, Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Freda Payne to name a few. He also helped provide a blueprint for disco and hip-hop with Bohannon and The Fabulous Counts. But, it was a tour with Smokey Robinson resulted in Emmanuel's first visit to his future home.
“Smokey Robinson brought me here to Niagara Falls ages ago as part of his opening band,” he says. A later chance gig with a show band at the then Sheraton-Foxhead Inn hotel resulted in the formation of The LMT Connection when drummer Mark Rogers approached Emmanuel about playing together. “The kid could really play drums,” adds Emmanuel and with the addition of the late bassist Ted Waterhouse (later replaced by Ottawa-born John Irvine) the trio was off on a 22- years-and-counting run.
LMT Connection built a fervent local following at such venues as The Mansion House and an eight-year stint at the now defunct Castle Rock night club in Niagara Falls saw the trio's upbeat and soulful grooves pack in upwards of a thousand people every Sunday night.
In their own words, the group describes their sound as “universal soul,” and over the course of four studio albums they've amassed an impressive body of original work that honors classic soul music tradition while forging a contemporary path.
Yet, to see LMT Connection in concert is indeed a unique experience.
“A lot of people here have never seen a live soul band,” Emmanuel explains and it's on stage where Emmanuel and company are in their element. All the hallmarks of an exceptional jazz, soul and blues unit are apparent and seamlessly coalesce: Rogers' powerhouse drumming, Irvine's rock inflected yet funky bass playing, Emmanuel's tasteful Wes Montgomery-influenced guitar work and show-stopping spoon solos topped with an astonishing vocal range that together thrusts multi-generational audiences onto the dance floor. That audience has grown particularly in Europe, thanks to the enduring popularity of Emmanuel's previous groups The Fabulous Counts and Bohannon (both favorites of hip-hop artists such as Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg).
“My popularity in Europe is about 50 times bigger than it is in North America. LMT recently did a show in Belgrade, Serbia, where we had 80,000 people.”
While it appears that music will always be his primary passion, Emmanuel has done some acting  ––playing his good friend, the late Marvin Gaye in the series The Final 24. “It was easy for me to play Marvin Gaye since I knew him since I was 12,” he affirms. “It was hard emotionally for me to do because we were close; we were good friends so I had to leave the set a couple of times. Most of the shots were done on the first take. I'm always acting when I'm on stage so it's second nature to me.”
Despite international success, Leroy Emmanuel and LMT Connection remain a Niagara-based concern, recently being inducted into the Niagara Falls Arts & Culture Wall of Fame and performing regularly around the area.
“We're a Niagara Falls band. It's a beautiful area and one of the best known addresses in the world. Niagara Falls for me, has been a springboard into the rest of the world. It feels good.”