Jay Leonhart
Encyclopedia
Jay Leonhart is a noted bassist
and songwriter working in jazz and popular music. He has performed with diverse artists including Judy Garland
, Carly Simon
, Bucky Pizzarelli
, Sting, and Frank Sinatra
. Leonhart is noted for his clever songwriting often laced with dry humor, and his compositions have been recorded by such notable artists as Blossom Dearie
, Lee Konitz
and Gary Burton
. Leonhart's poetry is published both in, and outside of, the venue of song.
When Jay was fourteen he started playing the bass in The Pier Five Dixieland Jazz Band in Baltimore. After studying at The Peabody Institute (1946–1950), Jay attended The Berklee College of Music
(1959–1961) and The Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto, before leaving school to start touring with the traveling big bands of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
At twenty one, Leonhart moved to New York City
to start his career. He played lots of funky road gigs with big bands, small bands and singers and visited many little jazz joints around the world. In 1968, he met and married a singer named Donna Zier and settled down in New York. Jay and Donna Leonhart have two children, Michael
and Carolyn, who have performed with Steely Dan
, among others.
Upon moving to New York, Jay eventually began playing for many of the great jazz musicians, big bands, and singers who were to be found there - artists like Thad Jones
and Mel Lewis
, Lou Marini
, Tony Bennett
, Marian McPartland
, and Jim Hall
. Leonhart has continued to work with many of the great jazz musicians of the twentieth century.
Jay also became a very busy studio musician in New York City, visiting every musical genre from James Taylor
to Ozzy Osbourne
and Queen Latifah
. Between 1975 and 1995 he was named The Most Valuable Bassist in the recording industry three times by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
.
Jay Leonhart has now recorded fifteen solo albums and is also performing a one-man show called "The Bass Lesson" about his life in the music business and song. He has toured worldwide for more than forty years.
Jay now performs regularly with trombonist Wycliffe Gordon
in a duo which began as a result of their recording "This Rhythm on My Mind".
With Daryl Sherman
)
With Donnie O'Brien
With Mike Renzi
)
With Bluesiana Triangle
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
and songwriter working in jazz and popular music. He has performed with diverse artists including Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, Carly Simon
Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
, Bucky Pizzarelli
Bucky Pizzarelli
John Paul "Bucky" Pizzarelli is an American Jazz guitarist and banjoist, and the father of jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli and upright bassist Martin Pizzarelli. Pizzarelli has also worked for NBC as a staffman for Dick Cavett and also ABC with Bobby Rosengarden in...
, Sting, and Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
. Leonhart is noted for his clever songwriting often laced with dry humor, and his compositions have been recorded by such notable artists as Blossom Dearie
Blossom Dearie
Blossom Dearie was an American jazz singer and pianist, often performing in the bebop genre and remembered for her girlish voice.-Early career:...
, Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...
and Gary Burton
Gary Burton
Gary Burton is an American jazz vibraphonist.A true original on the vibraphone, Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the usual two-mallets. This approach caused Burton to be heralded as an innovator and his sound and technique are widely imitated...
. Leonhart's poetry is published both in, and outside of, the venue of song.
Biography
Jay Leonhart grew up in a musical family. His parents, sisters, and brothers (6 kids in all), were all musically inclined. Everyone played the piano. By the age of seven, Jay and his older brother Bill were playing banjos and guitars and mandolins and basses. They played country music, jazz—anything with a beat. In their early teens, Jay and Bill were television stars in Baltimore and were touring the country performing on their banjos.When Jay was fourteen he started playing the bass in The Pier Five Dixieland Jazz Band in Baltimore. After studying at The Peabody Institute (1946–1950), Jay attended The Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
(1959–1961) and The Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto, before leaving school to start touring with the traveling big bands of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
At twenty one, Leonhart moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to start his career. He played lots of funky road gigs with big bands, small bands and singers and visited many little jazz joints around the world. In 1968, he met and married a singer named Donna Zier and settled down in New York. Jay and Donna Leonhart have two children, Michael
Michael Leonhart
Michael Leonhart is a noted trumpet player, producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and singer-songwriter. He has performed with such diverse artists as Steely Dan, Yoko Ono, Bobby McFerrin, and Mos Def....
and Carolyn, who have performed with Steely Dan
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
, among others.
Upon moving to New York, Jay eventually began playing for many of the great jazz musicians, big bands, and singers who were to be found there - artists like Thad Jones
Thad Jones
Thaddeus Joseph Jones was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader.-Biography:Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan to a musical family of ten . Thad Jones was a self taught musician, performing professionally by the age of sixteen...
and Mel Lewis
Mel Lewis
Mel Lewis was an American drummer, jazz musician and band leader. He was born Melvin Sokoloff in Buffalo, New York to Russian immigrant parents....
, Lou Marini
Lou Marini
Lou Marini, Jr. is an American saxophonist, arranger and composer. He is noted for his work in the jazz, rock, blues and soul music traditions.-Early life and range of musical experience:...
, Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, Marian McPartland
Marian McPartland
Margaret Marian McPartland, OBE is an English-born jazz pianist, composer, writer, and the host of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz on National Public Radio, NPR.-Early life:...
, and Jim Hall
Jim Hall (musician)
James Stanley Hall is an American jazz guitarist.-Biography:Educated at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Hall moved to Los Angeles where he began to attract national, and then international, attention in the late 1950s...
. Leonhart has continued to work with many of the great jazz musicians of the twentieth century.
Jay also became a very busy studio musician in New York City, visiting every musical genre from James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
to Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
and Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...
. Between 1975 and 1995 he was named The Most Valuable Bassist in the recording industry three times by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., known variously as The Recording Academy or NARAS, is a U.S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its...
.
Jay Leonhart has now recorded fifteen solo albums and is also performing a one-man show called "The Bass Lesson" about his life in the music business and song. He has toured worldwide for more than forty years.
Jay now performs regularly with trombonist Wycliffe Gordon
Wycliffe Gordon
Wycliffe Gordon is a jazz trombonist. He also plays didgeridoo, trumpet, tuba, piano and sings.In 1995, he re-orchestrated the theme song for NPR's All Things Considered...
in a duo which began as a result of their recording "This Rhythm on My Mind".
Select discography
With Bucky PizzarelliBucky Pizzarelli
John Paul "Bucky" Pizzarelli is an American Jazz guitarist and banjoist, and the father of jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli and upright bassist Martin Pizzarelli. Pizzarelli has also worked for NBC as a staffman for Dick Cavett and also ABC with Bobby Rosengarden in...
- Five For FreddieFive for FreddieFive For Freddie: Bucky Pizzarelli's Tribute To Freddie Green is a Jazz tribute album album by Bucky Pizzarelli to the late jazz guitarist Freddie Green.-Track listing:# Groovin' High# Bustin' Suds# For Lena and Lennie# Up In the Blues...
(Arbors RecordsArbors RecordsArbors Records is an independent American jazz record label based in Clearwater, Florida. It was founded by the family team of Mat and Rachel Domber in 1989, initially devoted to the recordings of their friend Rick Fay.-History:...
) - Skitch HendersonSkitch HendersonLyle Russell Cedric “Skitch” Henderson was a pianist, conductor, and composer. His nickname reportedly derived from his ability to quickly "re-sketch" a song in a different key.- Biography :...
& Bucky Pizzarelli: Legends (Arbors RecordsArbors RecordsArbors Records is an independent American jazz record label based in Clearwater, Florida. It was founded by the family team of Mat and Rachel Domber in 1989, initially devoted to the recordings of their friend Rick Fay.-History:...
)
With Daryl Sherman
Arbors Records
Arbors Records is an independent American jazz record label based in Clearwater, Florida. It was founded by the family team of Mat and Rachel Domber in 1989, initially devoted to the recordings of their friend Rick Fay.-History:...
)
With Donnie O'Brien
- Donnie O´Brien Meets Manhattan Swing: In a Basie Mood (Arbors RecordsArbors RecordsArbors Records is an independent American jazz record label based in Clearwater, Florida. It was founded by the family team of Mat and Rachel Domber in 1989, initially devoted to the recordings of their friend Rick Fay.-History:...
)
With Mike Renzi
DMP Digital Music Products
DMP Digital Music Products was one of the first fully digital recording labels, generally specializing in jazz artists. Founded by engineer and digital recording pioneer Tom Jung after leaving Sound 80 recording studios in Minneapolis, its first releases in 1983 featured pianist Warren Bernhardt,...
)
With Bluesiana Triangle
Bluesiana Triangle
Bluesiana Triangle was an American jazz, blues and funk group, with Dr. John , David "Fathead" Newman , and Art Blakey . They released two albums for Windham Hill Records...
- Bluesiana Triangle
- Bluesiana Triangle II
External links
- WYNC-FM "No Show" program from October 1, 2005 featuring interview and nine songs from Jay Leonhart
- Official Site
- All About Jazz review of album "Cool" - March 23, 2005