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Jamie Leonhart

With her debut album, The Truth About Suffering, the sharp-witted chanteuse Jamie Leonhart enters the world of a new kind of diva, dynamic in emotional range and diverse in genre-crossing ability.

Jamie’s lithe and lyrical, three-and-a-half octave voice wraps around universe in which Kurt Weil and Laura Nyro meet Alice in Wonderland in a dimly-lit jazz club, inhabited by woodwinds, strings, vibraphone, and exotic instruments like the glockenspiel, mellotron and harmonium.

Born in New York City, the granddaughter of a cantor, and the youngest of three musically-curious children, Jamie began studying the violin at the age of three and singing soon after. Her inspiration to find her own voice began in her early teen years while singing in a vocal jazz ensemble, and at home foraging through her brother’s expansive alterative record collection. After graduating with a degree in English Literature from Barnard College, Jamie continued her musical journey: through leading a ‘pop’ band, to singing as a soloist in the New York Metro Mass Gospel Choir to performing as a solo artist at prominent New York venues such as Rockwood Music Hall, the Living Room, and Joe’s Pub.

Jamie writes about many things: love, vulnerability, perspective, patience, and trust. “These songs talk about the truth … the truth about being uncomfortable, fitting in or not fitting in, and addressing and sometimes accepting flaws and faults,” Leonhart says. “A lot of the tunes explore that: the human condition in its most basic form. The more intimate and specific I am with my lyrics, the more I hear from people that a song really ‘spoke to them’" that I captured the sentiment that they were struggling to put to words, or felt alone in. So something very personal and intimate becomes universal.”

The release of The Truth About Suffering announces to the world a new and engaging talent to be reckoned with -- Jamie Leonhart.

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Album Review

Mike LeDonne: Wonderful!

Read "Wonderful!" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


In jazz's rich tapestry, where tradition meets innovations, there emerged a convergence exemplified by the present release Wonderful! with the virtuosic Mike LeDonne's Groover Quartet + Gospel Choir, who embark on a transcendent journey into the heart of gospel- infused jazz. The project is informed by LeDonne's desire to offer a heartfelt tribute to his wife Margaret and daughter Mary to showcase the spirited and varied nature of the disability community. Participating in this harmonious affair are the long-time members ...

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Idiosyncratic singer-songwriters are so much in vogue right now that a free-thinking talent like Jamie Leonhart has a shot at mainstream crossover success. Leonhart's songs can be smart, whimsical or atmospheric, and her strong melodic sense and soulful feel can handle jazzy downtempo or folk-pop (imagine Feist, Laura Nyro and Corinne Bailey Rae on a bicycle built for three). Those who breathe heavily whenever Joanna Newsom strums her harp should note that Leonhart plays both the glockenspiel and the harmonium. - Nick Dedina, Rhapsody.com

“New York's pop/jazz singer extraordinaire Jamie Leonhart entrances with a silky, soulful elegance. …Her original numbers are beautifully crafted, offering intoxicating melodies and involving lyrics.” Paul Freeman, East Bay Daily News

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Primary Instrument

Vocals

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Credentials/Background

Jamie Leonhart is a Certified Instructor of Somatic Voicework. Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method is a body-based method of vocal training that draws from many disciplines. It is based upon voice science and medicine as well as traditional classical vocal training, complementary modalities such as yoga, movement, dance, acting, and speech training, and various bodywork approaches. The aim of Somatic Voicework™ the LoVetri Method is to unselfconsciously draw the mind of the singer into the physical process of making sound. Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method allows the voice and body to be partners with the mind

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Wonderful!

Cellar Music Group
2024

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