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LÉON

You almost don’t expect her to sing she’s so quietly cool…

With effortless style equally reverent of dreamy sixties Laurel Canyon and modern day Europe, Swedish songstress LÉON projects the kind of understated confidence a non-chatty Quentin Tarantino character might have.

She’s delicate, but dominant. She’s reserved, but charismatic. She’s instinctual, yet calculated. She’s sensitive, but sarcastically funny. She’s also completely in control of her own destiny—but she doesn’t need to tell you. Rather, you just kind of know she’s in charge. Once she steps up to a microphone, you get that from the robust powerhouse soul and retro spirit. Both of which shine through her 2019 self-titled full-length debut, LÉON. That extends to the release itself. Stepping up her game all around, LÉON took the reins and she’s in control this time, releasing it via her own LL Entertainment in partnership with BMG. Her follow up, Apart, came shortly after in 2020 to critical acclaim, featuring the singles "In A Strangers Arms" and "Chasing A Feeling". Her third studio album, Circles, released on March 4th, 2022 via her label imprint with BMG.

“Over the past few years, I’ve learned how to go with my gut and steer the wheel myself,” she admits. “If it doesn’t feel right to me, I don’t pursue it. In the end, I stand behind the music I make, and I’m in control.”

Since emerging in 2015, she earned that wisdom and freedom by a prolific series of releases and countless performances. A trio of EPs—Treasure [2015], For You [2017], and Surround Me [2017]—announced her arrival as an international presence, and she has now amassed over 900 million cumulative streams, made her North American late-night television debut on The Late Late Show with James Corden, and earned widespread critical acclaim with Vogue dubbing her “Sweden’s next big thing.”

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Recording

Pianist Michael Wolff Guests with Bassist Leon Lee Dorsey and Drummer Mike Clark on Evocative Tribute Album, 'Letter to Bill Evans'

Pianist Michael Wolff Guests with Bassist Leon Lee Dorsey and Drummer Mike Clark on Evocative Tribute Album, 'Letter to Bill Evans'

Source: Lydia Liebman Promotions

For their seventh outing together as a close-knit, collaborative rhythm tandem, bassist Leon Lee Dorsey and drummer Mike Clark tapped pianist Michael Wolff as third man in their ongoing trio adventures. Wolff, who had previously appeared with Dorsey and Clark on 2020’s Play Sgt. Pepper, was indeed the perfect choice to complete the triumvirate on this heartfelt tribute to the late, great pianist-composer known for his contributions to Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue as well as his hugely influential trio ...

Recording

Backgrounder: Leon Spencer - Bad Walking Woman

Backgrounder: Leon Spencer - Bad Walking Woman

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

After reviewing Wonderful!, Mike LeDonne's new organ jazz album yesterday, I was drawn to my favorites from the late 1960s and early 1970s. To give you a feel of this jazz period, I thought I'd select a few lesser-known gems. Today, I'm featuring Leon Spencer Jr.'s Bad Walking Woman. Recorded in 1972, this LP was Spencer's third studio album as a leader. The compositions, all by Spencer: Hip Shaker Down on Dowling Street In Search of Love If You Were ...

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Recording

Steel Pan Jazz Virtuoso Leon Foster Thomas Releases Uplifting New Album 'Calasanitus'

Steel Pan Jazz Virtuoso Leon Foster Thomas Releases Uplifting New Album 'Calasanitus'

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations

March 2023 marks the release of Calasanitus, the new album by Leon Foster Thomas. As one of the leading steel pan jazz virtuosos in the world, Foster has gained global recognition via a plethora of accolades including winning both the solo and duet competitions at the World Steelband Music Festival, as well as releasing a series of critically acclaimed albums, most recently Metamorphosis on respected label Ropadope Records. Now he is set to showcase his inimitable talent once again, with ...

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Recording

Bassist Leon Lee Dorsey and drummer Mike Clark return on seasoned new outing 'Cantaloupe Island' beside guitar great Russell Malone, out now via Jazz Avenue 1

Bassist Leon Lee Dorsey and drummer Mike Clark return on seasoned new outing 'Cantaloupe Island' beside guitar great Russell Malone, out now via Jazz  Avenue 1

Source: Lydia Liebman Promotions

Renowned bassist Leon Lee Dorsey continues his prolific streak with the issue of Cantaloupe Island, the latest album to be released on his Jazz Avenue 1 label and a continuation of his bountiful partnership with revered drummer Mike Clark. On their sixth collaboration since 2019, the stalwart rhythm section brings in virtuosic guitarist Russell Malone for an invigorating nine-track program of compositions by Horace Silver, Wes Montgomery, Prince and more. Cantaloupe Island was released on February 17, 2023. Since joining ...

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Performance / Tour

Bill Charlap And The Bill Charlap Trio Celebrate The Theater Songs Of Leonard Bernstein, Friday, June 17th at 7:30 p.m.

Bill Charlap And The Bill Charlap Trio Celebrate The Theater Songs Of Leonard Bernstein, Friday, June 17th at 7:30 p.m.

Source: AMT Public Relations

Leonard Bernstein composed some of the most memorable theater scores of his generation—"West Side Story." “Candide." “On the Town."— but who was the man behind the music? This edition of NJPAC’s Conversations in Concert, hosted by theater insider Ted Chapin, promises to be a thought-provoking evening of stories about the iconic composer-conductor complemented by Bernstein songs. Bernstein’s daughter, Jamie, will pull back the curtain of her father’s complex persona, sharing intimate moments and childhood memories from her book, Famous Father ...

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Video / DVD

Backgrounder: Leon Spencer's 'Louisiana Slim'

Backgrounder: Leon Spencer's 'Louisiana Slim'

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Leon Spencer Jr. was and remains my favorite organist. In the early 1970s, he was part of Prestige's stable of soul-jazz musicians who recorded relentlessly as leaders and sidemen on other artists' albums. One of my first albums purchased, in 1971, was Spencer's Louisiana Slim. Backing Spencer were Virgil Jones (tb) Grover Washington, Jr. (ts, flute), Melvin Sparks (g) Idris Muhammad (d) and Buddy Caldwell (congas)—the classic Prestige lineup at the time. Bob Porter produced and the engineer was Rudy ...

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Event

Bill Charlap And Bill Charlap Trio Celebrate The Theater Songs Of Leonard Bernstein At New Jersey Performing Arts Center on January 29

Bill Charlap And Bill Charlap Trio Celebrate The Theater Songs Of Leonard Bernstein At New Jersey Performing Arts Center on January 29

Source: AMT Public Relations

Saturday, January 29th at 7:30 p.m. at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center Leonard Bernstein composed some of the most memorable theater scores of his generation—West Side Story. Candide. On the Town—but who was the man behind the music? This edition of NJPAC’s Conversations in Concert, hosted by theater insider Ted Chapin, promises to be a thought-provoking evening of stories about the iconic composer-conductor complemented by Bernstein songs. Bernstein’s daughter, Jamie, will pull back the curtain of her father’s complex ...

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Video / DVD

Leon Russell: Homewood Session, 1970

Leon Russell: Homewood Session, 1970

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Leon Russell was an interesting artist. Born in Oklahoma, he began playing piano at a very young age and was getting paid for it starting at 14 when he gigged in Tulsa. As Leon told me when I visited him at home in Nashville in 2014: “Whatever I heard I could remember and play. When I came home from jobs, I'd listen to my radio. The only station it picked up favored R&B and Pentecostal gospel." Like all naturally gifted ...

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Recording

Leon Lee Dorsey's 'Freedom Jazz Dance' with Mike Clark and Manuel Valera is out August 20, 2021 via Jazz Avenue 1

Leon Lee Dorsey's 'Freedom Jazz Dance' with Mike Clark and Manuel Valera is out August 20, 2021 via Jazz Avenue 1

Source: Lydia Liebman Promotions

Jazz Avenue 1 is proud to announce the August 20, 2021 release of Freedom Jazz Dance by veteran bassist Leon Lee Dorsey, drummer extraordinaire Mike Clark and brilliant Cuban-born pianist Manuel Valera. Dedicated to the late Puerto Rican-born piano master Hilton Ruiz, whom Dorsey regularly played with in his last years (appearing on 2004’s A New York Story and 2005’s Steppin’ with T.P., the pianist’s dedication to his own mentor, Tito Puente), this collection of eight tunes highlights that same ...

Video / DVD

Marty Napoleon Centennial

Marty Napoleon Centennial

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

You'd think that a guy who played piano as impressively as the late Marty Napoleon would be an aloof character. After all, Marty was the guy who replaced Earl “Fatha" Hines in Louis Armstrong's All Stars in 1952. That alone would have earned him the right to be a cool, reserved cat. But that wasn't Marty. He was an outgoing keyboardist who shared Armstrong's passion for affability and musical exceptionalism. Marty came from a loving jazz family and was blessed ...

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