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Jay Leonhart

Jay Leonhart was born on December 6, 1940, in Baltimore Maryland. His parents, sisters, and brothers (6 kids in all), were all musically inclined. Everyone played the piano. By the age of 7, 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 and never looked back. After studying at The Peabody Institute, Jay attended The Berklee School of Music and The Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto, before leaving school to start touring with the traveling big bands of the late 50's and early 60's.

At 21, Jay moved to New York City to start his career and to proceed on his oddessy towards adulthood. He played lots of funky road gigs with big bands, small bands and singers and visited all the little jazz joints around the world. In 1968, he met and married a lovely young singer named Donna Zier and settled down in New York. Jay and Donna Leonhart have also raised two very musically inclined children, Michael and Carolyn, who perform with Steely Dan, among other notables.

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 in New York - artists like Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Tony Bennett, Marian McPartland, and Jim Hall. The list goes on and on, and Jay has continued to work with many of the great jazz musicians of the twentieth century.

Jay 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 Association of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Jay has now recorded 15 solo albums - all the while knowing that he would some day begin performing one man shows made up of these many songs about his life in music. "The Bass Lesson" is the first example. This show is being received warmly by critics and audiences and appears to have a nice long life ahead of it.

Jay's next show "Nukular Tulips" is in the works.

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7
Album Review

Carol Sloane: Carol Sloane Live At Birdland

Read "Carol Sloane Live At Birdland" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


Was there ever a more storied exponent of the Great American Songbook than Carol Sloane? She started singing professionally at the age of fourteen, made her first recording in 1959, was the “gal singer" for Arthur Godfrey for a spell, and went on to record virtually any tune you can think of (and, more than likely, a few you cannot). Her voice, shimmering and luminous, worked especially well on ballads, but her up-tempo material was equally compelling. She sang with ...

1
Album Review

Jay Leonhart: Joy

Read "Joy" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Quando c'è una relazione padre/figlio tra due artisti, si usa in genere la figura del genitore per presentare il figlio. Per il giovane pubblico del jazz è invece opportuno fare il contrario, dicendo che l'ottantenne bassista leader di questo trio è il padre di Michael, trombettista e orchestratore acclamato per gli album The Painted Lady Suite , Suite Extracts Vol. 1 e per gli arrangiamenti di Lovers di Nels Cline. Jay Leonhart è un veterano del modern ...

2
Bailey's Bundles

Ten Men

Read "Ten Men" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


My unscientific estimate contends that there are three female vocalists for every male vocalist. This does not mean that there are no male vocalists out there as evidenced by these ten examples. They just take a little longer to accumulate. Jay Leonhart and Tomoko Ohno Don't You Wish Chancellor Music 2017 Jay Leonhart is a known entity. He is a well-known bassist and singer, and as he proves on Don't You Wish ...

3
Album Review

Jay Leonhart: Don't You Wish

Read "Don't You Wish" reviewed by Dr. Judith Schlesinger


After experimenting with other instruments, a phase described in the title track, “Don't You Wish," Jay Leonhart locked onto the bass at the age of 13. Later inspired and mentored by the legendary Ray Brown, he began his stellar career which included playing with icons Duke Ellington, Judy Garland, Buddy Rich, Sarah Vaughan, Mel Torme, and Tony Bennett. Leonhart has also anchored well-known trios and led his own, honing his solid reputation as an exceptionally gifted and versatile musician.

2
Album Review

Jay Leonhart: Don't You Wish?

Read "Don't You Wish?" reviewed by Patrick Burnette


Jay Leonhart has been active as a jazz bassist from the 1960s, and since 1983's Salamander Pie (Digital Music Productions, 1990), he has, from time to time, headlined records as that rara avis, the singer-songwriter who plays acoustic bass rather than acoustic guitar. (one example: “Goodbye, Miami" from the debut--it sounds more prescient day by day.) Leonhart is an accomplished, fluid bassist who's appeared on gigs and records with a host of top-notch musicians. On Don't You Wish? ...

182
Album Review

Ken Peplowski: Noir Blue

Read "Noir Blue" reviewed by Martin Longley


In his liner notes, saxophonist/clarinetist Ken Peplowski reveals that after hitting fifty, he had no desire to make albums that are going through the motions of record company requirements. Not that such bodies are lately in a position to demand anything. He now intends to make recordings when the inspiration is strong and when the circumstances align in an encouraging fashion. A major part of this disc's genesis seems to be the rapport that Peplowski shares with pianist Shelly Berg. ...

315
Album Review

Ken Peplowski: Noir Blue

Read "Noir Blue" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose


Ken Peplowski has much to say; not in the sense that he jabbers incessantly, as many men with horns (and embouchures for hire) sometimes do. However, in erudite and leaping ululations, and in warm, wafting glissandos he sings of the gaiety and sadness of life. This he does through clarinet or tenor saxophone, depending on the echo and longevity he wishes his harmonic monologues to have. An old soul, with a spectacular perspective on the past, Peplowski lives in a ...

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131

Event

Broadway Jazz Hits Symphony Space On Jan. 28: Bassist Jay Leonhart Presents Swinging Show at Uptown Performing Arts Center

Broadway Jazz Hits Symphony Space On Jan. 28: Bassist Jay Leonhart Presents Swinging Show at Uptown Performing Arts Center

Source: Jonas Music Services

New York City audiences will have the rare opportunity on Sunday night, January 28, to hear “Jazz Hits from the Broadway Stage," a swinging, intimate program of well-known Broadway show tunes performed by some of the city's most-accomplished and well-known jazz musicians. It is sure to be a treat for general audiences and jazz lovers alike.

As conceived by jazz bassist, composer, and arranger Jay Leonhart, three-time NARAS Most Valuable Bassist, the evening's program will consist of well-known favorites ranging ...

136

Interview

Wycliffe Gordon and Jay Leonhart Interviewed at AAJ

Wycliffe Gordon and Jay Leonhart Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz

At first, ber-bassist Jay Leonhart and acclaimed trombonist Wycliffe Gordon seem an unlikely pair. Visually, they look like the Anglo poet and the star linebacker; chronologically, they're at least a generation apart. But they are both immensely talented, and their personal and musical rapport transcends any other differences between them. As relaxed and amiable as the oldest of friends, they trade their superb musicianship as naturally as conversation.

AAJ contributor Dr. Judith Schlesinger managed to get the two together in ...

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Performance / Tour

Daryl Sherman Piano Jazz Vocals and Jay Leonhart on Bass April 3, 2006, at A.C. Pianocraft

Daryl Sherman Piano Jazz Vocals and Jay Leonhart on Bass April 3, 2006,  at A.C. Pianocraft

Source: All About Jazz

RobertaOnTheArts.com and A.C. Pianocraft, Inc. Are Pleased to Announce A Piano-Plus Jazz Series Daryl Sherman on Piano Jazz Vocals and Jay Leonhart on Bass All Concert Profits to be Sent to The New Orleans Musicians' Clinic http://wwoz.org/clinic/ $20/Ticket, At the Door, Includes 8 - 10 PM Concert, Wine, and Buffet PLUS Raffle for a Choice Treatment at www.SpaJa.com! Nine Concerts, Once/Month October, 2005 through June, 2006 Monday Evenings 8:00 - ...

168

Performance / Tour

Clark Terry and Jay Leonhart Gala New Year's Eve Event Irvington Town Hall

Clark Terry and Jay Leonhart  Gala New Year's Eve Event  Irvington Town Hall

Source: All About Jazz

TKO PRODUCTIONS in association with ETOILE RECORDS presents a Gala New Year's Eve Event Trumpet Master Clark Terry and Satirist Jay Leonhart invite you to JIVE AT FIVE into 2005, with their special guests Hanna Richardson and Bill Saxton at the Irvington Town Hall Theater Friday, December 31, 2004. 5 P.M. Begins with a sumptuous, sunset dinner at Solera's on the Hudson River. 7:30 P.M. Join Clark, Jay and their musical guests at the Irvington Town Hall Theater for a ...

134

Performance / Tour

Clark Terry and Jay Leonhart Gala New Year's Eve Event Irvington Town Hall

Clark Terry and Jay Leonhart  Gala New Year's Eve Event  Irvington Town Hall

Source: All About Jazz

TKO PRODUCTIONS in association with ETOILE RECORDS presents a Gala New Year's Eve Event Trumpet Master Clark Terry and Satirist Jay Leonhart invite you to JIVE AT FIVE into 2005, with their special guests Hanna Richardson and Bill Saxton at the Irvington Town Hall Theater Friday, December 31, 2004. 5 P.M. Begins with a sumptuous, sunset dinner at Solera's on the Hudson River. 7:30 P.M. Join Clark, Jay and their musical guests at the Irvington Town Hall Theater for a ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Joy

Sunnyside Records
2019

buy

Don't You Wish?

Self Produced
2018

buy

Don't You Wish

Chancellor Music
2018

buy

Noir Blue

Capri Records
2010

buy

Alone Together

Roger Rhodes Music
2008

buy

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