Leonhart

This swinging session focuses on a dozen standards from the vast Duke Ellington songbook. Bassist Jay Leonhart sings along with his bass a la Slam Stewart to open "In a Mellotone" and "C Jam Blues." A loping "Azure" features Joe Beck's brash guitar contrasting with Gary Burton's bluesy vibes. Burton and Leonhart's smoking duo version of "Take the 'A' Train" and a soft pretty take of "Isfahan" (omitting Beck) are the top tracks of the date. A pleasant, if not essential CD.

Carolyn Leonhart is a jazz singer with one foot firmly planted in the rock/pop universe. She is the daughter of veteran bassist Jay Leonhart, so her jazz sensibilities flow from her upbringing. Yet she gained wide exposure during the '90s as a backup vocalist for the reunited Steely Dan. Her jazz style is tinged with the edginess of a soul or R&B singer. Her first U.S. album, an inspired collaboration with pianist/songwriter Rob Bargad titled Steal the Moon, was released in 2000.

When my Producer and long-time friend Pat Philips Stratta called to tell me that I had received the 2023 Living Masters award from the SmallsLIVE Foundation, I felt so honored! I was particularly pleased because it also gave me the opportunity to play at Mezzrow for two nights and record a CD in the afternoon of day three. For the first time in many years, I chose to change my Trio format and go back to Piano, Bass and Drums. For the last 20 years, my trio was piano, bass and guitar inspired by the great trios of Nat King Cole and Oscar Peterson. That requires everything to be arranged and lots of rehearsals, and I’ve been living in Ojai, California for the last 30 years, so rehearsals are not easy. This occasion gave me the opportunity to come East, and just kick back and play with my long-time colleague, Jay Leonhart on bass, and a musician I deeply admire (new to my trio) Dennis Mackrel on drums. For repertoire, I decided to choose mostly historical jazz standards that I’ve always loved, but I couldn’t stay away from arranging or guitar totally, so I invited Guitarist Roni Ben-Hur to be my special guest.

The Painted Lady Suite, the debut album by the Michael Leonhart Orchestra (MLO) is inspired by the butterfly of the same name. While Leonhart was initially attracted to its flamboyant coloration and wing ornamentation, it was the butterfly’s incredible migration, which spans over six generations and 9,000 miles — twice that of the Monarch butterfly, that inspired the trumpeter/composer/bandleader to write his “Painted Lady Suite.”

A remarkably advanced debut from the then 21-year-old trumpeter. Joined by tenor saxophonist Ari Ambrose, bassist Joe Martin, and drummer John Wilson, Leonhart tends toward a spacious, enigmatic sound on this all-original outing. The first three tracks are fairly cryptic, with Leonhart and Ambrose playing long-tone melodies over subtly implied rhythms and ambiguous harmonies or pedal points. Track four, "Dear Bourg," is the first piece with an unmistakable harmonic structure and a songlike melody. The same can be said for the ethereal ballad "Sketches of Aix," the jazz waltz "Belle Jeza" (just melody, no solos), and the slow, minor-key 6/8 shuffle "Shamed." Elsewhere, on tunes such as "Posscia" and "Naashar," Leonhart takes his quartet through freer territory…

Since arriving in New York City, Tessa Souter has built a dedicated following. She was a relative latecomer to jazz, taking time out to raise a family at a young age and work as a journalist before studying at the Manhattan School of music and privately with vocal great Mark Murphy, though she has developed into a formidable singer in a relatively short time. Souter's gorgeous, natural vocals never show pretension or gimmickry, while her taste in songs is amazingly wide-ranging and occasionally risk-taking. For these 2008 sessions, her accompanists include the brilliant pianist Kenny Werner (who works especially well with vocalists), saxophonist Joel Frahm, Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo, veteran first-call bassist Jay Leonhart, and the in-demand drummer Billy Drummond…

The New York Trio, led by pianist Bill Charlap with bassist Jay Leonhart and drummer Bill Stewart, exists exclusively as a band to record for the Japanese jazz market, as Charlap has a regular trio with Peter Washington and Kenny Washington, while both Leonhart and Stewart are busy session musicians who occasionally also lead their own record dates. These 2007 sessions focus exclusively on the extensive songbook of the prolific Irving Berlin. Most of the ten tunes heard on this CD have long since become standards and are frequently recorded by jazz artists. One that isn't typically heard as an instrumental is "I Got the Sun in the Morning" (from the musical Annie Get Your Gun), heard in a loping yet infectious interpretation. "How Deep Is the Ocean" is one of Berlin's most recorded songs, yet this version sizzles with energy, unlike the typical ballad treatments…