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....
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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.
In his 1959 Loyola High School year book, Jay Leonhart was named “The Most Witty” in his class. Forty six years later with “The Bass Lesson” and “Nkular Tulips”, we find out why.
JOSH NELSON
Josh Nelson, born and raised in Southern California, maintains an active and creative schedule as a jazz pianist, composer, teacher, and recording artist. At 35 years old, he has already performed with some of the most respected names in jazz, including Natalie Cole, Anthony Wilson, Bob Hurst, Jeff Hamilton, Ralph Moore, Albert “Tootie” Heath, Seamus Blake, Matt Wilson, Sara Gazarek, Ernie Watts, Jack Sheldon, Tom Scott, Peter Erskine, Abe Laboriel, and Alex Acuna, to name a few. Josh has recorded for countless albums, films, and TV shows, but also makes time for his own projects: First Stories (1998), Anticipation (2004) and Let it Go (2007, Native Language Music) all garnered international critical claim. Josh’s 4th album, I Hear a Rhapsody (2009), featured Josh’s musings on new original music, standard interpretations, and reinventions of pop tunes. His most recent record, Discoveries (2011), pairs classic sci-fi movies with new compositions for a brass and wind ensemble.
Original music and performances of his have appeared on various prime-time and cable shows and films, including “Jack and Bobby”, “The Division”, “Lucky”, and “First Daughter”. He has also worked with film composer Michael Kamen, and actors Eric Idle, Clint Eastwood, and Jon Lovitz. Josh has earned many awards, scholarships, and accolades over the years, some of which include the Louis Armstrong Award and the John Philip Sousa Award. He was also one of only twelve semi-finalists in the prestigious 2006 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition.
Josh is also musical director for vocal talent Sara Gazarek, of which he penned the title track of her debut record, “Yours”. That record reached No. 10 on the Billboard Jazz Charts. Sara’s second studio album, Return to You (2006), also featured Josh’s singer/songwriter skills.
Currently, Josh continues his touring with legendary vocalist Natalie Cole. He is also always working on a new album, and is just happy to be alive and playing with wonderful musicians!
“Josh is that rare young musician who has not only a wealth of study and experience under his belt (all but assuring him a prominent place in jazz music), but he also possesses those rarest of musical attributes: a touch, a tone, and a “sound” that are all identifiably his own.”
- Peter Erskine, legendary drummer “A definite fresh sound by a guy who should be in everyone’s iPod.”
- George Harris, All About Jazz “Nelson distinguishes himself as a first-rate player and composer with a fresh, wholly personal take on the music.”
Check out his website at www.joshnelsonmusic.com to purchase his albums, check out his performance calendar, and more.
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