Jay Leonhart

In the jazz realm, bassist, vocalist, and songwriter Jay Leonhart has established a singular presence by releasing his own clever recordings while maintaining a strong reputation as a session musician. Like peers Mose Allison, Dave Frishberg, and Bob Dorough, he crafts intelligent, frequently witty numbers in a narrative manner that blends straight-ahead acoustic jazz with folk influences, an approach first heard on his 1983 release Salamander Pie. Since settling in New York in the late 1960s, this in-demand studio and road musician has accompanied an extensive roster of performers such as Duke Ellington, Mel Tormé, Judy Garland, Thad Jones, Buddy Rich, Jim Hall, Kenny Barron, James Taylor, Luciano Pavarotti, and numerous others. He has alternated between interpretive collections such as 1999's Sensitive to the Touch: The Music of Harold Arlen and 2002's Rodgers & Leonhart and sets devoted to his own material, including the 2019 trio effort Joy. Several projects have highlighted his relatives, among them wife Donna Leonhart on vocals, son Michael Leonhart on trumpet, and daughter Carolyn Leonhart also on vocals.

Born in Baltimore in 1940, Leonhart was raised in a household filled with music, where he and his six siblings all began on piano during childhood. By age seven he was performing on banjo, guitar, and mandolin alongside his older brother Bill in a duo that earned local television spots in Baltimore and national touring opportunities. During his teenage years he concentrated chiefly on bass, inspired by Ray Brown of the Oscar Peterson Trio. Early professional work included steady engagements with the Pier Five Dixieland Jazz Band. After initial training at The Peabody Institute, he studied at The Berklee College of Music in Boston and The Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto, then departed to travel with large ensembles, among them groups led by Mike Longo and Buddy Morrow.

At twenty-one he relocated to New York City and wed singer Donna Leonhart, née Donna Zier, in 1968. There he formed a close association with bassist Milt Hinton, who guided him and eased his entry into the city's jazz community. A steady stream of engagements ensued with both small groups and big bands, encompassing work alongside Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Lou Marini, Tony Bennett, Marian McPartland, Jim Hall, and additional artists. Studio activity also expanded, and from the mid-1970s onward he recorded across genres with figures including Ozzy Osbourne, James Taylor, Queen Latifah, and many more, recognition that brought him the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences' Most Valuable Bassist honor on three occasions.

Leonhart launched his solo career in 1983 with Salamander Pie, an intimate duo date alongside pianist Mike Renzi that presented his distinctive, literate fusion of jazz and folk. Another understated and sardonic pairing, There's Gonna Be Trouble, followed a year later with guitarist Joe Beck. The more expansive The Double Cross appeared in 1989, employing a larger group for originals plus versions of Miles Davis' "So What" and Eddie Harris' "Freedom Jazz Dance." Life Out on the Road emerged in 1990, succeeded by a live recording captured at New York's Fat Tuesday. The 1999 standards project Sensitive to the Touch: The Music of Harold Arlen placed him with clarinetist and saxophonist Ken Peplowski, pianist Ted Rosenthal, and drummer and singer Grady Tate. That same year he released Great Duets, collaborating with guitarists Bucky Pizzarelli and Gene Bertoncini, pianists Mike LeDonne, Bill Charlap, and John Bunch, and vocalist Joe Williams.

Returning to his singer-songwriter orientation in 2001, Leonhart issued Galaxies and Planets, which contained a tribute to Milt Hinton and featured son Michael Leonhart along with guitarists Joe Beck and Mark Elf. The next year brought another standards collection, Rodgers & Leonhart, drawing contributions from pianist Rosenthal, daughter Carolyn Leonhart, and the American Saxophone Quartet. Subsequent tribute recordings included 2003's Four Duke: The Music of Duke Ellington, 2004's Ray Brown-focused Fly Me to the Moon with Benny Green and Joe Cohn, and 2004's Cool, shaped by the Oscar Peterson Trio. The 1982 duo session Alone Together finally appeared in 2006, documenting Leonhart with pianist Ben Aronov. In 2019 he united with pianist Tomoko Ohno and drummer Vito Lesczak for Joy.