Biography
Leonard Feather earned recognition as the foremost authority among American jazz critics while also building a reputation as a composer and producer of lasting influence. His catalog of enduring songs encompasses “Evil Gal Blues,” “Blowtop Blues,” and “How Blue Can You Get?,” and he guided the first recording dates of Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan, both of whom would later achieve legendary status. Born in London on September 13, 1914, he took up piano and clarinet during childhood and later acquired arranging skills through self-instruction. Although his father anticipated his entry into the family clothing business, Feather redirected his future after hearing Louis Armstrong’s “West End Blues” at a Kensington record shop. He began contributing to the British music magazine Melody Maker by sending a succession of letters that examined topics such as waltz-time jazz pieces and the limited presence of female jazz listeners; editor Dan Ingman responded by offering him a staff role. Present for Louis Armstrong’s initial London Palladium appearance in 1932, Feather met his idol afterward at a nearby pub, where Armstrong granted an interview to Melody Maker before the evening ended, initiating a friendship that lasted the remainder of their lives.
In 1935 Feather moved to New York City alongside pianist Felix King. Jazz critic John Hammond greeted their arrival, and on his opening night in the United States Feather caught Bessie Smith’s performance at the Apollo before proceeding to the Savoy to hear the Teddy Hill Orchestra. He later served as press agent for Duke Ellington, and his vigorous advocacy for the musicians and principles he championed proved vital to the rise of the swing era. Feather possessed an uncommon ability to identify emerging talent, producing the debut studio sessions of both Washington and Vaughan while advancing the careers of Mary Osborne, Vivian Gary, and Vi Redd. In partnership with Mary Lou Williams and Beryl Booker he assembled multiple all-women jazz groups. For Washington he composed “Evil Gal Blues” and “Blowtop Blues,” and his most successful work, “How Blue Can You Get?,” received definitive treatments from artists ranging from Louis Jordan to B.B. King; bandleaders from Duke Ellington to Count Basie to Benny Carter likewise incorporated Feather’s compositions and arrangements into their books.
Although he continued producing recordings for many years, among them the 1951 Prestige album Leonard Feather’s Swingin’ Swedes, the 1954 MGM release Dixieland vs. Birdland, and the 1957 VSOP collection 52nd Street, his greatest impact came through writing. A critical voice noted for its sharp tone yet refined style, he first attracted broad notice with pieces for Metronome and Esquire, devising for the former the “blindfold test” in which musicians and other figures listened to records without being told titles or personnel. The format repeatedly dismantled assumptions and prejudices tied to race, gender, or commercial standing, demonstrating how seldom talent or originality receives evaluation on its own terms. Feather also featured the blindfold test on his radio program Platterbrains and later adapted the concept during his tenure at JazzTimes.
The 1949 appearance of his book Inside Be-Bop established the innovative achievements of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie as central to the jazz narrative, and its core ideas were swiftly embraced by the jazz community despite the author’s misjudgments regarding Thelonious Monk. His most enduring written legacy, however, remains the 1960 volume The New Encyclopedia of Jazz, which Gary Giddins later described as “indispensable for its critical breadth and autonomy, and for ancillary sections that approach the subject in myriad ways—musicological, sociological, even anthropological,” notwithstanding occasional inaccuracies such as erroneous birthdates and the existence of competing reference works from Chilton to Grove.
Not long after the encyclopedia’s release, Feather settled in southern California and began serving as jazz critic for the Los Angeles Times. Over subsequent years he taught at UCLA, the University of California at Riverside, and California State University at Northridge, and he authored additional volumes including Inside Jazz in 1977 and From Satchmo to Miles in 1987. Many observers noted a decline in his vitality following the 1993 earthquake that compelled him to leave the Sherman Oaks residence he had shared with his wife of many years, Jane. After a struggle with pneumonia he died on September 22, 1994, just over a week past his eightieth birthday. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz, completed with Ira Gitler, appeared posthumously in 1999.
In 1935 Feather moved to New York City alongside pianist Felix King. Jazz critic John Hammond greeted their arrival, and on his opening night in the United States Feather caught Bessie Smith’s performance at the Apollo before proceeding to the Savoy to hear the Teddy Hill Orchestra. He later served as press agent for Duke Ellington, and his vigorous advocacy for the musicians and principles he championed proved vital to the rise of the swing era. Feather possessed an uncommon ability to identify emerging talent, producing the debut studio sessions of both Washington and Vaughan while advancing the careers of Mary Osborne, Vivian Gary, and Vi Redd. In partnership with Mary Lou Williams and Beryl Booker he assembled multiple all-women jazz groups. For Washington he composed “Evil Gal Blues” and “Blowtop Blues,” and his most successful work, “How Blue Can You Get?,” received definitive treatments from artists ranging from Louis Jordan to B.B. King; bandleaders from Duke Ellington to Count Basie to Benny Carter likewise incorporated Feather’s compositions and arrangements into their books.
Although he continued producing recordings for many years, among them the 1951 Prestige album Leonard Feather’s Swingin’ Swedes, the 1954 MGM release Dixieland vs. Birdland, and the 1957 VSOP collection 52nd Street, his greatest impact came through writing. A critical voice noted for its sharp tone yet refined style, he first attracted broad notice with pieces for Metronome and Esquire, devising for the former the “blindfold test” in which musicians and other figures listened to records without being told titles or personnel. The format repeatedly dismantled assumptions and prejudices tied to race, gender, or commercial standing, demonstrating how seldom talent or originality receives evaluation on its own terms. Feather also featured the blindfold test on his radio program Platterbrains and later adapted the concept during his tenure at JazzTimes.
The 1949 appearance of his book Inside Be-Bop established the innovative achievements of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie as central to the jazz narrative, and its core ideas were swiftly embraced by the jazz community despite the author’s misjudgments regarding Thelonious Monk. His most enduring written legacy, however, remains the 1960 volume The New Encyclopedia of Jazz, which Gary Giddins later described as “indispensable for its critical breadth and autonomy, and for ancillary sections that approach the subject in myriad ways—musicological, sociological, even anthropological,” notwithstanding occasional inaccuracies such as erroneous birthdates and the existence of competing reference works from Chilton to Grove.
Not long after the encyclopedia’s release, Feather settled in southern California and began serving as jazz critic for the Los Angeles Times. Over subsequent years he taught at UCLA, the University of California at Riverside, and California State University at Northridge, and he authored additional volumes including Inside Jazz in 1977 and From Satchmo to Miles in 1987. Many observers noted a decline in his vitality following the 1993 earthquake that compelled him to leave the Sherman Oaks residence he had shared with his wife of many years, Jane. After a struggle with pneumonia he died on September 22, 1994, just over a week past his eightieth birthday. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz, completed with Ira Gitler, appeared posthumously in 1999.