Biography
Leonard Hochman delivers impressive work throughout his 1994 Brownstone release Until Tomorrow, evoking Zoot Sims during his tenor statements while projecting a rich, full-bodied sound on bass clarinet. That this effort marked his debut as a bandleader proved especially striking, given that he had already stepped away from performance back in 1963. Philadelphia is where Hochman entered the world; after spending time in New York City he settled into his upbringing in Richmond, Virginia. At age eleven he first took up the tenor saxophone. From fifteen through twenty-four he worked steadily as a freelancer across many different contexts, among them a two-year stretch in the Catskills. During that period his collaborators included Kai Winding, Al Haig, Phil Woods, Kenny Clarke, Brew Moore, Charlie Barnet and Herbie Mann. Hochman relocated to Boston in 1957 and remained there for six years as a studio player. Although he cut a session with Phil Wilson during the early 1960s, he was still largely unrecognized at the moment he quit playing in 1963. He took a position with a band-instrument rental firm, later acquired the company outright and built a prosperous career in business. Once he sold the enterprise he resumed performing in the early 1990s, by which time both his improvisational skill and tonal depth had noticeably matured. Recording Until Tomorrow at the age of sixty-one therefore introduced a major rediscovery. Guitarist Mitch Seidman, Harvie Swartz and the late Alan Dawson joined him for that long-delayed first date. A follow-up album, Manhattan Morning, appeared in 1995 and featured a quintet containing both Swartz and Kenny Barron.
Albums