Carolyn Leonhart | |
|---|---|
 Leonhart in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | July 10, 1971 New York City |
| Genres | Jazz, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1990s–present |
| Website | Official site |
Carolyn Leonhart (born July 10, 1971) is a jazz singer, daughter of jazz bassist Jay Leonhart, and sister of the trumpeter Michael Leonhart. She has performed as a back-up vocalist for Steely Dan on several tours and recordings.
Leonhart was born in New York City on 10 July 1971, daughter of bassist and composer Jay Leonhart and vocalist Donna Leonhart. [1] She was exposed to music from a very early age, attending her father's gigs where she saw him accompany famous singers such as Sarah Vaughan, Mel Tormé, and Peggy Lee. [2] She sang on television commercials as a young child. She attended The High School of Music & Art in New York City and for four years sang in the school's gospel choir. While at school, she performed in the TV show It's Showtime at the Apollo . [3] At home she sang while her father and brother played jazz standards. She won the Lena Horne High School Jazz Vocalist competition in her senior year. [2]
Leonhart attended the University of Rochester, obtaining a degree in Comparative Religion. While at the university she remained involved in music, singing with bands at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. She recorded two solos with the Toshiba EMI label, and in her senior year was named Best College Jazz Vocalist by DownBeat magazine. [2]
Leonhart returned to New York and in 1994 began singing in jazz clubs. That year she competed in the Thelonious Monk International Vocal Jazz Competition, coming in third. [3] A critic said her choice of the songs "Nobody Else but Me" and "Day Dream" was daring, but she needed greater control and more focused delivery. [4]
In the following years Leonhart performed with a variety of musicians, including The Real Live Show, a hip-hop group, and Wax Poetic. [2] The Wax Poetic project combines electronica, trip hop, funk, and jazz. [5] In 1998 she recorded an album with the Swiss Percussion Ensemble, a group of four classical percussionists whose instruments were mainly made of glass. In 2000, Leonhart released the album Steal The Moon, a collaborative project with pianist and composer Rob Bargad. Since then she began performing regularly with her own group at the Smoke jazz club in New York City, at Steamers and The Vic in California, and at other clubs on the east coast. [2]
Leonhart and other members of the Swiss Percussion Ensemble formed Lyn Leon, a group that made several successful tours of Europe and released the album Glass Lounge in Germany in 2004. Lyn Leon toured with the jazz singer Al Jarreau during the fall of 2004. Leonhart said, "Improvising with Al Jarreau was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. It opened me up to another level of creative awareness and expression".
Between 1996 and 2007 Leonhart was a lead back-up vocalist with Steely Dan, singing on three world tours and two albums. [2] She performed again with Steely Dan in 2009 and 2011. [3] She and the group's other female backing vocalists, Cindy Mizelle and La Tanya Hall, are usually spotlighted on the song "Dirty Work".
Leonhart met Wayne Escoffery, a London-born saxophonist, in a New York Jazz club in 2002. The two began dating when they had time during their busy tour schedules. They married in Manhattan on 17 January 2004. [6] As of 2020, they are no longer married. [7]
Leonhart studied Contemporary Commercial Music Vocal Pedagogy Institute at Shenandoah University. She has been an assistant professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and has taught at the Jazz Academy. [8] Her goal as a teacher is to help vocal students gain an awareness of their instrument, their voice, avoid mistakes and learn better, freer vocal function. [9]
Leonhart has said that she does not consider herself a jazz singer, just a singer, and she has performed with ensembles covering a wide range of musical styles. She was deeply influenced by her father and by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan. She says that other influences include Wayne Shorter, Woody Shaw, Ahmad Jamal, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. [2]
Steely Dan is an American pop rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Originally having a full band lineup, by the end of 1974 Becker and Fagen chose to stop playing live and continue Steely Dan as a studio-only duo, utilising a revolving cast of session musicians. Rolling Stone has called them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the seventies".
Donald Jay Fagen is an American musician who was the co-founder, lead singer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist of the band Steely Dan, formed in the early 1970s with musical partner Walter Becker. In addition to his work with Steely Dan, Fagen has released four solo albums, beginning with The Nightfly in 1982, which was nominated for seven Grammys.
Walter Carl Becker was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter of the jazz rock band Steely Dan.
Katy Lied is the fourth studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released by ABC Records in March 1975; reissues have been released by MCA Records since ABC Records was acquired by MCA in 1979. It was the first album the group made after they stopped touring, as well as their first to feature backing vocals by Michael McDonald.
Two Against Nature is the eighth studio album by American rock band Steely Dan. Their first studio album in 20 years, it was recorded from 1997 to 1999 and released on February 29, 2000, by Giant Records.
Dennis Dias is an American guitarist, best known for being a founding member of Steely Dan.
Jon Herington is an American guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and session musician.
Jay Leonhart is an American double bassist, singer, and songwriter who has worked in jazz and popular music. He has performed with Judy Garland, Bucky Pizzarelli, Carly Simon, Frank Sinatra, and Sting. Leonhart is noted for his clever songwriting, often laced with dry humor. His compositions have been recorded by Blossom Dearie, Lee Konitz, and Gary Burton. His poetry is published both in, and outside of, the venue of song.
"Cousin Dupree" is a promo single released in 2000 from Steely Dan's album Two Against Nature, also released that year.
Wayne Escoffery is an American jazz saxophonist.
Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz with Steely Dan is a jazz album released in 2005.
Plush TV Jazz-Rock Party is a live video recording of a PBS In the Spotlight special on Steely Dan, released in 2000. This video focuses on a special concert, recorded live in January 2000 at Sony Studios in New York City, New York, and features tracks from their unreleased album Two Against Nature but also contains additional documentary footage.
Gretchen Parlato is an American jazz singer. She has performed and recorded with musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Barron, Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Marcus Miller and Lionel Loueke.
Michael Leonhart is an American jazz trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist.
Catherine Russell is an American jazz and blues singer. She is best known for her 2016 album Harlem on My Mind.
The Dukes of September was an American supergroup, formed in 2010 featuring Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs. The project was a resurrection of the previous New York Rock and Soul Revue which featured the same three musicians and played a combination of hits from the members' respective careers as well as a wide variety of covers.
Sunken Condos is the fourth and most recent solo album from Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen, released in October 2012 through Reprise Records. It contains eight new songs and a cover of Isaac Hayes' "Out of the Ghetto". Fagen began recording the album in 2010 and described it as having a lighter feel than his earlier work, rather than being a continuation of his Nightfly trilogy.
Amy Helm is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the daughter of drummer Levon Helm and singer Libby Titus. She is a past member of the Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble Band and Ollabelle, as well as her own touring band.
Drew Zingg is an American rock, blues, soul and jazz guitarist, best known for his performing with Steely Dan and Boz Scaggs.
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