Leon Washington (musician)

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Leon Diamond Washington (June 27, 1909, Jackson, Mississippi – February 19, 1973, Chicago) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.

Jackson, Mississippi Capital of Mississippi

Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond, Mississippi. The city of Jackson also includes around 3,000 acres comprising Jackson-Medgar Evers International Airport in Rankin County and a small portion of Madison County. The city's population was estimated to be 165,072 in 2017, a decline from 173,514 in 2010. The city sits on the Pearl River and is located in the greater Jackson Prairie region of Mississippi.

Chicago City in Illinois, United States

Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the most populous city in Illinois, as well as the third most populous city in the United States. With an estimated population of 2,716,450 (2017), it is the most populous city in the Midwest. Chicago is the principal city of the Chicago metropolitan area, often referred to as Chicagoland, and the county seat of Cook County, the second most populous county in the United States. The metropolitan area, at nearly 10 million people, is the third-largest in the United States, and the fourth largest in North America and the third largest metropolitan area in the world by land area.

Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in blues and ragtime. Jazz is seen by many as "America's classical music". Since the 1920s Jazz Age, jazz has become recognized as a major form of musical expression. It then emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African-American and European-American musical parentage with a performance orientation. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. Intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as "one of America's original art forms".

Born in Mississippi, Washington grew up in Chicago from the age of three. He started on clarinet before moving on to tenor saxophone, and studied under Santy Runyon. [1] After finishing high school, he played professionally from 1926, joining Zinky Cohn's band and recording with Frankie Franko (1930) and Bernie Young & the Creolians (1931–33). He played with Carroll Dickerson from 1934-35 at the Sunset Cafe in Chicago, then played briefly with Louis Armstrong in 1935.

Mississippi State of the United States of America

Mississippi is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. Mississippi is the 32nd most extensive and 34th most populous of the 50 United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana to the south, and Arkansas and Louisiana to the west. The state's western boundary is largely defined by the Mississippi River. Jackson, with a population of approximately 167,000 people, is both the state's capital and largest city.

Clinton "Santy" Runyon was an American saxophonist and flautist as well as a designer and manufacturer of mouthpieces for woodwind instruments.

Zinky Cohn was an American jazz pianist.

He played with Earl Hines in 1937, before joining Red Saunders' group, where he remained for the next 25 years, [1] recording with him extensively in addition to occasionally releasing material under his own name. [2] Leaving Saunders' band in 1963, he became an official at the Chicago musicians' union.

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Washington died of leukemia in 1973.

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References

  1. 1 2 Leon Washington at Allmusic
  2. ↑ Red Saunders Discography http://campber.people.clemson.edu/saunders.html Accessed August 15, 2009.
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