Live Music Sunday
JAMIE LEONHART
Sunday, April 24 at 7:30 PM
Jamie's Personnel:
Michael Leonhart: Wurlitzer
Gary Wang: bass
Joe Strasser: drums
Whether
live or recorded, backed by a trio or small circus of instruments – Jamie
Leonhart’s smoky 3+octave voice dances freely in her music, delivering
intricate melodies with warmth and simplicity.
Musically, Leonhart draws from many different sources: the freedom and unpredictability of jazz improvisation, the gut-instinct of soul and the blues, the straightforwardness and honesty of folk music, the ease of pop, the scales and modes of eastern/devotional music.
Living in New York, it is impossible to ignore the City’s soundscape – music of the world heard in taxi cabs, folk singers in the subway, classical concerts in Central Park, samba & merengue streaming out of apartment windows during summertime, kirtan (devotional chanting) in yoga studios – the list goes on.
“I walk around with my ears open. I note and record melodic ideas drawn from passing inspirations.”
Leonhart has a similar approach to the stories of the songs. Her lyrics are inspired by reading poetry, novels, articles in literary magazines, even listening to the conversations of people on the streets. With open ears, Leonhart finds inspiration inevitable.
Jamie’s
first solo venture,
area, a six-song EP, was shaped with the collaboration of
producer/musician/husband Michael Leonhart (solo artist, Sunnyside Records,
arranger and trumpeter, Steely Dan, Lenny Kravitz), and has received acclaim
from ASCAP Magazine and the Aquarian Weekly among other publications. She
also has worked with noted producers Patrick Dillett (They Might Be Giants,
B-52’s) and Rob Stevens (John Lennon Anthology, Yoko Ono).
Prior to the release of area, Jamie gained attention as a songwriter when "It’s Over," a song she co-wrote, placed sixth in the first International John Lennon Songwriting Contest.
And capping off her New York-based musical resume, Jamie has garnered respect as a soloist with the New York Metro Mass Gospel Choir in the great venues of New York city – Jazz @ Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall, Carnegie Hall, Avery fisher Hall and Town Hall – for notable audiences including jazz great Cassandra Wilson and former President Bush. She has shared the stage with artists including Martha Wash, Cissy Houston, Daphne Rubin-Vega and songwriter Beth Neilsen-Chapman and has performed at some of New York’s finest club venues, including The Knitting Factory, Fez, the Living room, Makor and Smoke.
contact: jamieleonhart@gmail.com
ALL MUSIC, READING AND GALLERY EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
THE HALF KING IS LOCATED AT 505 WEST 23RD STREET,
LOCATED JUST WEST OF 10TH AVENUE, 212/462-4300.