Easton, PA, which sits at the fork of the Leigh and Delaware Rivers is
not only the home of Lafayette College and the Crayola crayon factory, but
is the site for one of jazz music's most prolific and multi talented pianists
of our time, David Leonhardt. in addition to "regular jazz albums, he
has released CDs devoted solely to dancers...a kind of music minus one
for tap dancing...original compositions and interpretations of some of the
most compelling entries from the Great American Popular Songbook. He
has worked regularly with some of jazz top stars such as David
"Fathead" Newman and Michelle Hendricks. Now he has
turned his attention to opening up the joys of jazz to the younger set. Be
assured, this is not one of those albums solely limited to children's songs
rearranged with a jazz theme. Rather they are ditties whose melodies and
rhythms should be attractive to the younger than voting age members of
the population. Take "Are You Sleeping?" aka "Freres
Jacques", where Leonhardt's long time vocalist companion, Nancy
Reed, introduces the joys of scat which Larry McKenna backs wth his
Paul Desmond light as a feather sax. While the album provides several
opportunities, such as "When You Wish Upon a Star", for the
younger set to be exposed to improvisation and other important jazz
techniques, it's done so with the recognition that this may be the first time
the group may have been deliberately exposed to jazz. So the
presentations are not overdone by showing the highly technical skills of
the performers. Leonhardt and his group manage to make the point
without losing contact with their audience. This is apparent on
"Flintstones", where McKenna's sax engages hard bop
without blowing the kids away. By the way, adult listeners with find
themselves attracted to such tunes as Reed's vocal working of
"Somewhere over the Rainbow" and Bobby Troup's
"Route 66", a tune people never seem to get tired hearing. In
sum, Leonhardt and friends expose the heart and soul of jazz without
turning it into an anatomy lesson. Recommended.
www.davidleonhardt.com is
where you can find more about the musically peripatetic David Leonhardt
and his various projects.
Track listing: Are You Sleeping?; When You Wish Upon a Star; This Old Man; Never
Never Land; Flintstones; Somewhere over the Rainbow; Route 66;
Someday My Prince Will Come; Hip Kids Blues; I'm An Old Cow Hand; My
Favorite Things; Blues Shuffle; If You're Happy and You Know It
Personnel: David Leonhardt - Piano/Leader; Nancy Reed - Vocals; Taro Okamoto -
Drums; Larry McKenna - Saxophone; Tony Marino - Bass
Style: Mainstream/Bop/Hard Bop/Cool
Published: October 22, 2002
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