Jazz Articles about Leaders

The Leaders: Spirits Alike

by Troy Collins
April 21, 2007

Comprised of a half dozen of the most impressive bandleaders of the mid-eighties post-loft jazz scene, The Leaders made a number of fine recordings for Black Hawk, Black Saint and Sunnyside before quietly disbanding at the end of the eighties. Conceived as a more conventionally traditional project than their usual efforts, the original Leaders was an intriguing hybrid; free jazz masters playing in a primarily straight-ahead context. With a roster that included avant-garde luminaries like Lester Bowie, Arthur Blythe and ...