Jazz Articles about Jay Leach

Jay Leach: Cleared for Takeoff

by Jim Santella
August 6, 2006

Favoring smooth jazz as a means to communicate with a larger audience, guitarist Jay Leach interprets a program of originals and covers with the help of a crew that numbers over 25. While it's a large group of players, their sound remains smooth and mellow.

Leach was Barry Manilow's guitarist at the peak of the singer's career in the late 1970s. From that experience, he gained a strong sense of what kinds of melodies move people. He wants ...