Jazz Articles about Michael Leonhart

About Michael Leonhart

Live Review

Michael Leonhart Orchestra at the 2026 NoMad Jazz Festival

by Paul Reynolds
August 5, 2026

Michael Leonhart Orchestra Rizzoli Bookstore NoMad Jazz Festival New York NY August 2, 2026 Spontaneous creation in jazz usually doesn't extend to the arrangements for a 17-piece orchestra. But Michael Leonhart--who disclosed from the bandstand that his orchestra “did not rehearse for this performance"--wound up arranging on the fly for a chunk of his band's 95-minute twin tribute to Miles Davis and John Coltrane on Sunday. During the looser numbers of the set--which was ...

Live Review

Israel Galván & Michael Leonhart: A New Sketches Of Spain

by Neri Pollastri
July 3, 2026

Israel Galván & Michael Leonhart Teatro Romano Estate Fiesolana Fiesole (FI) 28 giugno 2026 Tra i numerosi omaggi a Miles Davis in occasione del centenario della nascita non poteva mancarne uno dedicato al suo singolare e visionario affresco rappresentante la Spagna, messo a punto assieme a quel genio degli arrangiamenti che era Gil Evans: Sketch Of Spain. Autore del lavoro è il trombettista newyorchese Michael Leonhart, artista eclettico attivo nel mondo del ...

Radio & Podcasts

Basketball and Jazz: The Art of Improvisation, Part 3

by Ludovico Granvassu
June 25, 2024

In our final look into the basketball & jazz interconnectedness, we focus on several jazz, or funk-jazz soundtracks for movies dedicated to the game, on jazz musicians with a basketball career like Cab Calloway and Wayman Tisdale, a composition inspired by the elegant and creative crossover dribble known as the Shammgod, and more!Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Leonhart Brass Band “Shammgod" Shammgod--Single (Mighty Eye Records/Fat Beats) 0:16 ...

Play This!

Michael Leonhart Orchestra: Silent Night

by Ludovico Granvassu
December 15, 2023

Conceptually, I find holiday music puzzling. How can it be that, year after year, it keeps being churned out? Even by jazz musicians, who are usually not driven by commercial considerations? Then why not spring-break albums? Or something more meaningful like World Oceans Day jazz music? Or Martin Luther King day songs? I presume that holiday music represents the ultimate challenge to the creative-minded artist: “how can I bring excitement, new life, and my own stamp, to a ...

Album Review

Michael Leonhart Orchestra: The Normyn Suites

Read "The Normyn Suites" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
March 28, 2022

Gli eclettici sviluppi orchestrali di Michael Leonhart, tra maestosi affreschi evocativi e trascinanti momenti rock e soul, tornano a entusiasmarci con questo magistrale The Normyn Suites, dove la poetica della leggerezza convive con scelte di vivo impatto ritmico e timbrico. Le due forti propensioni musicale dell'autore sono ben bilanciate: quella impressionista (che ha caratterizzato opere ammalianti come Lovers di Nels Cline e il suo The Painted Lady Suite) e quella legata alla popular music, maturata nelle collaborazioni con Steely Dan, ...

Radio & Podcasts

Michael Leonhart, Marta Sanchez, Mostly Other People Do the Killing, Alabaster Deplume & More

by Ludovico Granvassu
February 26, 2022

It's February. The Winter Olympics are well under way and there are so many new and upcoming releases in 2022 that we can fill an entire show with them... Starting and ending with two Orchestras: Michael Leonhart's mighty ensemble and their upcoming stunner, The Normyn Suites, and Paul Wacrenier's Healing Orchestra, a band with a mission: bringing Free Jazz to the People! Happy listening! PlaylistBen Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 ...

Radio & Podcasts

[Long] Live (at) the Jazz Standard! - Part 1

by Ludovico Granvassu
December 31, 2020

A jazz club is not just a commercial enterprise, or an entertainment spot, it's a cultural hub, a place where ideas are exchanged, styles are tested and then defined, careers are inspired, collaborations get launched or cemented. When a venue like the Jazz Standard closes the loss should not be seen only in terms of a measurable disappearance of revenues but especially in terms of an unmeasurable loss of artistic opportunities. This week we focus on the artistic ...