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Leon Cotter

Saxophonist/clarinetist Leon Cotter has led a musical double life, spending much of the last decade touring the country with soul/blues band The California Honeydrops, while maintaining a reputation as a sought after sideman in Portland’s local jazz scene. He regularly performs with Alan Jones' Social Music and leads his own project, drawing inspiration from everything from John Coltrane to Abdullah Ibrahim to traditional New Orleans music.

Gear

Selmer Mark VI

Springer Mouthpiece (120)

Rovner Eddie Daniels ligature

Select Jazz filed 4 medium reeds

Mary Flower And Leon Cotter: Chants of Rain

Read "Chants of Rain" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
June 30, 2026

Musicians with genuine camaraderie share a special pleasure when playing together. And the joy deepens when the musicianship is unimpeded by intrusions on stage or in the studio. The collaboration of finger-picking guitarist Mary Flower and clarinetist Leon Cotter, Chants of Rain, is just one of those ultra-rare instances of mutual delight. In eleven tracks running forty-plus minutes, the pair exhibit their kindred spirits in ways large and small on original material that would seem to have sprung ...