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Jennifer Leitham
Jennifer Leitham's over 50 year career has taken her to the finest concert halls around the world, playing with the likes of Mel Torme', Doc Severinsen, Peggy Lee, k.d. lang, Bill Watrous, Bob Cooper, Benny Carter, Eartha Kitt and countless other music world greats. Her basslines have graced many movies and TV shows,
She is a bassist, vocalist, composer, arranger, lyricist, educator and producer.
Jennifer's trio features the bass as the lead voice throughout and highlights both her original compositions, arrangements, and as her massive Spottily audience will attest, her superb vocals.
Jennifer has played on over 150 albums, including 11 albums of her own. In 2019 she release “Remnants Of Humanity”, a wry commentary on current events, that she describes as “Jazz with a conscience!”. Her "Future Christmas" was one of the top selling Indie CDs of 2014. Her 2015 release, MOOD(S)WINGS, was the #1 Crossover Jazz top seller on CD Baby for over 8 weeks and was voted one of the top three Jazz CDs of 2015 by the readers of JazzEd magazine. Other recent CDs include the critically acclaimed Left Coast Story (2008), and an all original tour de force, The Real Me (2006), her most popular CD to date. It announced to the world her true identity, both as a musician and a person. Her DVD The Real Me Live (2011), also available as an audio download, is "crackling with intensity, passion, and virtuosity!" Leitham's other internationally renowned CD's include Two for the Road (1999), Live (1997) Lefty Leaps In (1996) The Southpaw (1992) Leitham Up (1988) and the audio download The Real Me Live (2011)
Jennifer is an active educator, and has taught at every level, from beginners to grad students and working professionals across the country. Jennifer is currently teaching private students globally in cyberspace via SKYPE and Zoom.
Gear
Hofner/Paesold bass
LaBella strings
Acoustic Image amplification
Raezer's Edge speakers
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The Scott Whitfield Jazz Orchestra West: Postcards from Hollywood
by Jack Bowers
While many people have been excited or enraptured by the music scores accompanying Hollywood's most beloved films, few know (or perhaps even care) who wrote them. That's a shame, as these composers (and their contemporaries) were musical trailblazers whose names should be enshrined forever in the annals of artistic brilliance. One who does care is composer/arranger Scott Whitfield who has dedicated the latest album by his Jazz Orchestra West, Postcards from Hollywood, to their remarkable (and too-often overlooked) legacy.
Continue ReadingScott Whitfield & Friends: A Bi-Coastal Christmas
by Jack Bowers
If trombonist Scott Whitfield's A Bi-Coastal Christmas cannot quicken your inner holiday spirit, that will not be for lack of trying. Whitfield uses every ribbon in the packet and every tool in the shed to help make the season bright, from big band to quintet, from duo to solo (Whitfield's trombone all by itself). Two of the selections were recorded in 2004, four others in 2005, whereas Whitfield's brace of solo tracks was taped in 2020 as he cast off ...
Continue ReadingJennifer Leitham: Remnants of Humanity
by Jack Bowers
Jennifer Leitham, already known as one of the most accomplished bassists on the West Coast (as well as other precincts spanning the globe), spreads her wings, so to speak, on Remnants of Humanity, singing on seven numbers as well as playing her usual assertive upright bass most of the way. As a singer and musician, Leitham has plenty to say, addressing, as she writes, the “need for outcry against injustice and the cruelty being done in the name of the ...
Continue ReadingJennifer Leitham: Mood (S)wings
by Jack Bowers
One of the rules of thumb in jazz is that hardly anyone ever looks forward to a bass solo. Rules, however, were made to be broken, and a case in point is multi-talented Jennifer Leitham whose solos on Mood (S)wings are nimble, well-crafted and consistently engaging--in other words, worth looking forward to. Not that anything less would be expected from someone who has been at the top of her game for more nearly four decades and performed with a who's ...
Continue ReadingJennifer Leitham: Future Christmas
by Jack Bowers
The spirit of Christmas past, present and future overspreads this charming holiday album by virtuosic bassist Jennifer Leitham's working trio (Andy Langham, piano; Randy Drake, drums) on which she offsets a program comprised mainly of established seasonal favorites with some tantalizing curves (for example, her own “Future Christmas," a.k.a “The Global Warming Winter Holiday Blues," or Bob Dorough's clever “Blue Christmas" --not to be confused with Elvis Presley's version from the '50s). Such uncommon departures seem only proper, as there ...
Continue ReadingPear: Extemp'ore
by David Rickert
Most jazz albums involve at least a little bit of preparation: song selection, rehearsals, selection of sidemen and so on. Pear, on the other hand, is after something much more spontaneous and pure on its debut, Extemp'ore. The group is comprised of percussionist Rick Milne and keyboardist Nick Pierone. They enter the studio and play whatever comes to mind, sometimes inviting a few other musicians along for the ride, like bassists Jennifer Leitham and Jimmy Johnson). The songs are then ...
Continue ReadingJennifer Leitham: The Real Me
by Jack Bowers
Those who know Jennifer Leitham best will most appreciate the title of The Real Me. Others need know only that she is a terrific bassist--and not a bad singer either.
The album is comprised entirely of Leitham's invariably charming compositions, and much of it is performed by her trio with pianist Josh Nelson and drummer Randy Drake, which has been a working unit for several years. The exceptions are “Keni's Song, a vibrant solo vehicle for Leitham; “Riff Raff, on ...
Continue ReadingJazz Bridge Presents Bassist Jennifer Leitham at the Cheltenham Art Center on October 6th
Source:
Suzanne Cloud
Bassist Jennifer Leitham and her band will be appearing at the Cheltenham Art Center, 439 Ashbourne Rd, Cheltenham, PA on October 6th to open the second season of the Jazz Bridge Cheltenham jazz series hosted by Dave Posmontier. One show: 7:30-9PM. $10/$5 for students. No advance sales. Free Refreshments! For info: 215-517-8337 About Jennifer Leitham Renowned jazz critic Leonard Feather called her a “left-handed virtuoso of the upright bass" and Jennifer Leitham has appeared on over 100 recordings with some ...
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"In a world of too much forgettable repetition, Leitham’s music, instrumentally and vocally, is a memorable pleasure. Leitham’s latest CD, Mood(S)wings, showcases a stellar collection of standards and originals, with Leitham’s remarkable left handed bass playing and her captivating vocals in the spotlight. Backing her, pianist Andy Langham and drummer Randy Drake provide musically symbiotic interaction, sharing Leitham’s far ranging, improvisational flights.
The results are stunning displays of state of the art contemporary jazz.”
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Jennifer Leitham
Location: Los Angeles
Instrument: Bass
