Jennifer Jane Leitham
Encyclopedia
Jennifer Leitham is an American musician and double bass
player. Being left-handed, she has also used the nicknames "Lefty" or "The Southpaw."
An active live performer, Leitham has been bassist on more than 100 recordings including eight of her own. She is known for long associations with Mel Torme
and Doc Severinsen
. She has also appeared with Woody Herman
, George Shearing
, Gerry Mulligan
, Peggy Lee
, Joe Pass
, Cleo Laine
, Louis Bellson, Pete Rugolo
, Bill Watrous
and been a member of the Tonight Show All-Stars, The Woody Herman Thundering Herd, the Benny Carter Quintet, and the Bob Cooper Quartet.
Leitham has performed as a featured artist or group member at major jazz festivals in North America and internationally. and has been a presenter at workshops and clinics in the U.S., including the 1995 International Society of Bassists Convention in Kalamazoo, MI. She has been a featured artist at at many of the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals and clubs. She has appeared with her trio at some of the finest venues in the world, including The Blue Note, Iridium, Small's, and Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola in New York, The Toronto Pride Fest, The Bohem Festival in Budapest, Hungary, Mammoth Lakes and Sweet and Hot Jazz Festivals in California, Blues Alley in Washington DC, Catalina's, The Jazz Bakery, The Lighthouse, Donte's. Carmello's, Alphonse's, and Cafe 322 in Los Angeles, Shanghai Jazz, the Deer Head Inn in the Delaware Water Gap and a host of others.
Leitham own recordings include Leitham Up, The Southpaw, Lefty Leaps In, Live! and Two for the Road (a duo with guitarist Jimmy Bruno
). Her 2006 release, The Real Me, features her original compositions and arrangements and, for the first time, her singing voice. 2008's critically acclaimed "Left Coast Story", and the 2011 release of a live DVD "The Real Me Live".
In 2001 Leitham underwent sexual reassignment surgery, having previously lived and performed as a man, John Leitham.
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
player. Being left-handed, she has also used the nicknames "Lefty" or "The Southpaw."
An active live performer, Leitham has been bassist on more than 100 recordings including eight of her own. She is known for long associations with Mel Torme
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
and Doc Severinsen
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen is an American pop and jazz trumpeter. He is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.-Early life:...
. She has also appeared with Woody Herman
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
, George Shearing
George Shearing
Sir George Shearing, OBE was an Anglo-American jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for MGM Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, he had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s...
, Gerry Mulligan
Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz – he was also...
, Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
, Joe Pass
Joe Pass
Joe Pass was an Italian-American jazz guitarist of Sicilian descent. He is generally considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century...
, Cleo Laine
Cleo Laine
Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth, DBE is a jazz singer and an actress, noted for her scat singing and vocal range...
, Louis Bellson, Pete Rugolo
Pete Rugolo
Pietro "Pete" Rugolo was an Italian-born jazz composer and arranger.-Life and career:Rugolo was born in San Piero Patti, Sicily, Italy. His family emigrated to the United States in 1920 and settled in Santa Rosa, California...
, Bill Watrous
Bill Watrous
William Russell Watrous III is a jazz trombonist. He is perhaps best known by casual fans of jazz music for his rendition of Sammy Nestico's arrangement of the Johnny Mandel ballad "A Time for Love," which he recorded on a 1993 album of the same name...
and been a member of the Tonight Show All-Stars, The Woody Herman Thundering Herd, the Benny Carter Quintet, and the Bob Cooper Quartet.
Leitham has performed as a featured artist or group member at major jazz festivals in North America and internationally. and has been a presenter at workshops and clinics in the U.S., including the 1995 International Society of Bassists Convention in Kalamazoo, MI. She has been a featured artist at at many of the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals and clubs. She has appeared with her trio at some of the finest venues in the world, including The Blue Note, Iridium, Small's, and Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola in New York, The Toronto Pride Fest, The Bohem Festival in Budapest, Hungary, Mammoth Lakes and Sweet and Hot Jazz Festivals in California, Blues Alley in Washington DC, Catalina's, The Jazz Bakery, The Lighthouse, Donte's. Carmello's, Alphonse's, and Cafe 322 in Los Angeles, Shanghai Jazz, the Deer Head Inn in the Delaware Water Gap and a host of others.
Leitham own recordings include Leitham Up, The Southpaw, Lefty Leaps In, Live! and Two for the Road (a duo with guitarist Jimmy Bruno
Jimmy Bruno
-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bruno started playing at the age of 7. He began his professional career at the age of 19, touring with Buddy Rich. Among his many credits, he is the only guitarist to have ever led Frank Sinatra's band...
). Her 2006 release, The Real Me, features her original compositions and arrangements and, for the first time, her singing voice. 2008's critically acclaimed "Left Coast Story", and the 2011 release of a live DVD "The Real Me Live".
In 2001 Leitham underwent sexual reassignment surgery, having previously lived and performed as a man, John Leitham.