Mike LeDonne
Encyclopedia
Michael LeDonne is a jazz pianist and organist known for post-bop
and hard bop
.
His parents ran a music store with his father also being a jazz guitarist. He played with his father at gigs from the age of ten. At 21 he graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music
and moved to New York City
, playing with the Widespread Depression Jazz Orchestra
. In 1988 he had his recording debut and joined Milt Jackson
's Quartet. He performed with the band for 11 years and eventually became the Quartet's musical director. He has also worked with many of the masters of jazz history - Benny Goodman
, Sonny Rollins
, Bobby Hutcherson
, Art Farmer
, Dizzy Gillespie
, and others. He currently works with Benny Golson
(since 1996) and performs under his own name all over the world.
LeDonne is also known as one of the leading players of the Hammond
B3 organ. He has made two recordings as a leader on organ - "Smokin' Out Loud" and "On Fire". He performs every Tuesday evening at Smoke Jazz Club in New York City
.
Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson
has described LeDonne as "one of the most promising and talented pianists of this era."
Post-bop
Post-bop is a term for a form of small-combo jazz music that evolved in the early-to-mid sixties. The genre's origins lie in seminal work by John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock...
and hard bop
Hard bop
Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...
.
His parents ran a music store with his father also being a jazz guitarist. He played with his father at gigs from the age of ten. At 21 he graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...
and moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, playing with the Widespread Depression Jazz Orchestra
Widespread Depression Jazz Orchestra
The Widespread Depression Jazz Orchestra was a nine-piece jazz ensemble founded in 1972 at Vermont's Marlboro College.Initially, the group played 1950's style R&B and early rock and roll with guitars, piano, sax, bass guitar, drums, and a vocalist, but by the middle of the 1970s was operating as a...
. In 1988 he had his recording debut and joined Milt Jackson
Milt Jackson
Milton "Bags" Jackson was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms...
's Quartet. He performed with the band for 11 years and eventually became the Quartet's musical director. He has also worked with many of the masters of jazz history - Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
, Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson is a jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His vibraphone playing is suggestive of the style of Milt Jackson in its free-flowing melodicism, but his sense of harmony and group interaction is thoroughly modern...
, Art Farmer
Art Farmer
Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet/flugelhorn combination designed for him by David Monette. His identical twin brother, Addison Farmer Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer (August 21, 1928, Council Bluffs, Iowa –...
, Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, and others. He currently works with Benny Golson
Benny Golson
Benny Golson is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger.-Biography:While in high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Golson played with several other promising young musicians, including John Coltrane, Red Garland, Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, Philly Joe Jones, and...
(since 1996) and performs under his own name all over the world.
LeDonne is also known as one of the leading players of the Hammond
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
B3 organ. He has made two recordings as a leader on organ - "Smokin' Out Loud" and "On Fire". He performs every Tuesday evening at Smoke Jazz Club in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
has described LeDonne as "one of the most promising and talented pianists of this era."
Selected discography
- Bout Time (Criss Cross, 1988)
- The feeling of Jazz (Criss Cross, 1990)
- With Scott RobinsonScott Robinson (jazz musician)Scott Robinson is an American jazz musician. Robinson is best known for his work with various styles of saxophone, but has also performed with the clarinet, flute, and sarrusophone, along with other, more obscure instruments....
- Jazz Ambassador: Scott Robinson Plays the Compositions of Louis ArmstrongLouis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
(Arbors RecordsArbors RecordsArbors Records is an independent American jazz record label based in Clearwater, Florida. It was founded by the family team of Mat and Rachel Domber in 1989, initially devoted to the recordings of their friend Rick Fay.-History:...
)
External links
- [ All Music]
- Smokejazz.com bio
- Mike LeDonne's home page
- In Conversation with Mike LeDonne by Tomas Peña (Jazz.com)