Wycliffe Gordon and I have been listening to each other play (and sing our songs)
for about ten years now. We have played a great deal together as sideman and have come to know each other's musical souls pretty well. We have become good friends and strong musical cohorts. (cohors, cohortis :latin). I say with minimal modesty that we both express a lot of humor in our music. Yet I have always sought to be a serious, if joyful, jazz musician, and you already know that Wycliffe is the real deal. His accomplishments in the world of jazz are already legendary.

We both have similar musical backgrounds. We were both born and raised in the south and heard a lot of classical music and church music while growing up. Wycliffe's father was a classically trained pianist who played Chopin and Beethoven all the time around the house. So Wycliffe studied piano but eventually found his real love, the trombone. When he heard Louis Armstrong his fate as a jazz musician was sealed. I also grew up hearing classical music played around the house. I studied classical piano but preferred Earl Hines and Fats Waller. I played banjo in dixieland bands, but when I heard Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown my future was also decided. I took up the bass violin and never looked back.

Wycliffe and I have begun appearing together as a dynamic duo--bass, trombone, two stellar voices and the occasional didjeridoo. This is surely the wave of the future. Regardless, we enjoy playing music together because in this setting every note really counts. And we both have rhythm on our minds.        Jay Leonhart
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