Music
Press
"Right off the bat, the disc has three things going for it. The charts are lush and varied, Arlee Leonard has written some IMPRESSIVE ORIGINALS, and HER VOICE CRACKLES WITH LIFE. At its heart, the band is a feisty piano trio; guitars and percussion slink in as needed.... Reminds me of Laura Nyro in the tempo shifts and the vocal leaps.... It's lightning-fast and your hear every word - that is something.... So is Marcus Printup, blaring that old-fashioned brass. Producer Don Braden gets his on "Sista's Blues," a ferocious old honk that spars well with Printup. They wail, she moans - and you're feeling pretty good....EMOTIONS REIGN SUPREME, as they do through this album.... DEEP AND WOODY, SHE'S SENSUAL AT THE SAME TIME THAT SHE'S PLAYFUL.... Arlee has many talents, and is not afraid to use them." - John Barrett, Jr., Jazz Improv
"Vocally, Leonard is equally ambitious, giving each song her full energy. WHILE SHE LURES ONE WITH HER SULTRINESS, SHE HAS THE POWER TO SURPRISE. On her and Braden's "Rose's Song," the vocalist reaches up in octaves and down in her soul for an impassioned soft scream.... Leonard is skillful with jazz standards as well, bringing A LOT OF HEART AND ENTHUSIASM to tunes...on Duke Ellington's "I'm Beginning to See the Light," sung in a dreamily slow style with Leonard modulating one-syllable words into three or four, the song's well-known personality changes dramatically.... Turrentine's classic "Sugar" is a fine vehicle for Leonard to display her scatting skills as the album closes. HER EXTENSIVE VOCAL RANGE PUTS SOME REAL PUNCH IN HER SCAT.... Arlee Leonard was obviously ready for her debut with Wild Honey, an album that SHOWS HER TO BE A SOPHISTICATED VOCALIST IN POSSESSION OF EQUAL PARTS SKILL AND PASSION." - Geraldine Wyckoff, New Orleans
"If Arlee Leonard was an alto saxophonist instead of a singer, she would inspire comparisons to Cannonball Adderley or Lou Donaldson instead of Paul Desmond. While Desmond was expressive in a subtle, restrained sort of way, those other altoists are known for a more aggressive and hard-swinging approach. And the term "hard-swinging" certainly describes Wild Honey, Leonard's debut album. EMOTIONALLY, LEONARD DOESN'T HOLD BACK ON THIS CD. She is a gritty, soulful, big-voiced belter who brings a lot of blues feeling to well-known standards, as well as original songs.... In fact, she does a fair amount of writing on this album; Leonard wrote or co-wrote about half of the 12 selections herself, and SHE SHOWS HERSELF TO BE A TALENTED COMPOSER ON GRITTY ORIGINALS like "Sista's Blues (Blue Is What I Am)" and "Tokens of Appreciation." These days, many jazz vocalists don't do any composing at all -- they would rather crank out yet another version of an overdone Tin Pan Alley standard. So when a jazz singer does as much writing as Leonard does on Wild Honey, one takes notice.... Someone who fancies Dianne Reeves' more jazz-oriented work could easily get into Wild Honey... Wild Honey is an enjoyable and promising, if imperfect, start -- and IT INDICATES THAT LEONARD HAS A GREAT DEAL OF POTENTIAL." - Alex Henderson
"Arlee's performances at the Conrad Hotel's Diplomat Bar are just stunning. She is a sweet spirited individual and she shines through her music. Her voice sings to your heart." - BangkokJungle.com
"New York-based singer Arlee Leonard performed one night at Lunaria...Her scatting was excellent, she was creative over closing vamps and Leonard's high notes proved to be particularly appealing...HER FUTURE IS WELL WORTH WATCHING." - Scott Yanow
"Sharing the stage, in this round, singer Arlee Leonard was the central figure of the show...With her, [Don] Braden was humbly resigned to the role of accompanist...It was one of those nights that MELT PLACIDLY TOWARDS AN END THAT NOBODY WANTS." (translated from Spanish) - IDEAL, Granada, Spain
"Listening and watching the shapely Arlee sing the likes of "This Can't Be Love" brings to mind the classic movie "The Fabulous Baker Boys".... Garbed in a body-hugging but elegant evening gown, SHE CROONS EFFORTLESSLY. HER VOICE IS LANGUOROUS, she's not just like Michelle Pfiefer (with a more beautiful singing voice), she's Jessica Rabbit in the flesh." - Dennis Ladaw, The Manila Times
"She proves herself to be AN IMPRESSIVE AND CREATIVE SONGWRITER....[and] Leonard's takes on classics...entice the listener to look at these songs in a new way, one that is both artful and smart..."Wild Honey" is AN ORIGINAL AND DYNAMIC debut by this young vocalist." - Danielle Bias, Offbeat, New Orleans
"YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS THIS FUTURE DIVA." - Norm Harris, TIMES/LEDGER, Queens, NY
"SHE EMBELLISHES EACH NOTE WITH HER OWN ENDEARING STYLE...You'll not want to miss this soulful vocalist who has performed...in venues across the U.S. and Europe, in Japan, Central America, and now Taiwan."
- The Taiwan News
Discography
WILD HONEY (SolaJazz Productions, 2000)
Arlee Leonard
TO LISTEN VISIT: www.CDBaby.com/ArleeL or www.Myspace.com/ArleeL
GUEST APPEARANCES on jazz, R&B, singer/songwriter projects, and compilations, including:
FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Broken Records, New Orleans) Patrice Fisher & Jasmine
A TASTE OF NEW ORLEANS (Rouzan Records)
Wanda Rouzan
GUMBO YA YA ((Sound of New Orleans)
David & Roselyn
ROYAL AND TOULOUSE (Sound of New Orleans)
David & Roselyn
BAILEYS JAZZ DATE (JazzImprov.com)
Compilation ("Sista's Blues," Arlee Leonard)
JUST HATCHED (New Orleans Music Convention Association)
Compilation ("The Ride," Arlee Leonard)
KING EDWARD COOKIES (A New York City Independent Artists Cooperative)
VISIT www.MySpace.com/ArleeL to hear new recordings and full tracks from her debut CD "Wild Honey."
Purchase copies at www.CDBaby.com/ArleeL
Photos
Bio
ARLEE LEONARD - VOCALIST, SONGWRITER, POET, PRODUCER, WRITER
WHY IS ARLEE LEONARD’S DEBUT CD CALLED “WILD HONEY?” Because she’s unbridled, warm, dynamic, and sweet! As her CD co-producer, jazz saxophonist DON BRADEN says, “She’s all natural!” Being the daughter of acclaimed New Orleans-based blues/folk icons “DAVID & ROSELYN,” Arlee was brought up on the road and on stage. That is where she still feels most at home.
WHETHER MS. LEONARD is harmonizing with a classical harpist at TCHAIKOVSKY CONCERT HALL (MOSCOW, Oct. ‘06), scatting samba with SYMPHOJAZZ in SHOSTAKOVITCH GREAT HALL (ST. PETERSBURG, Dec. ‘05), swinging with WYNTON MARSALIS’ group in New Orleans for a TV taping, “AMBASSADORS OF SWING” (Aug. ‘06), stomping the blues in SINGAPORE (Summer ‘06), smoldering in a ballad in BANGKOK (Spring ‘06), feeling the spirit in church, or leading the band in NEW YORK and NEW ORLEANS (1996 - 2006), Arlee brings her joie de vivre and well-honed expertise to every stage. She works the room and sets the pace for 2 or 20,000 happy listeners!
"Arlee has a voice that can embrace the whole room, but she uses it with care, providing many variations of light and shade. It swoops, it soars, it teases; it is light and youthful, or deep and bluesy. Sometimes she re-invents songs, sometimes simply decorates them so that they come up like new. But always she swings, and however seductive the song may be _ or however optimistic, like Almost like Being in Love _ you're always listening to a truly authentic jazz singer."
- Brian Kent, BANGKOK POST Feature Story, 2/4/05
THIS VERSATILE SINGER BEGAN PERFORMING at age six in coffee houses in DETROIT with her parents. In 1991, her multi-racial family toured GERMANY, FRANCE, HOLLAND and SWITZERLAND, and she’s sung with them or other bands for the last twenty JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVALS in New Orleans, where her family thankfully still has a home. Ms. Leonard, raised in California, Michigan and New Orleans, studied music, theater and dance at SANTA MONICA HIGH SCHOOL and the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ, earning a B.A. in Sociology, with honors.
ARLEE TRAVELS THE WORLD as guest vocalist and bandleader, receiving praise from critics and audiences alike for her CD and live performances. Recent engagements have been in THAILAND, RUSSIA, SINGAPORE, FRANCE, CHINA, THE PHILIPPINES, JAPAN, DUBAI, TAIWAN, SPAIN, and across the U.S. She performs when home in New York and New Orleans at renowned jazz venues including SNUG HARBOR (New Orleans), and SWEET RHYTHM, BIRDLAND, LENOX LOUNGE, BLUE NOTE, BAMCAFE (New York). Arlee has sung for the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR JAZZ EDUCATION (IAJE) conference in Toronto, the JVC JAZZ FESTIVAL, WOMEN IN MUSIC FESTIVAL, several INTERNATIONAL WOMEN IN JAZZ (IWJ) concerts, and the IMPACT FESTIVAL in New York. She was a panelist and showcase artist at the CUTTING EDGE MUSIC BUSINESS CONFERENCE in New Orleans (Aug. 2006).
ARLEE RELEASED HER SELF-PRODUCED DEBUT CD "WILD HONEY" (SolaJazz Records) in 2000 and has recorded for other producers, bandleaders, and songwriters. Her debut includes seven originals and distinctive arrangements of five classics by some of her favorite composers. She assembled some of New York’s finest for the recording, including DON BRADEN/sax, MARCUS PRINTUP/trumpet, MIRI BEN-ARI/violin, ERIC LEWIS/piano, FREDDIE BRYANT/guitar, DWAYNE BURNO/bass, DWAYNE “COOK BROADNAX/drums, and DANNY SADOWNICK/percussion.
Some of her U.S. band mates have been ART HIRAHARA, FRED SANDERS, CARLTON HOLMES, DEANNA WITKOWSKI, and LARRY SIEBERTH/piano, RON AFFIF and FREDDIE BRYANT/guitar, CALVIN JONES, PAUL BEAUDRY, EDWIN LIVINGSTON, DON VAPPIE and JAMES SINGLETON/bass, DWAYNE BROADNAX, TROY DAVIS, JAZ SAWYER, ADONIS ROSE, OLEG BUTMAN and JOHNNY VIDACOVICH/drums, WALTER BLANDING, JR., WESS ANDERSON, JR., TONY DAGRADI and REBECCA BARRY/sax, MARCUS PRINTUP and IRVIN MAYFIELD/trumpet, and DELFEAYO MARSALIS/trombone.
WITH HER 4-OCTAVE RANGE and strong command of the classic elements of jazz vocalizing, Arlee's multifaceted singing style is complimented by her joyfully engaging stage presence and graceful moves. She flows effortlessly from swing to soul, from slow caress to Afro/Latin rhythmic explosions, shifting on again to beautiful ballads and down home blues. Arlee has begun exploring spoken word following an outpouring of writing in response to Hurricane Katrina and the devastation in New Orleans. She continues to develop a project, “THE SOUL OF NEW ORLEANS,” and intends to record and publish a book. She is working on two other collections of poetry, lyrics, memoir moments and travel notes, one on love’s ups and downs, the other exploring her spiritual and life journey.
IN ADDITION TO CONCERTS, Ms. Leonard sings and hosts for corporate and private functions, churches, fundraisers, film events, and universities. Arlee has performed as an actress and dancer, recorded for radio, television and video, and is
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