Sharing the Joy

The David Leonhardt Jazz Group performs an afternoon of Gershwin in Yardley, Pa., along with a Jazz for Kids program with broad audience appeal.

By: Daniel Shearer

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David Leonhardt deep in the groove.


   Though they may not stop to ponder it, many youngsters experience jazz for the first time through television.
   Sesame Street, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and even the animated version of Peanuts have had soundtracks flavored with jazz, providing exposure that pianist David Leonhardt knows can blossom into a lifelong love affair if properly cultivated.
   For nearly 30 years, Mr. Leonhardt has been sharing the joy of jazz with adults and children alike. Take his rendition of The Flintstones theme, for example — a jazzy ditty almost every child knows, it allows plenty of room for meaty improvisation. The tune, in fact, has chord changes similar to George Gershwin’s "I Got Rhythm." As part of the David Leonhardt Jazz Group’s Jazz for Kids program, the song is toe-tapping evidence that children’s music doesn’t have to appeal only to a nursery school audience.
   "‘Jazz for Kids’ is a family show that we do for children, even toddlers, up through junior high and high school," Mr. Leonhardt says. "We fashion it for the audience.
   "Parents like it a lot because it’s not a Barney show. It’s not condescending. We still play really good jazz. We play songs that kids know, and then we also explain what we’re doing. We take the songs apart and demonstrate each instrument individually."
   Bearing in mind that big kids like jazz, too, the Leonhardt Jazz Group will divide its upcoming visit to Lower Makefield, Pa., into two parts: Jazz for Kids on Jan. 11 and an afternoon of Gershwin on Jan. 12. Both shows are sponsored by the Lower Makefield Society for the Performing Arts, which secured partial funding through Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour, a program administered through the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.
   The Jazz for Kids concert also will include performances on trombone from Joe McDonough, a sophomore at Neshaminy High School, and Bradley Sacavage, a junior at Pennsbury High School East who plays clarinet and tenor saxophone.
   "I’ve been doing kids shows since I was a teen-ager," says Mr. Leonhardt, who grew up in Louisville, Ky., and moved to Manhattan in the early ’80s to pursue a performance career. He wound up making a name for himself as musical director for jazz vocalist Jon Hendricks and spent many years performing with legendary sax player David "Fathead" Newman. Mr. Leonhardt now lives in Easton.
   "It started with Jamie Aebersold, an internationally known jazz educator," Mr. Leonhardt says. "He was kind of like my mentor. I played with him as a teen-ager. That’s kind of where I got the bug to do this kind of stuff.

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"I’ve been doing kids shows since I was a teen-ager," says Mr. Leonhardt, who grew up in Louisville, Ky.


   "I’ve done residencies and programs for different organizations in New York City, but about six years ago I started doing this ‘Jazz for Kids’ thing, and then this year we put out the CD, ‘Jazz for Kids,’ which just got a really nice review in ‘The Philadelphia Inquirer.’"
   Even without being labeled children’s music, Mr. Leonhardt’s Jazz for Kids CD stands up to repeated listening. The recording’s 13 tracks swing through "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Route 66," "Someday My Prince Will Come" and "My Favorite Things," winding down with perhaps the most listenable arrangement of "If You’re Happy and You Know It" ever recorded.
   "The music isn’t dumbed down at all," says Mr. Leonhardt, who will perform both shows at the Lower Makefield Township building. "The only difference with ‘Jazz for Kids’ is we don’t play the songs as long as we normally would, and sometimes, to be honest, parents like that better anyway. Any long piece of music can be a challenge for an audience.
   "A lot of grandparents who come to the shows will say to me afterward, ‘I never understood jazz before this,’ because we talk about how we’re interpreting and reacting to each other. A light goes on for lots of different people."
   Mr. Leonhardt formed his current band in 1993, the same year he established his record label, Big Bang Records. The group has performed stateside at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem, the Blue Note and Birdland in Manhattan, as well as international appearances at the International Arts Festival of Shenzen, China, the Winnipeg Jazz Festival, and Maison de Dance in Lyon, France.
   Matthew Parrish, a Yardley, Pa., resident, has played bass with many musicians, notably the late trombonist Al Grey and violinist Regina Carter. Larry McKenna, a longtime Philadelphia resident, got his start performing with Woody Herman’s big band and over the next four decades established himself as a skilled saxophonist, arranger and educator. Drummer Taro Okamoto, a native of Osaka, Japan, met Mr. Leonhardt in New York in the early ’80s and has regularly performed there for the last 20 years. Vocalist Nancy Reed hails from Brooklyn, N.Y., and lives in the Poconos.
   To date, Mr. Leonhardt has released 11 albums on Big Bang Records, including The David Leonhardt Jazz Group Plays Gershwin, with solid recordings of "A Foggy Day," "S’ Wonderful" and "But Not for Me," among others.
   "To me, doing obscure Gershwin almost misses the point of it," Mr. Leonhardt says. "We got a great response from the album, and that’s why we do these Gershwin concerts. It’s recognizable material. People like it when they can relate to it, and it’s beautiful stuff.
   "The hardest thing is to do something that people will find fresh and musical, as opposed to just playing in a cabaret kind of cocktail way. That’s the danger when you go into a really overdone songbook like Gershwin, but I think we’ve succeeded, at least, that’s what the reviewers say."
The Lower Makefield Society for the Performing Arts presents the David Leonhardt Jazz Group in two concerts at the Lower Makefield Township Building, 1100 Edgewood Road, Yardley, Pa.: Jazz for Kids, Jan. 11, 3 p.m. Tickets cost $8. The David Leonhardt Jazz Group Plays Gershwin, Jan. 12, 3 p.m. Tickets cost $8, seniors and students $7, $3 under age 12. For information, call (215) 493-3010. On the Web: www.davidleonhardt.com