Jazz
vocalist and composer
Carolyn Leonhart has always been surrounded by gifted
artists. Her father
Jay Leonhart is a highly respected acoustic double bass
player, her mother was a talented singer, who left a promising professional
career to focus on raising her family, and her husband
Wayne Escoffery,
besides being a very talented tenor saxophonist, is considered to be one of
jazz music’s most insightful composers and arrangers. In addition, a few
months ago Leonhart came off of an extensive tour with
Steely Dan, whom she
first joined straight out of high school. In some ways all of those
experiences have, as one would expect, contributed to who the singer is today,
however Leonhart has served notice with her new CD If Dreams Come True,
that she is establishing a significant legacy of her own.
In the early months since the album’s release, during live performances, the songs from If Dreams Come True have gone over well with her audiences. “There are certain songs that I am always surprised go over so well. I am surprised, because when you write a song, and you are performing them alongside of incredible standards, you have less confidence. The originals, “Free To Love,” which is a ballad, and then “Nothing Left To Say,” (are songs) people seem to love, and that’s always nice, because they are a part of me. “Nothing Left To Say,” was written by Wayne and myself, so I really like it when people get the song, and get what we are doing with it,” comments Leonhart.
“I also like my other CDs a lot, but the reason that I am so proud of this CD, is it (represents) the beginning for me being on the path that I want to be on, which is using my voice in a lot of different ways, incorporating a lot of different kinds of music, being much more involved on every level musically and production wise, but also being in the moment. (I want) to be a bigger part of the band than just a lead singer. I have started singing some instrumentals, of which two appear on the CD. Since we recorded them, I have started improvising, and soloing off of them a bit more. I wouldn’t call it scatting, because that is not what I do. I know everybody wants a term for what it is, but I just call it improvising. I guess, at times it is more linear than harmonic,” says Leonhart.
Continuing to discuss her desire to be considered as more than a singer fronting a band, she says, “I have grown up around musicians, and I love what five men get to do. They get to be a part of me in every way, and I feel a little limited as a singer, if I can’t be more a part of the group. It has taken me a long time to realize that I can do whatever I want. In the last year or year and one half, I have started to see if there is a way that I can express myself more during songs, and improvise more, but without falling into certain places that I don’t particularly want to go. I don’t want to scat, so I have been trying to find a way through that, and a way to express myself the way that I want to, and the way that I want it to be heard. I did some of that at the CD release held at the Jazz Standard. You never know how something like that is going to go over, whether it will mean anything to people, or if the more sophisticated listeners are going to go ‘eggghh, why would she do that?’ I did happen to get some phenomenal feedback, from people who came to the CD release party, and from one of my favorite artists, who not only liked what I did, but was blown away by the concept of what we were doing, including the instrumentals. It is one thing for Wayne and I to talk about our ideas and goals, while we are alone, but for other people to actually see us in the moment, having fun with the music, and having them pick up on the idea of what we are trying to do, while loving it, can be really meaningful.”
