ListeningToPrestige Posted January 23, 2021 Report Share Posted January 23, 2021 Anyone know anything about tenor saxophonist Bill Leslie? He recorded with Larry Young and Thornel Schwartz, and made one album for Argo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted January 23, 2021 Report Share Posted January 23, 2021 2 minutes ago, ListeningToPrestige said: Anyone know anything about tenor saxophonist Bill Leslie? He recorded with Larry Young and Thornel Schwartz, and made one album for Argo. What are you looking for specifically. I have the Argo album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 23, 2021 Report Share Posted January 23, 2021 I like him. IIRC, he was a Newark guy who more or less stayed "local". Of historical note, perhaps, is that he covered "Lonely Woman" on his Argo album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted January 23, 2021 Report Share Posted January 23, 2021 I remember hearing about him, I think our old friend Mr. Fenohr was looking for a copy and I spotted one and fulfilled his need. This was back when I was on the trail of Argo records, but without a true commitment to everything. (Still never found the Richard Evans Home Cookin' thing, with Jack Wilson on piano. God still only knows if it was released. I know Evans told Eddie Higgins he remembers having photos taken outside of a soul food restaurant, for the cover.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ListeningToPrestige Posted January 24, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2021 Was wondering if anyone knew anything about him, why he recorded so little, what happened to him. There are the two Argo albums, the one co-led with Thornel Schwartz and the one he led on his own, and the Larry Young session for Prestige? i guess, per JSngry, that he was a homey of Young's from Newark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ListeningToPrestige Posted January 24, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2021 But not a contemporary of Larry Young's -- I found from another source that he was born in 1925, which would make him more a contemporary of Thornel Schwartz. And like Schwartz, a Philadelphian, so Schwartz probably got him the gig on the Larry Young session. I also found out that he played for some years with Louis Jordan. So an old school rhythm and blues player taking on a free jazz classic. Interesting. And I found the Argo album on YouTube to his version of "Lonely Woman." Interesting. He really meets it head on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted January 24, 2021 Report Share Posted January 24, 2021 He must have spent some time in Sweden - there are two sessions with drummer Don Gardner's group on Sonet, both form 1965, one with singer Freda Payne. The saxist on the left with glasses is Bill Leslie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko Posted January 26, 2021 Report Share Posted January 26, 2021 I'd argue he's at most moderately obscure... there were even newspaper obits when he died... https://lasvegassun.com/news/2003/jul/01/jazz-musician-lv-performer-leslie-dies/ was ordering stuff from Sweden yesterday and could add the Freda Payne album without extra shipping... so that's what I did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.