Michael Leonhart (born April 21, 1974) is an American jazz trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist.

Solo career

In 1992 Leonhart was honored with the first

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for outstanding high school musician in the US (he attended

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, often referred to simply as LaGuardia or "LaG", is a public High school (North America), high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, near Lincoln ...

). He was the youngest Grammy recipient to date. He was 17 years old. In February of the same year ''

ABC World News ''ABC World News Tonight'' (titled ''ABC World News Tonight with David Muir'' for its weeknight broadcasts since September 2014) is the flagship daily evening television news program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting ...

'' named him Person of the Week. Leonhart has performed with Steely Dan since 1996, recording two albums with them, including 2000's Grammy winning Album of the Year ''

Two Against Nature ''Two Against Nature'' is the eighth studio album by American rock band Steely Dan. Their first studio album in 20 years, it was recorded from 1997 to 1999 and released on February 29, 2000, by Giant Records. A critical success, ''Two Against ...

'' on which he was a featured soloist, arranger, and conductor. He co-produced

Donald Fagen Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who is the co-founder, lead singer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Steely Dan, formed in the early 1970s with musical partner Walter Becker ...

's fourth solo album, '' Sunken Condos'' (2012). He recorded with Yoko Ono as a featured member of The Plastic Ono Band in 2009 for her album, '' Between My Head and the Sky'' and again in 2013 on her album '' Take Me to the Land of Hell''. He played with Monkey House on two albums: ''Headquarters'' (2012) and ''

Left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

'' (2016). In 2015, he collaborated with the Antibalas and The Dap-Kings horn sections,

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...

, and

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, R ...

to record "

Uptown Funk "Uptown Funk" is a song by British record producer Mark Ronson featuring American singer Bruno Mars. It was released on 10 November 2014, as the lead single from Ronson's fourth studio album, '' Uptown Special'' (2015). "Uptown Funk" was wri ...

" and other tracks on the album '' Uptown Special'' (2015). He has also worked with

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip< ...

, John Barry,

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...

Mos Def Yasiin Bey ( ; born Dante Terrell Smith; December 11, 1973), formerly known as Mos Def ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A prominent figure in conscious hip hop, he is recognized for his use of wordplay and commentary on social an ...

DJ Spooky Paul Dennis Miller (born September 6, 1970), known professionally as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is an American Electronic music, electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics "illbient" or "trip hop". ...

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist. He first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts, notably as a participant ...

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for The Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Hel ...

Lenny Kravitz Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor. His debut album ''Let Love Rule (Lenny Kravitz album), Let Love Rule'' (1989) was characterized by a blend of Rock music, rock ...

Arto Lindsay Arthur Morgan "Arto" Lindsay (born May 28, 1953) is an American guitarist, singer, record producer and experimental composer. He was a member of the pioneering 1970s no wave group DNA, which featured on the 1978 compilation '' No New York''. In ...

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flutist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Awards, ...

Arif Mardin Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for ov ...

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young ...

, Michael McDonald,

Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and conductor (music), conductor. His Vocal pedagogy, vocal techniques include singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in Pitch (music), pitch—fo ...

Natalie Merchant Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter. She joined the band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and was lead vocalist and primary lyricist for the group. She remained with the group for their first seven albums before ...

, Q-Tip,

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon ( ), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success following the release of the ...

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

Joshua Redman Joshua Redman (born February 1, 1969) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He is the son of jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman (1931–2006). Life and career Joshua Redman was born in Berkeley, California, to jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman a ...

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...

, Skizm,

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash th ...

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer and songwriter. Tyler is best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the keyboards, h ...

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, and

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He is known for having several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), "Use Me ( ...

Michael Leonhart & the Avramina 7

After 40 plus recordings as the house trumpet player for Truth and Soul Records, the Brooklyn-based funk and soul label released Leonhart's heavy-funk concept album ''Seahorse and the Storyteller'' in 2009.

Personal life

Michael Leonhart is the son of

Jay Leonhart Jay Leonhart (born December 6, 1940) is an American double bassist, singer, and songwriter who has worked in jazz and popular music. He has performed with Judy Garland, Bucky Pizzarelli, Carly Simon, Frank Sinatra, and Sting. Leonhart is noted ...

, noted jazz bassist, and the brother of vocalist Carolyn Leonhart.

Discography

As leader

* ''Aardvark Poses'' ( Sunnyside, 1995) * ''Glub Glub Vol. 11'' (Sunnyside, 1997) * ''Slow'' (Sunnyside, 2002) * ''The Suzy Lattimore EP'' (self-released, 2005) * ''The Ballad of Minton Quigley'' (self-released, 2006) * ''Hotel Music'' (St. Ives, 2008) * ''Seahorse & the Storyteller'' (

Truth and Soul ''Truth and Soul'' is the second studio album by American Rock music, rock band Fishbone. It was released on September 13, 1988. As is typical of the band's history of music the album features a wide array of genres including punk rock, punk, sk ...

, 2010) * ''The Painted Lady Suite'' (Sunnyside, 2018) * ''Suite Extracts Vol. 1'' (Sunnyside, 2019) * ''The Normyn Suites'' (Sunnyside, 2022) With JSWISS * ''The Alchemy EP'' (self-released, 2021) * ''Bona Fide'' (self-released, 2022)

As sideman or guest

With Vinicius Cantuaria * ''Sol Na Cara'' (Gramavision, 1996) * ''Tucuma'' (Verve, 1998) * ''Vinicius'' (Transparent, 2001) * ''Horse and Fish'' (Rykodisc, 2004) * ''Cymbals'' (Naive, 2007) With

* ''The Double Cross'' (Sunnyside, 1988) * ''Galaxies and Planets'' (Sons of Sound, 2001) * ''Rodgers & Leonhart'' (Sons of Sound, 2002) With others *

Aloe Blacc Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born January 7, 1979), known professionally as Aloe Blacc (), is an American singer and rapper. He is known for his guest performance on Avicii's 2013 single "Wake Me Up (Avicii song), Wake Me Up", which peaked on ...

, ''Good Things'' (Stones Throw 2010) *

Blonde Redhead Blonde Redhead is an American alternative rock band composed of Kazu Makino (vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitar) and identical twin brothers Simone (drums, keyboards) and Amedeo Pace (lead guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals) that formed in New York ...

, ''3 O'Clock'' (Ponderosa, 2017) * Paul Brill, ''Breezy'' (Scarlet Shame, 2011) *

Cibo Matto Cibo Matto (, Italian language, Italian for "crazy food") was an American alternative rock band formed by Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori in New York City in 1994. Their first album, ''Viva! La Woman'' (1996), had lyrics primarily concerned with food. ...

, ''Hotel Valentine'' (Chimera, 2014) * Peter Cincotti, ''Long Way from Home'' (2017) * Nels Cline, ''Lovers'' (2016) * El Michels Affair, ''Sounding Out the City'' (Fastlife, 2005) * El Michels Affair, ''Enter the 37th Chamber'' (Fat Beats, 2009) *

, ''Sunken Condos'' (Reprise, 2012) * Lee Fields, ''My World'' (Truth & Soul, 2009) * Lee Fields, ''Faithful Man'' (Truth & Soul, 2012) *

The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger is an American-British band formed in 2008 by Sean Ono Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl. The couple have stated that they started the band as a way to spend more time together, and while they released a number of r ...

, ''La Carotte Bleue'' (Chimera, 2011) *

The Hold Steady The Hold Steady is an American rock band formed in Brooklyn, New York, in 2003. The band consists of Craig Finn (vocals, guitar), Tad Kubler (guitar), Galen Polivka (bass), Bobby Drake (drums), Franz Nicolay (keyboards) and Steve Selvidge (g ...

, ''Thrashing Thru the Passion'' (Frenchkiss, 2019) * Yuka Honda, ''Heart Chamber Phantoms'' (Tzadik, 2010) * Per Husby, ''If You Could See Me Now'' (Gemini, 1996) * Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, ''I Learned the Hard Way'' (Daptone, 2010) * Shawn Lee, ''World of Funk'' (Ubiquity, 2011) * Jens Lekman, ''An Argument with Myself'' (Secretly Canadian, 2011) *

, ''Prize'' (Righteous Babe, 1999) * Michael McDonald, ''Wide Open'' (BMG, 2017) *

, ''Leave Your Sleep'' (Nonesuch, 2010) *

Tom Odell Thomas Peter Odell (born 24 November 1990) is an English singer-songwriter. He released his debut extended play, ''Songs from Another Love'', in 2012. He won the 2013 BRIT Awards, BRITs Critics' Choice Award in early 2013. Odell's debut studio ...

, ''Jubilee Road'' (Columbia, 2018) * Mauro Refosco, ''Seven Waves'' (MA, 1999) *

, ''Uptown Special'' (Columbia, 2015) *

Ben Sidran Ben Hirsh Sidran (born August 14, 1943) is an American jazz and rock keyboardist, producer, label owner, and music writer. Early in his career he was a member of the Steve Miller Band and is the father of Grammy-nominated musician, composer and ...

, '' Dylan Different'' (Microcoscmo Dischi, 2009) * Leo Sidran, ''Cool School'' (Bonsai Music, 2018) * Alice Smith, ''For Lovers, Dreamers & Me'' (BBE 2006) *

Sharleen Spiteri Sharleen Eugene Spiteri (born 7 November 1967) is a Scottish singer–songwriter and guitarist who has a contralto vocal range, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Texas (band), Texas, who rose to prominence in 1989 with the release ...

, ''Melody'' (Mercury, 2008) *

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1971 by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Originally having a traditional band lineup, Becker and Fagen cho ...

, ''Two Against Nature'' (Reprise, 2000) *

, ''Everything Must Go'' (Reprise, 2003) *

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children's music, children's band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as ...

, ''Here Comes Science'' (Disney Sound/Idlewild, 2009) *

Steve Tyrell Steve Tyrell (born Stephen Louis Bilao III, December 19, 1944) is an American singer and record producer. He won a 2004 Grammy Award as the producer of the Rod Stewart studio album '' Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Volume III''. He also h ...

, ''This Guy's in Love'' (Columbia, 2003) * Sachal Vasandani, ''Slow Motion Miracles'' (Okeh, 2015) *

Martha Wainwright Martha Wainwright (born May 8, 1976) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums. Wainwright is the daughter of musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III and the younger si ...

, ''Come Home to Mama'' (Cooperative, 2012) *

Rufus Wainwright Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded eleven studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical opera ...

, ''Out of the Game'' (Decca, 2012) * Walt Weiskopf, ''Day in Night Out'' (Criss Cross, 2008) * The Whitefield Brothers, ''In the Raw'' (Now-Again, 2009) * Nikki Yanofsky, ''Nikki'' (Decca, 2010) * Geoff Zanelli and

, ''Mortdecai'' (La-La Land, 2015) * St. Vincent, ''…At The Holiday Party'' (Daddy's Home, 2020)

References

External links

Official Site

At Discogs
* At AllMusicbr>At Sunnyside
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonhart, Michael American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters American soul musicians American funk musicians Musicians from New York City 1974 births Living people Plastic Ono Band members Jazz musicians from New York (state) American male jazz musicians Sunnyside Records artists The Dukes of September members Steely Dan members