Leach has rereleased his interpretation of the album on CD, which had only been previously available digitally. The release show was March 2 at the Hidden Gem Music Club in Centerville.
The Jimmy Leach Jazztet journeys through the rich history of jazz via the genre’s greatest icons, like Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, as well as the songs of Elton John, Paul McCartney and Billy Joel.
Led by Leach on trumpet, the quartet features bassist Chris Berg, pianist Chris Caporale and drummer Jim Leslie.
Born in Chickasha, Okla., Leach grew up in a musical family. His father was a singer and guitarist, and his mother was a singer and multi-instrumentalist. He joined his first jazz band in Tulsa, and was the only singer from his high school to win a spot in the Oklahoma All-State Choir.
Leach’s current credentials include a doctorate degree in music and 40 years of teaching experience, including teaching awards from Harvard University. He has lived and worked in Dayton since 2017. He gives lectures on jazz improvisation and conducting, as well as plays in faculty ensembles.
Leach currently teaches voice, piano, organ, trumpet and guitar at his home studio in Oakwood.
Using a Neumann condenser — or maybe another vintage mic, considering Leach is a self-proclaimed non-gearhead — “Jimmy Leach Sings Chet Baker” intimately presents his vocals like a fireside chat: straight, detached and beautiful, much like the original. But Leach is a tenor, and Baker was lighter than that, floating in the range where a lower voice could easily break in an attempt.
So as the local trumpeter says: you don’t respect it enough until you try to do it yourself.
“It’s kind of an ambitious thing when you say, Okay, I’m going to put on the clothes of this great artist and see if they fit,” Leach said, of recreating Baker’s album. “It was definitely work. There’s nothing to hide behind when you have a great microphone three inches from your mouth.”
When asked why he chose to recreate “Chet Baker Sings” front to back, Leach said that it was partly because their paths mirrored: both were trumpeters and vocalists from Oklahoma. But the late cool jazz singer never forgot that his first instrument was his voice, and Leach found his audacity to veer from just instrumentation fascinating.
Much of the record was a carbon-copy transcription of the originals, with Leach singing where Chet sang, playing where he played. Nuanced changes are found throughout, like some bonus solos and the extra verse on “But Not for Me,” but is otherwise Leach’s interpretation of the legendary jazz record.
When asked what shifts in jazz culture he’s seen over the years, given he’s been teaching for over four decades, Leach said:
“It’s not on the radio. Most 19 or 20 year olds can hardly find this stuff, unless they had the odd parent that put on Nat King Cole. I had the great privilege of teaching five semesters at Harvard. And it was so amazing because here are these super smart young folks sitting there, and you start playing Louis Armstrong, and they start smiling. That’s like their first exposure to this. I think, given a chance, people can respond to it.”
Brandon Berry writes about the Dayton and Southwest Ohio music and art scene. Have a story idea for him? Email branberry100@gmail.com.
About the Author