Jennifer Leitham "The Real Me" Featuring The Jennifer Leitham Trio Jennifer Leitham left handed bass, vocals Josh Nelson piano Randy Drake drums, udo Special guest John Clayton bass on "Riff Raff" "The Real Me" Liner Notes-- Helen Borger's Notes: I am PROUD to be a part of this project! I think Jennifer’s courage and joy are inspiring and infectious. She seems so wonderfully happy with who she is, and so accepting of her journey. I mention her bio because I think people who did not know her as John will wonder where she came from and why this disc is called The Real Me. I think people should know what she’s celebrating. Jennifer Leitham (pronounced LIGHT em) began life as John Leitham. In fourth grade, he participated in a talent show with three other kids, each playing a different member of the Beatles. John played Paul, who played the bass left-handed, and thus began a career as an ambidextrous person who played left-handed bass. In his professional life, John had played with numerous big names, including Woody Herman, George Shearing, Bob Cooper, Bill Watrous, and Doc Severinsen. He was Mel Torme’s bassist for over ten years. For most of that time, he was also a bandleader, recording five discs under his own name. He married, settled in L.A., but all the while, struggled to deal with and keep secret his gender identity. Finally, in a process that was lengthy and painful, both physically and emotionally, he transitioned into Jennifer and she has never been happier! She revels in her freedom and her new body. She is exuberant about the path her life has taken. She is not shy about discussing her transition, the years of trying to hide her feelings, the pain of the process, nor the joy in the outcome. She dares to be herself and dares us to know her. I've listened to “The Real Me”, and it's WONDERFUL!!! This trio sounds great! Being used to the "old" recordings of "The Studio City Stomp," "Stick It In Your Ear," "Lefty Leaps In," "Split Brain," and "The Trashman Cometh," it was a surprise to hear how full they all sounded without the horns of the originals. But the biggest surprise was hearing Jennifer sing! GREAT lyrics and she sounds really good!! Who knew she could sing?! It is, I must confess, a strange experience to hear her singing voice because I can hear the voice I used to know in it. It is an experience unlike any I've had before. BUT, it will not affect most people like that, I know. They'll just dig it! I was typing notes while listening to the disk the first time, and wasn't paying attention to the order of the tunes and all of a sudden I heard -- or thought I heard -- "Hey, Jude." I looked at the tune titles..."Beat the Meatles"... very funny!!!" Her music, so often very personal in conception, is exhorting all of us to be ourselves, to celebrate life, to find the humor in our condition, to know it can be endured and conquered! I think her experience will help others. People need to know that they are free to be who they are! And that they should feel good about it! On the other hand, her music stands on its own. No mention need be made about her gender at all! Helen Borgers Afternoon Drive Jazz Host KKJZ/FM88.1 Jennifer’s Notes: As Helen mentioned, some of these tunes have already been recorded. The conundrum of having my former name attached to my most popular songs inspired me to re-record them in order to show my proper identity. The radio hosts won’t have to explain my situation anymore! I've been playing with my current trio on a regular basis for a few years, and we've grown immeasurably since our first performances. Josh and Randy are accomplished players and wonderful people. They are among the finest musicians I've ever had the privilege of playing with. Their contributions here are beyond measure. Helen focused on "Beat the Meatles". I wrote it as a tribute, as the Beatles were a big influence in my early years. I wrote a crazy quilt of melodies lifted from Beatles songs juxtaposed over rhythmic and harmonic motifs based on Beatle ideas. "The Altered Blues" is a musical mood piece that deals with Gender Dysphoria. I named it for my surgeon, Dr. (Gary) Alter. It contains a continuous drone of "D" and "G" notes throughout. They never go away, and are prevalent in each chord. Long ago in my preschool days my family lived near a church that rang its bells all day long. There were two notes, "D" and "G". Those "D" and "G" notes found their way into my subconcious. Gender Dysphoria is a similar thing: it's always there; it doesn't go away. You can try to fight it but you won't be successful. It's only learning to accept and “make music” with yourself that enables you to have a happy, healthy life. And that's what happens in "The Altered Blues". We try to make music with those notes that won't go away. "Split Brain" is a tune that I wrote a long time ago. My ex had a degree in Experimental Psychology and thought (back in our early years together), that my conundrum was the result of a condition known as a "Split Brain". One side of the brain doesn't work well with the other. I titled the tune back in 1984. As it turns out, my ambidexterity proves that my brain is actually more integrated than most people! The lyric is a more recent development. It's become a tune that is about acceptance of one's true self and the ramifications involved. I kept the title just to be perverse. "Riff Raff" was written at the request of the founder and producer of the Topeka Jazz Festival, the late Jim Monroe. This recorded version is dedicated to his memory. One of the highlights of the festival was a set in which all of the bassists played as an ensemble. Each bassist was asked to contribute an arrangement. I wrote "Riff Raff" for the 2004 performance. There were six basses to write for, all unique artists, and I tried to tailor each part to fit their expertise. The most difficult part was written for John Clayton and he played it with amazing mastery. I was very impressed. While conversing with John at a social occasion I mentioned that I was planning to record the piece and he volunteered his services. I was planning to overdub all the parts myself, but it made sense to add another human voice in order to keep the piece from becoming robotic. John made the session magical when he played his parts on Ray Brown's bass. We layered our parts two at a time, starting at the bottom, then the top, then we filled in the middle. What transpires is a musical jigsaw puzzle of me trading two bar phrases with myself, John trading phrases with himself, and every other permutation of that imaginable. It's best appreciated through headphones. My amazing engineer, Andy Waterman, spread the seven parts across the sonic spectrum, just as you would hear it performed in concert by seven basses. (I added a part at the session). “C.O.D.” is the first tune I’ve ever written in anger. It deals with a particularly frustrating musical and personal experience. I only reveal the full title in private. (Guess I still hide some things). “Keni’s Song” is for my dear friend who has been a welcome angel and a big part of my journey. She was with me through my first hospital experiences and was invaluable. My surgery was more difficult than most and my recovery was a long process. Playing my bass was the activity that kept my spirits up. I couldn’t accept gigs that required me to carry my bass and gear. Consequently I spent long hours practicing and eventually performing alone in my friend Ginger’s living room. The happy result was that I developed a sizeable repertoire of solo pieces. I plan on recording a CD of all solo bass pieces in the future. "Stick It In Your Ear" was a song that I wrote in the early '90's. I was thinking of Mel Torme' when I wrote it and really wanted him to sing the vocal. I recorded it on "The Southpaw" as an instrumental and played it for him. He approved of the melody, but I never worked up the nerve to show him the lyric I had written. I tore up the lyric sheet a long time ago and had forgotten most of the words, but my newly resurrected singing voice led me to write a new set. I became a musician because of my singing voice. I was a soloist in my high school chorus, and it drew the attention of the rock and roll garage band set. The first few years of my musical career I held an electric bass and sang. My ability to hear a line on a record and play it while singing were my entry tools into the trade of being a professional musician. I eventually started a long, intense period of private study that introduced me to my lifelong obsession with the string bass and higher forms of music. My high pitched voice was something of an embarrassment, as my secret self was manifesting in many ways. I stopped singing for close to thirty years because of the fear and paranoia that surrounded my public persona. There is no reason to hide anymore and unlocking my singing voice has been a source of great joy. I plan to strive to improve as a vocalist in the same manner as I've always striven to improve as a bassist, musician, and human being. Jennifer Leitham July 14, 2006 The Real Me Sinistral Records SRCD-0020 Producer: Jennifer Leitham Associate Producer: Scott Whitfield Recorded April 10, 11, and May 9, 2006 Recorded, mixed, and mastered at: Entourage 5.1 Studios, North Hollywood, CA Engineer: Andy Waterman Assistants: Ashburn Miller, Stacey Carson Cover and inside portrait photography: Mary Ann Halpin Makeup and hair: Donna Gast Trio photograph: Jeff Michelson Jennifer is an artist/clinician for Hofner String Instruments and plays the Hofner String Bass model H5/12-BV. She uses Acoustic Image amplification, Raezer’s Edge Speakers, Wilson Pickup Systems, and LaBella Strings. Jennifer Leitham “The Real Me” All compositions and arrangements by Jennifer Leitham (BMI)Sinistral Music copyright 2006 all rights reserved 1. C. O. D. 4:44 Jennifer Leitham bass, Josh Nelson piano, Randy Drake drums 2. The Studio City Stomp 4:53 Jennifer Leitham bass, fingersnaps, Josh Nelson piano, Randy Drake drums, fingersnaps, Scott Whitfield fingersnaps 3. Turkish Bizarre 8:26 Jennifer Leitham bass, Josh Nelson piano, Randy Drake drums, udo 4. Stick It In Your Ear 4:24 Jennifer Leitham bass, vocal, Josh Nelson piano, Randy Drake drums 5. Beat The Meatles 6:04 Jennifer Leitham bass, Josh Nelson piano, Randy Drake drums 6. Keni’s Song 5:42 Jennifer Leitham bass 7. The Altered Blues 6:39 Jennifer Leitham bass, Josh Nelson piano, Randy Drake drums 8. Split Brain 5:11 Jennifer Leitham bass, vocal, Josh Nelson piano, Randy Drake drums 9. Lefty Leaps In 5:16 Jennifer Leitham bass, Josh Nelson piano, Randy Drake drums 10. Riff Raff 4:06 Jennifer Leitham bass 1, 4, 5, 7, John Clayton bass 2, 3, 6 11. The Trashman Cometh 8:02 Jennifer Leitham bass, Josh Nelson piano, Randy Drake drums Website: www.jenniferleitham.com About Jennifer Leitham: “left handed virtuoso of the upright bass”
- Leonard Feather Her story is compelling. Her journey has been most unconventional. Her career is groundbreaking as she attempts to bring a sense of normalcy to a subject that many people don’t understand, all the while proudly displaying her exceptional skills. She is considered by many to be be one of the finest Jazz bassists in the world. She began her life with the name John Leitham. In her professional life, she had played with numerous big names, including Woody Herman, George Shearing, Bob Cooper, Bill Watrous, and Peggy Lee. She was Mel Tormé’s bassist for ten years. For most of that time, she was also a bandleader and studio musician, playing on over one hundred recordings, including five discs under her own name. She married, settled in L.A., but all that while, was struggling to deal with and keep secret her gender identity. Finally, in a process that was lengthy and painful, physically and emotionally, she transitioned in 2001 while touring with Doc Severinsen. She has maintained a vigorous career throughout and has achieved much acclaim and acceptance. Jennifer has been a featured artist at at many of the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals and clubs. She has recently performed as a guest or appeared with her trio at some of the finest venues in the world, including The Blue Note, Iridium, Kitano, Small’s, and Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola in New York, The Toronto Pride Fest, The Bohem Festival in Budapest and The Louis Armstrong Jazz Festival in Bank, Hungary, Breda Jazz Fest in the Netherlands; Münster Jazz Festival in France; Yamaha Jazz Festival in Hamamatsu, Japan, Catalina’s, Vitello’s, blue whale, The Lighthouse, The Warner Grand and Renberg Theaters in Los Angeles, Boston Court PAC in Pasadena, KSDS Jazz Live at the Saville Theater and Dizzy’s in San Diego, Mammoth Lakes, Sweet and Hot, and Sacramento Festivals in California, Blues Alley, Washington DC, Prescott Jazz Summit, Arizona, Milford Center for the Arts, Connecticut, The Black Box Theater at Centenary College and Shanghai Jazz in New Jersey, the Cheltenham Center for the Arts, Pa, the Deer Head Inn in the Delaware Water Gap, Pa and a host of others. Her recent CDs are a reflection of her passion for the medium of the classic jazz trio. However, this “classic trio” features the bass as the lead voice throughout and highlights both Jennifer’s original compositions, arrangements, and her superb vocals. Jennifer’s highly anticipated new CD, MOOD(S)WINGS, has garnered much acclaim since it’s release in 2015. The International Review of Music implores “Do not miss out on this gem.” Her Future Christmas was 2014’s  top selling holiday album on CD Baby. Other recent CDs include the critically acclaimed Left Coast Story (2008), a collection of requests from her loyal fans, and an all original tour de force, The Real Me (2006), her most popular CD to date. It announced to the world her true identity, both as a musician and a person. Her DVD The Real Me Live is a live in concert rendering of the music from the groundbreaking CD. The 2011 release, also available as an audio download, is “crackling with intensity, passion, and virtuosity!” Leitham’s other internationally renowned CD’s include Two for the Road (1999), Live (1997) Lefty Leaps In (1996) The Southpaw (1992) Leitham Up (1988) and the audio download The Real Me Live (2011) Her life story is featured in the award winning documentary, “I Stand Corrected.” Honored with 11 Best Film Audience and Jury Awards, it blazed a trail at film festivals around the world in 2012. She was awarded the 2014 Community Leader Angel Award at the Angels of Change event benefitting the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.  This award is given annually to an individual for continuous support and advocacy toward the advancement of trans youth in the community. In 2015, she was featured on U.S. newsstands as one of the top 20 pioneers in Vanity Fair’s “Trans America” Special Collector’s Edition. In 2016, she is profiled in the L.A. Weekly as one of the “50 Most Interesting Angelinos.” Here is what the critics are saying about Jennifer : “The world that Leitham has moved in since the early í80s has been at the center of the highest levels of jazz performance. More than 100 recordings as an A-list bassist, eight CDs of her own, long-term stints with Mel Tormé, Doc Severinsen and the Woody Herman Thundering Herd as well as appearances with the likes of Gerry Mulligan, Joe Pass, Louis Bellson, Bill Watrous, Cleo Laine and dozens of others attest to the far-ranging versatility of her playing”. – JazzTimes 2009, Don Heckman. “As a soloist, Leitham is in a class by herself. At the core of her powers are a rich plummy sound, an astonishing virtuosity, unerring intonation and a deep sense of swing. Leitham’s trio, to borrow from the argot of rock, is a power group extraordinaire.” – Topeka Capitol Journal 2009, Chuck Berg “Left handed virtuoso of the upright bass.” – Los Angeles Times, Leonard Feather“       …prodigious technique and improvisatory prowess promptly erase any emotion except awe.” – 52nd St. Jazz, Robert Bragonier “Combining her astonishing virtuosity with some exquisite soul, Jennifer Leitham brings in her trio to celebrate the success of her latest album, The Real Me. Some nice tunes on that one. She, (and her trio), make an organic whole that is really something live … and something that all kinds of fans get into.” – LA Weekly – Brick Wahl “Jennifer Leitham is an extremely compelling diva of the upright acoustic bass. She is one of the few practitioners of her instrument, of any gender, genre, or generation, who can completely command my attention with what is, essentially, an entire set of bass solos.” – Wall Street Journal, Will Friedwald “Her harmonically complex, fluid, yet often delightfully tough and percussive attack on the bass has made her one of the instrument’s greatest practitioners in the jazz world for several decades now.” – The International Review of Music 2014, Devon Wendell “Last night at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood,  Jennifer Leitham celebrated the release of her new CD MOOD(S)WINGS. As advertised, the music took the huge crowd on a roller coaster ride of emotions from the depths of despair and sadness to total elation. Jennifer played, sang and entertained with great passion in every possible emotional direction. It was a great evening and it’s a great CD!” – Jazzography 2015, Bob Barry “Jennifer Leitham’s MOOD(S)WINGS is one of the hippest jazz “crossover” albums to surface in many years. Leitham’s virtuosic bass skills added with her warm vocals, sly lyrics and masterful trio (Andy Langham on piano and Randy Drake on drums) create a delightfully distinct mood within each composition. Only Leitham and her trio could cover Clare Fischer’s “Cascade Of Seven Waterfalls”, The Beatles’ “You Won’t See Me”, and Oscar Pettiford’s “Tricotism” all on the same album and present it in a way that makes perfect sense as well as making it sound both fresh and beautiful.
Leitham proves to be a true poet with a songwriting style as unique as her bass playing and composing. On original compositions such as “Riverside Romp”, “Don’t You Ever”, and “My Heart Had Wings”, Leitham’s lyrics are sweet, anguished, and contemplative. Leitham is an artist who is constantly on the move; listening, playing, watching, and always growing. Her trio sound has a potent yet elegant swing to it that is immediately identifiable.
MOOD(S)WINGS is Leitham’s most adventurous and explorative album to date and should be enjoyed by music lovers of all genres.” –  The International Review Of Music 2015,  Devon Wendell “I Stand Corrected is a remarkable documentary about a remarkable human being, Jennifer Leitham. The best part of this documentary is the discovery of a truly major American musical mind. Listening to the way Jennifer plays, one has the impression that no obstructions exist between the ideas in her head and their expression on the instrument. And her ideas are by no means simple but profound and complex. Furthermore, she has a great sense of swing. This, indeed, is her real genius: She is able to compress her complicated thinking into rhythms that are not hard to follow, that speak to the body directly. There is no poetry without music, no music without the dance. Jennifer Leitham is an American original.” – The Stranger, Seattle 2012, Charles Mudede
 “It’s not every night that one has a chance to hear the extraordinary music of Jennifer Leitham. But it will be on full display Wednesday night at The Blue Whale.
In a world of too much forgettable repetition, Leitham’s music — instrumentally and vocally —  is a memorable pleasure.
A highly praised, veteran artist whose resume includes gigs with everyone from Woody Herman and George Shearing to Mel Tormé and Peggy Lee, Leitham has been a major jazz star in her own right since she transitioned into her true identity in 2001.
Leitham’s latest CD, Mood(S)wings, showcases a stellar collection of standards and originals, with Leitham’s remarkable left handed bass playing and her captivating vocals in the spotlight. Backing her,  pianist Andy Langham and drummer  Randy Drake provide musically symbiotic interaction, sharing Leitham’s far ranging, improvisational flights.
The results are stunning displays of state of the art contemporary jazz.” – International Review of Music 2015, Don Heckman