Michael Leonhart

Born into a musical family, Michael Leonhart has developed into one of the most imaginative musicians of his time, sought throughout the music and entertainment world as a trumpet player, producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and singer-songwriter. As a solo artist Michael has released three albums -- "Aardvark Poses" (1995), "Glub Glub vol. 11" (1997), and "Slow" (2002) all on the Sunnyside label (http://www.sunnysiderecords.com/). He has composed and performed music for movies, television, dance, fashion shows and theater, and has appeared on over 70 albums. At age 17, Michael was honored as the youngest Grammy recipient in history, cited as the most outstanding musician in a U.S. high school. That same year ABC World News named him Person of the Week. Michael has performed with Steely Dan since 1996, recording two albums with them, including 2000s Grammy winning Album of the Year Two Against Nature on which he was a featured performer, arranger and conductor. He has performed and/or recorded with such diverse artists as A Tribe Called Quest, Arto Linsday, Bill Frisell, Bonnie Raitt, Brian Eno, Busta Rhymes, D.J. Spooky, David Byrne, James Brown, Joshua Redman, Mos Def, Natalie Merchant, Q-Tip, Raekwon (Wutang Clan), Slash (Guns and Roses/ Velvet Revolver), Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Vinicius Cantuaria and Wynton Marsalis. In 2004, Michael toured worldwide with Lenny Kravitz supporting his most recent album, Baptism. The Ballad of Minton Quigley, a self-produced and recorded album of original songs, was released in the summer of 2006, featuring Michael as vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. He is currently performing in clubs around New York City with his band, while finishing the next LP of all new songs, to be released late 2007.

User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.