Photo Credit: Luke Marantz
David Leon
David Leon is a Cuban-American saxophonist, woodwinds player, and composer/improviser living in Brooklyn, New York. His diverse musical output is pervaded by the exploration of nuance: in timbre by creatively manipulating saxophone technique, in pitch by tampering with equal temperament and employing microtonality, and in texture possibility through orchestration and improvisation. As the winner of the 2017 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer’s Award, David debuted a new quartet at the Newport Jazz Festival in August of that year. In November 2018, he performed alongside pianist Kris Davis as part of The Jazz Gallery’s Mentoring Series. His solo endeavors include the Current Obsession series - which documents improvisations with current collaborators, Trio, Quartet, the co-led chamber project Sound Underground, and most recently - Bird’s Eye with Doyeon Kim on kayageum and Lesley Mok on percussion. An active sideperson, David has collaborated with artists including Ingrid Laubrock, Nick Dunston, Kris Davis, Justin Vernon, Brian Lynch, Adam O’Farrill, Brandon Seabrook, Kate Gentile, Chris Pitsiokos, Arturo O’Farrill, Tomas Fujiwara, Manuel Valera, Michael Formanek, Matt Mitchell, Henry Fraser, Michael Attias, Tom Rainey, William Brittelle, and others.
Appears on:
OOYH 011: David Leon - Aire De Agua