Download - Thesis: Harry Leahey
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2006
Philip M. Peters
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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HARRY LEAHEY:
MASTER GUITARIST, MUSICIAN AND TEACHER
By Philip M. Peters
A thesis submitted to the
Graduate School-Newark
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
in partial fulfillment of requirements
for the degree of
Master of Arts
Graduate Program in Jazz Studies
Written under the direction of
Professor Lewis Porter
and approved by
____________________
____________________
Newark, New Jersey
May, 2006
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Abstract
Harry Leahey was a guitarist and guitar teacher who lived, taught and performed
primarily in New Jersey. His career began in the early 1960s and continued until his
death in 1990. He studied guitar with Lou Melia, a local guitar teacher, Al Volpe, the
renowned studio guitarist and teacher of such players as Joe Pass and Sal Salvatore,
leading jazz and studio guitarist Johnny Smith and Dennis Sandole, teacher of such
students as Pat Martino and John Coltrane. He studied theory and composition at
Manhattan School of Music.
Although he never achieved a high degree of fame he played and recorded with
Phil Woods, Gerry Mulligan, Al Cohn, Jack Six, Warren Vach and numerous other well
known jazz artists, all of whom held him in the highest esteem. He performed with local
artists, both jazz and commercial. From 1978 to 1990 he performed with his own trio and
in duo settings with various bass players. He recorded one album with his trio, one duo
album with Steve Gilmore and one solo album.
A dedicated and practical family man, he chose to devote himself to teaching the
guitar. He taught privately at his home in Plainfield, New Jersey and from 1974 to 1988
at William Paterson University (then William Paterson College).
He died in 1990 at the age of 54. This thesis provides a biography of this
neglected artist, tracing his musical and professional development. In addition there are
two musical analyses, one analyzed solo and an analysis of one aspect of his teaching
method, his approach to teaching chords. Finally a bibliography and a discography are
included. Regrettably there is very little in print about him. His bibliography includes two
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books in which he is briefly mentioned and several magazine and newspaper articles
about him.
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Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the myriad persons who provided support and
encouragement throughout the pursuit of this project. In particular: Dr. Lewis Porter, Dr.
Henry Martin and Dr. John Howland of the Jazz Masters Program at Rutgers University
for their help and guidance; Deborah Leahey, Tom Anthony, Edie Eustice, Roy
Cumming, Glenn Davis, Phil Woods, Ron Naspo, Ronnie Glick and Walt Bibinger for
their generosity in sharing their remembrances and documentary materials with me.
In addition the author acknowledges and gives special thanks to the Morroe
Berger - Benny Carter Jazz Research Fund for a generous research grant and to the
Institute of Jazz Studies in Newark, New Jersey for opening the Harry Leahey archives to
me.
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Preface
From 1968 to 1974 I studied guitar with Harry Leahey. From 1974 until his death
in 1990 I studied with him intermittently and frequently went to hear him play. Harry was
my first guitar teacher. He took an eighteen year old self-taught folk strummer and
patiently guided him through the treacherous waters of modern jazz harmony and correct
guitar technique. He revealed secrets to me that he had spent years uncovering. He was
generous in the extreme with his time and his knowledge.
It is not unusual for someone to speak of his teacher, especially his first teacher,
in superlative, even hyperbolic terms. But in Harrys case there is the recorded evidence:
his recordings with Phil Woods, the concert with Al Cohn that was captured, his own
albums and the informal recordings done by students, fans and fellow musicians. Theres
the unanimous agreement among those who played with him, those who studied with
him, and those who heard him perform, that he was a brilliant musician. And theres the
list of professional musicians and educators who put in their biographies studied with
the great jazz guitarist Harry Leahey.
Harry Leaheys playing, like that of certain jazz greats like Miles Davis, Stan
Getz and Dave Brubeck, appealed to jazz fans as well as people who thought they didnt
like jazz. Perhaps thats because his incredible technique and deep theoretical
understanding of music were never an end unto themselves, but rather a vehicle through
which he expressed the feelings of a warm and gentle soul.
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Its been a little over fifteen years since we lost Harry Leahey. For those of us
who were privileged to have been close to him Phil Woodss simple words ring true: I
miss him dearly.
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Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... iv Preface ............................................................................................................................v Harry Leahey Bio ............................................................................................................1 The Harry Leahey Chord Method ..................................................................................39 Analysis of Harry Leaheys solo on Djangos Castle (Manoir de Mes Rves) ................56 Interview with Tom Anthony.........................................................................................72 Harry Leahey Discography ..........................................................................................121 Harry Leahey Bibliography .........................................................................................141
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Harry Leahey Bio
Harry Leahey was born on September 1, 1935 in Plattsburg, New York. His
parents were Henry Leahey and Edith Leahey, ne Lamonde. The senior Leahey,
originally a resident of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, was stationed in the US army in
Plattsburg, New York when he met Miss Lamonde. The historic Plattsburg Barracks is
located on the west side of Lake Champlain, about one mile from the village of
Plattsburgh, New York. Miss Lamonde was from Potsdam, New York, north of the
Adirondack foothills in central St. Lawrence County, New York. The Leaheys had four
children. His siblings were two brothers Michael and Patrick and a sister, Edith (now
Dillon.)
Upon Mr. Leaheys discharge from the Army, the Leaheys moved first to Perth
Amboy and then to Plainfield, New Jersey. The elder Leahey wanted Harry to be a
professional prize fighter. Young Harry was athletically gifted, as photos of him playing
baseball and other sports illustrate. As a small boy, Harry went to the YMCA every
morning with his dad. There, he trained and became a Mosquito Weight boxer who could
take on anyone his own size and weight.1
At the age of thirteen Leahey received his first guitar. As he recounts:
When I was thirteen years old my mother and father placed a guitar in my hands
and said "Play" - and I did. My uncle Al was a guitarist and I wanted to play like
1 Summer 1991 All Music Things Harry Loved.
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him. It was unconditional love from the start. I barely made it through high school
because of all the time I spent with the instrument.2
His first instrument was a Stella guitar.3 Stella was an inexpensive brand favored
by such blues artists as Muddy Waters and Leadbelly and folk and hillbilly artists as
Woody Guthrie. Shortly thereafter he began to study at Sayer's Studio in Plainfield with a
teacher named Lou Melia. It was here that Leahey met his lifelong friend, musical
associate Tom Anthony who was studying with Lou Melias brother, John. Tom
performed with Harry in several groups and eventually became his brother in law. Leahey
was an avid student who practiced diligently. He would often play late into the night,
hiding with his guitar under his bed covers. Edie Eustice tells a story of Harry getting into
trouble with his father with his practicing and his sense of humor. In the summer while
Mrs. Leahey was mowing the lawn, Harry would be sitting by the window practicing
scales. As his mother pushed the mower across the yard Harry would follow her
movements going back and forth across the guitar neck, arousing his fathers ire.4 Like
many guitarists of that time, Melia taught a picking technique known as consecutive
picking.5 In this type of picking the guitarist employs alternating down and up strokes
until two notes in a row require the pick to cross from one string to the next. At that point
the player uses two down strokes in a row. The movement is primarily from the wrist
which is loose and flexible. Arpeggios can be played with mostly down strokes.
Fingerings are often arranged to allow many of these consecutive down strokes. The
sound can be very legato but can lack definition as the attack is relatively light. This older
2 Liner notes to Unaccompanied Guitar, 1989. C. Macey Productions.
3 Conversation with Tom Anthony.
4 Conversation with Edie Eustice.
5 Conversation with Tom Anthony.
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style of picking is in stark contrast to what would become one of the cornerstones of
formidable technique the Leahey would attain: strict alternate picking from the elbow
with a stiff wrist. After a few years with the Melia brothers, Harry and Tom began to
study with renowned guitarist Harry Volpe. Volpe had been a studio musician and
recording artist since the 1920s. He had run a teaching studio in New York City on 48th
Street for years and had taught such people as Johnny Smith, Joe Pass and Sal Salvatore.
Little is known about Leaheys time with Volpe. The only thing Tom Anthony
remembered for certain about the lessons was that Volpe also taught consecutive picking.
While still in his early teens Leahey began performing in public with his sister
Edith who went by the nickname Sunshine. Sunshine sang and played the guitar and
Leahey played guitar. Leaheys first guitar idol was Les Paul. Paul had invented
multitrack recording and various special effects including overdubbing and speeding up
tracks. He and his wife, singer Mary Ford had a string of hit recordings including How
High The Moon, Mockin' Bird Hill and Tiger Rag. The Leaheys patterned themselves
after the famous Les Paul and Mary Ford act. The young guitarist was able to master the
repertoire, if not the speeded up layers of guitars. Tom Anthony, who by that time had
begun to play the bass, joined the group. The group played in various theaters in
Plainfield. They appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, then the most prestigious television
variety show. They also appeared on the Ding Dong Show, a popular childrens
television show.6 Edie Eustice related Leaheys account of the Sullivan appearance.
While Harry was backstage Sullivan saw the teenager with his guitar. He asked him if he
6 Conversation with Edie Eustice.
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would accompany a Sara Conk, yodeler.7 Harry agreed and made his big time debut
accompanying a yodeler! It wasnt until Harry and his sister performed a piece by
Rachmaninoff that Sullivan realized what a serious musician the young guitarist was.8
A neighbor of the Leaheys, a saxophone player by the name of Bill Pfeiffer
introduced the guitarist to a man who would have a profound impact of him,
professionally and personally. Pfeiffer was in the army with renowned guitarist Johnny
Smith. Pfeiffer told Smith about his talented neighbor and asked him if he would teach
him. At the time Smith, who was already established as a leading jazz and studio guitarist
did not have a teaching practice. As a favor to Pfeiffer he agreed to take Leahey as a
student. It was Smith who introduced Leahey to alternate picking. Leahey, ever the
conscientious student adjusted to the new technique and mastered it. Smith, who was an
amateur pilot, used to fly from Long Island, New York where he lived to Hadley Airport
in Plainfield. He would fly his young student to Long Island where the two of them
would make a day of it. After about six months of tutelage, Smith one day upon
delivering their son back to them announced to Mr. And Mrs. Leahey that he had taught
Harry all he could about the guitar, but that he would be happy to teach him to fly a
plane!9 Leahey, in 1968 during my second lesson with him, referred to those Johnny
Smith chords that no one can play. He then proceeded to play a beautiful chord melody
solo using those impossible chords. The influence of Smiths characteristic piano-like
voicings and moving inner lines can be heard in Leaheys solo recordings, such as Some
Other Time from Unaccompanied Guitar.
7 Summer 1991 All Music Harry on TV.
8 Conversation with Edie Eustice.
9 Conversation with Tom Anthony.
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Leahey attended North Plainfield High School from which he graduated in 1953.
At Christmas time of that year pianist Bill Evans, another Plainfield resident came home
on leave from the service. While he was home he and Leahey played together
informally.10 No recordings are known to exist of this encounter. Tom Anthony recalls at
least a couple more occasions when Leahey and Evans played together.
Harry Leahey and Tom Anthony practiced together every week, playing in the
chicken coop in the Anthony familys yard. Tom recalls that the two young musicians
played together once a week but after a while Harry began to show up more frequently.
Tom then observed that Harry was paying more and more attention to his younger sister,
Karen.
In their junior or senior year of high school, Leahey and Anthony met another
musician who would profoundly influence them and with whom they would share many
professional experiences. Drummer and singer Richie Moore was deeply into jazz and the
music of performers like Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. Moore educated the
impressionable young musicians about music other than Les Paul and Mary Ford. At the
same time, Sunshine was becoming discouraged with music. Harry, who studied with
great teachers and practiced constantly, was making great strides technically and was
performing challenging music. In one of their theater performances, the siblings
performed a specialty number Nola, the 1915 Felix Arndt piano novelty piano solo. The
arrangement was supposed to have the two guitarists trading phrases, with Harry taking
the first. Sunshine was unable to keep up. It was events like this that led to her leaving the
group and Harry and Tom to form a band with Richie Moore.
10 Conversation with saxophonist Bob Miller.
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Moore, Leahey, Anthony and pianist Romolo (Rom) Ferri became The Richie
Moore Four in around 1951. The Four was a professional, rehearsed band, complete with
promotional photos. Plainfield in the early 1950s had a thriving nightclub business. Route
22 was a busy strip with many clubs. The Four played club gigs doing the popular songs
of the day. In addition to his skill as a drummer, he taught other area drummers including
Ronnie Glick. Moore was a talented singer who excelled at the Frank Sinatra material
with which he had familiarized his young band mates. He was also a very entertaining
showman. Rom Ferri recalled that Moore would announce the group as Tom, Dick,
Harry and [pause] Romolo?
Plainfield in the early 1950s had two interesting characteristics. Its downtown
area was a well known central New Jersey shopping area. People would come from
surrounding towns to shop there. And it was a racially mixed town, with generally good
relations between the races. Plainfield had two record stores, Brooks Record Shop on
Watchung Ave near East 4th Street and Gregory's Music on Front Street. Gregorys dealt
primarily with the white clientele while Brooks dealt with the African American
clientele. In about 1952, Leahey who had been a patron of Gregorys became friendly
with Edie Linzer, an employee of the store. Edie, who is now Edie Eustice, recalls
Leahey as a shy, soft spoken jazz fan. She showed him a Johnny Smith record and asked
him if he liked Smith. Leahey told her he had studied with Smith. When she didnt
believe him he invited her to come hear him performing, adding that he would do some
Johnny Smith style playing. The two of them became good friends. Edie lent Leahey a 10
inch Django Reinhardt record. She doesnt recall if Harry had ever heard Reinhardt
before but does remember that he loved the record. The record was a collection of some
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of Reinhardts 1940s recordings. Two of the songs on it were Manoir de Mes Rves and
Nuages, both Reinhardt compositions. In a short time Leahey learned both songs and
incorporated them into his repertoire. Edie recalled that whenever she would go into a
club where Harry as performing, as soon as he saw her he would play Nuages for her. He
continued to perform both songs for the rest of his life. In fact, he recorded them both
with the Phil Woods Quintet in the late 1970s, Nuages as a solo vehicle on Song for
Sisyphus and Manoir de Mes Rves with the full band doing his arrangement on Live at
the Showboat.
Leahey didnt confine his musical studies to the guitar. In 1954 or 1955 Leahey
studied theory and harmony at Manhattan School of Music. Unfortunately the exact dates
are not available.11 At this time Manhattan School of Music did not yet have a jazz
program. It was at the urging of Rom Ferri that Leahey enrolled at Manhattan. Leahey
however was dissatisfied with this course of study and left after about one year. He chose
at that point to pursue his dual career as a teacher and performer and to study music, both
on his own and with private teachers.12
Throughout the early 1950s Leahey continued to work the local circuit with
Richie Moore as well as with other local groups. One of the clubs they worked was
Dudleys in West Orange, New Jersey. At Dudleys they had played Dixieland with and
augmented group. In the summer of 1955 the group was playing at the Cabana Club on
Eagle Rock Avenue also in West Orange. Stan Rubins Dixieland band, The Tigertown
Five had been booked to play on the Grote Beer (Great Bear), a ship that was sailing from
11 Email correspondence from David L. McDonagh, Registrar of Manhattan School of Music. February 09,
2006. 12
Conversation with Rom Ferri.
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Hoboken, NJ to Rotterdam, Holland. At the last minute The Tigertown Five had to back
out of the gig and Richie Moore was asked to fill in. Moore quickly put together a
Dixieland band, mostly made up of musicians who had played the Dudleys gig with him.
Moore and the group took a big chance taking this gig. The only compensation they
received for playing on the boat their passage. Since they had been booked on such short
notice, they had no work lined up in Europe. But they took the plunge. Upon arriving in
Rotterdam they debated whether to look for work in Paris or Copenhagen. They decided
on Paris. Once in Paris they played July 14th, Bastille Night on the streets of Paris. This
performance led to a gig at a club called Le Riverside near Notre Dame. It was at this
club that they met expatriate clarinetist Albert Nicholas who would sit in regularly with
the group. The Paris gig lasted through July. Now they needed another gig to finish out
the summer. Fortunately pianist Rom Ferris friend Tony Camillo was in the Army,
stationed in Frankfurt, Germany. Through him the group was able to get a booking at the
Topper Club, an officers club. The band members had to sneak onto the base and
pretend that they were authorized transients.
From 1960 to 1962 Leahey served in the United States Army. While in the Army
he played with Ira Sullivan. He also played saxophone in the Army Band. Edie Eustice
recalled Leaheys account of how he learned the saxophone on short notice. The band
needed a sax player. Leahey knew that if he could play with the band he would be
traveling and performing for the officers. So he applied for the position, stating that he
played the saxophone but did not have one. The director of the band got him one. Leahey
then spent one day with the instrument and by that evening had figured out how to play it
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enough to get into the band. In the spring of 1960 Tom Anthonys younger sister Karen
left home to join Leahey at Fort Dix. On May 4, 1960 the two of them were married.
Harry Leahey taught guitar from an early age. Glenn Davis who would become
the drummer in Leaheys trio recalls I think he was always teaching. Even when he was
a kid people told me that he used to teach. Cause Ritchie Moore taught too. There was a
place I used to teach in Westfield. And that was one of the places I think Harry you know
spent one day there and different places. But he was always teaching. He'd case load.
Like sixty plus a week.
By the 1960s Leahey had become well established both as a teacher and as a
player on the thriving New Jersey nightclub scene. Bassist Ronnie Naspo recalls working
with Leahey, both of them side musicians when still in their late teens or early twenties.
Naspo is a Montclair, New Jersey based bassist whose performing credits include work
with Bucky Pizzarelli and Vic Juris. He also served on the Faculty in the jazz program at
William Paterson University (then William Paterson State College). Naspo talks about
them being hired for commercial gigs that didn't turn out too commercial. By that
Naspo meant that he, Leahey and the other musicians would invariably infuse their own
jazz oriented personalities into whatever music they played. The earliest gig Naspo
recalled was in Seaside Heights, New Jersey at what he described as a young people's
club in the late 1950's or early 60's. He spoke of five and six night a week steady gigs
where he and Leahey would occasionally wind up together. He also stated that there
were lots of musicians in the Plainfield area and frequent jam sessions, particularly in
clubs on Route 22. When I asked Naspo what he felt distinguished the young Leaheys
playing most he replied his eighth note swing feel. Even on the early gigs he had that
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good swing feel. You know he played eighth note runs you could tell it was Harry cause
the eighth notes had a certain feel. And I've always admired that about Harry Subtly
different, but it's that subtle difference that gave him that really the infectious feeling that
he has.13 That subtle difference is evident in Leaheys later playing as well. For instance
in his solo on Djangos Castle, which is analyzed later in this paper, Leahey varies the
eighth note values from straight to varying degrees of swing values over an even eighth
note Bossa Nova rhythm section. He uses this as an added dimension in the same way he
uses dynamics and variety of timbre. Leaheys versatility was already apparent at this
time. In addition to playing commercial gigs featuring the pop tunes of the day and
playing jazz at jam sessions Leahey played Dixieland. Again Naspo: Harry did a
Dixieland thing around South Orange. Bob Miller was in it. We would go down and hear
them in the mid to late 50's. Dixieland was popular among young people.14
It was in the early 1960s that Leahey began several associations that would prove
to be extremely important to him. It was then that he met bassist Roy Cumming and
drummer Glenn Davis with whom he would later perform as the Harry Leahey Trio.
Cumming and Davis both have impressive playing credentials. Cumming has performed
with Teddy Wilson, Al Haig, Chick Corea, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Phil Woods, Booker
Ervin, Johnny Hartman, Sarah Vaughan, Tony Williams, Roy Haynes, Phil Markowitz
and others. Davis is Marion McPartlands long time drummer and has performed with
Stan Getz, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Phil Woods, Phil Markowitz and others. It was also this
association that would lead to Leahey becoming a member of the Phil Woods Quintet. In
13 From an interview with Ronnie Naspo.
14 From an interview with Ronnie Naspo.
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an October 12, 2005 interview Cumming and Davis shared their recollections of their
initial meeting and subsequent relationship with Leahey with me:
RC: We were just talking about the first time we met Harry. Glenn met him first.
GD: I met him first. I met him, I can't tell you the date, it was the early sixties
when he got out of the army and it was uh at Joe Cappowanna's club in Bound
Brook New Jersey, the Hideaway was across the tracks and I forget who I was, I
was telling Roy, I forget who I was sitting with but Tom Anthony was there with
Harry. They were sitting at the bar. It was during the week. And whoever I was
sitting with said, See that guy over there? He's a helluva guitar player. And I
looked over and these guys were all smashed (laughs) and giddy. And I said
which one? and he said well, they're both great guitar players but I mean the
one closest to us. And that's sort of when I met him. And then later when I was
doing the El Morocco gig with George Cort you know and Wayne Wright was on
the gig and there was, you know different guitar players subbing, I'd go out to
Jersey and I knew Harry was playing at the Alibi on Route 22. Ring a bell?
FP: Yeah I remember that club.
GD: Yeah. And he was playing with Hay Jackson, he was playing saxophone. The
band was so bad, he didn't really need to play guitar (laughs). So he was playing
saxophone which fit better with the band cause he didn't play the saxophone that
well. And I kept on telling Harry I'm playing with all these guys in New York,
you play much better than they do you know, I mean hello, you know.
FP: What was his response to that?
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GD: Well, Harry was like, he was always involved in Ritchie Moore, you know
local guys. Ritchie Moore Four which you know they used to do Hi-Los and
RC: Did Harry sing?
GD: Yeah.
RC: I didn't know that.
GD: They all sang.
RC: Wow.
GD: And they would do, what's that other band, the ones with singers? Not the
Hi-Los but
FP: The Four Freshmen?
GD: Yeah, The Four Freshmen. They used to cover The Four Freshmen. And they
were working five, six nights a week and they would rehearse and have all these.
FP: It would be great if there were any recordings of that.
GD: I don't remember, but I thought they were the greatest band cause every time
I'd go out they'd get off the wall And they would just you know they would just
be off the wall. They would do Dixieland tunes and Ritchie Moore would get up
on the bar. You know with a cymbal and they'd go around the bar walking
RC: Steal drinks
GD: (Laughs) Steal drinks.
RC: I remember those days.
FP: And that was just basically a regulation commercial band of the time.
GD: Yeah, but all friends.
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RC: They were all working six nights a week. That's what they were doing,
working all the time.
RC: First time I met Harry was down in Barry Miles' house I recall.
FP: When was that?
RC: This was like early sixties. Probably around sixty, maybe sixty three or four.
GD: And I don't know how many times we played before Harry started playing
with Mike, Mike Melillo and Roy.
RC: Well I played with him once before that before we played I think. Remember
John Dense? A great drummer who was around before he moved to California.
He's a brother, he married my sister. So, he had a night at The Cove. Like a
Monday night or something. And he said I've been hearing about this guitar
player Harry Leahey and I want to get him. So he calls him. And Harry says
sure he comes down and we played. In fact I brought my tape recorder. I
actually have a tape of that.
GD: And Mike was on that gig?
RC: No, it was a trio, guitar, bass and drums.
FP: So that was a jazz gig.
RC: Yeah. It was amazing, it was just great. I'll play it for you. I have that.
FP: If you can get me a copy of that I'd love to hear it.
RC: Yeah. I will. And that's the first time I actually met Harry. We had talked.
Because before that he was very shy. And we just said hello at Barry Miles. Just
so quiet, he didn't say anything.
FP: What were you doing at Barry's, a session?
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RC: Yeah. I think Barry was maybe just starting to play piano or something
maybe. I'm not sure if he was playing drums or piano. I can't remember. That was
way back. Cause his father used to call me. Cause Barry never called anybody.
GD: Barry was shy too.
RC: His father would call and say why don't you come down and play with
Barry? And I'd go down and play. But I remember meeting Harry and every
body saying so much about him. I remember liking his playing. And I remember
trying to talk to him at the end and he was just so painfully shy or something.
GD: Yeah he was shy.
RC: I remember leaving saying who is that guy?
GD: Who is that masked man?
RC: He was just so quiet. You couldn't get anything out of him. He wouldn't talk.
Way back then. The early sixties I guess.
Cumming goes on to describe the circumstances of Leaheys meeting with pianist
Mike Melillo:
RC: But then Mike called him, right Mike called him
GD: Yeah.
RC: to come out and play at the farm which he had from like 1970 to about '75 or
so.
FP: Did he know Mike earlier?
GD: Not really. He knew of him. Cause I mentioned that I was playing with Mike
and he aught to come up to the farm and play or something some time.
RC: That's right.
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GD: Because he was just doing commercial you know, commercial. Blue Hills
Manor. All this like Route 22 work you know I mean which was really not really I
mean he was so much better than that. I mean heads above that. And I always
tried to encourage him but (laughs) you know he always looked at me like I was
bullshitting.
FP: Why did he, did he do that because he didn't think he was you know
GD: Hard to say Flip.
RC: I think his kids and stuff.
GD: Yeah I was playing with Mike. I was hanging out and playing. Through Roy
I met Mike. And we did some gigs down the shore and I got Mike on it.
RC: That's right.
GD: Do you remember Lou Stewart?
FP: No.
GD: That name. He died of cancer but you know he was doing this gig down the
shore with this vocalist. And he said you know somebody who wants this gig?
Cause I'm teaching in the school and I'm wearing. He was sick. And he didn't say
he was sick. But you know he said. So I called Roy you know cause I'd heard
tapes of Mike and I said is he working? He said yeah he's not working but he's
a hard guy to get out of the house. Then I called him up and he went for it. It was
two or three nights a week. And that's how I met Mike and then I started playing
at the house and I don't know. You moved up there after Mike got divorced or
split or whatever.
RC: That's right, about a year.
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FP: Moved up to where?
RC: The farm.
GD: Allamuchy, that was north of Hackettstown. Off the main road, old farm
house. I mean a real farm, a working farm.
RC: Way off the road.
FP: Like the ones you see around here.
GD: They just rented the house. So it was a hang.
FP: Right.
RC: Perpetual session.
FP: Nice.
RC: Musicians every day.
FP: He was from Newark originally, right?
RC: He went to Arts High, went to Newark. Before that Mike was playing he
played with Sonny Rollins.
FP: He had played with Sonny Rollins before that?
RC: Before that. In '64 or '63. He was one of the first piano players I heard at the
Clifton Tap Room. That's how I met Mike at the Clifton Tap Room in the early
sixties. His first club, Amos's. And then I became friends with Mike. I knew him
you know through the years.
GD: I think I met you through John Scully, right? You came out to my studio.
RC: That's right.
GD: And played.
RC: That's right. That's when I just got out of the army.
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GD: And we did those things with Ritchie Bierach. Those sessions right?
(Laughs)
RC: That's right.
GD: (Laughs) its pretty out. Pretty out scenes.
RC: New York scene man.
GD: Yeah.
RC: That was really out. That's right, Glenn used to have this place you could
play. It was right next to a railroad track.
GD: An old switchman's shack. I had it for seven years. Cost me a hundred and
twenty five dollars a month rent.
RC: There was like an old upright piano in there.
GD: I had an old upright piano.
RC: And John Scully.
GD: A lot of history going down. (Laughs) A lot of hang after gigs.
RC: Probably Harry used to hang out there.
RC: I remember the first time Harry came up to Mike's. Man, he was just
amazing. First time those guys played it was like they played forever.
GD: They just hooked up.
RC: Piano and guitar is always like
FP: It can be a conflict.
RC: It can.
FP: But they locked in?
RC: It was amazing.
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GD: They just hooked up immediately.
RC: It was like boom. Mike was so gassed. That was the band. That was it!
GD: Yeah that was it.
FP: So that was the beginning of In Free Association?
RC: In Free Association.
GD: Pretty much.
RC: Absolutely.
Melillo, the son of a bass player, had played piano from the age of five. As Davis
stated he went Arts High School in Newark, New Jersey. In 1962 he received a BA in
music composition from Rutgers University, also in Newark. From 1962 to 1964 he
worked in the house trio at the Tap Room in Clifton, New Jersey with bassist Vinnie
Burke and drummer Eddie Gladden. It was with that trio that he first accompanied Phil
Woods. He then played with saxophonist Sonny Rollins from 1965 to 1967. He, Leahey,
Cumming, and Davis came together as In Free Association in 1970. In 1973 he moved to
the Pocono region of Pennsylvania. He, Woods, bassist Steve Gilmore, and drummer Bill
Goodwin then formed the Phil Woods Quartet 15
Leaheys association with Melillo led directly to his being asked to join the Phil
Woods Quintet, or rather to be added to the Phil Woods Quartet, making it a quintet.
Woods had moved to France in 1968. That same year he formed the quartet the
European Rhythm Machine which remained intact until 1972. After briefly leading an
experimental electronic quartet in Los Angeles Woods moved to Delaware Water Gap,
15 Barry Kernfeld: Melillo, Mike', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 24 August 2005),
.
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Pennsylvania. In October 1973 he formed his quartet with Melillo, Gilmore, and
Goodwin.16
In a September 25, 2005 interview Woods talked about adding Leahey to his
band:
FP: How did you meet Harry? Were you introduced to him by Mike Melillo?
PW: Yes, Mike Melillo introduced me to Harry. [He] brought him over. When I
first came back from Europe we used to have jam sessions over at Mike's house. I
was staying with Bill Goodwin at the time. And Steve Gilmore and Bill had been
working together a lot so we started jamming at Mike's house and he invited
Harry over and that's how we eventually formed the Quintet from those jam
sessions.
FP: Around when was that?
PW: Seventy four, seventy five, something like that. Mike, Bill and Steve and I
first started as a quartet. And then when we had the Showboat gig that's when we
added Harry because I had written a Brazilian Suite. I wanted to have the guitar
and I wanted to use the soprano and I thought the soprano and the guitar would
work well. So that's how that all happened. The Showboat album was kind of a
catalyst for adding guitar. And we used percussion too on that.17
16 Barry Kernfeld: Woods, Phil', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 24 August 2005),
. 17
From an interview with Phil Woods.
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The album to which Woods refers, "Live From The Showboat recorded in
November of 1976 and released in 1977, won the group a Grammy award. The album
won the award for best live jazz performance. Leahey considered this award the high
point of his career.18 The album also received a five star review in Down Beat Magazine.
Writer Russell Shaw was positively effusive in his praise of the band and the album. He
starts by stating that he is rarely moved to superlatives and then proceeds to heap them
on the album. He praises the audience at The Showboat and then compares the band,
most favorably to the overrated European Rhythm Machine stating that they were
glorying in wave after wave of musical triumph. He singles Woods out as
consummately masterful. He does add some praise for the sidemen but confines his
discussion of Leahey to the phrase not forgetting the Djangoish guitar of Harry
Leahey.19 Regrettably this comment does justice to neither Django Reinhardt nor Harry
Leahey. However it was at least positive and no doubt well meant.
Sadly Leaheys wife, Karen was in the early stages of the illness that would
eventually take her life at the time that Phil Woods had offered Leahey the spot in the
band. Leaheys daughter Deborah recalls that her mother insisted that he go on tour with
the band.
The 1970s was a busy time for Leahey. During the time period when he began his
associations with Melillo and Woods he maintained an extremely busy teaching schedule
and continued to perform with local commercial groups. One night he would be playing
Bebop, the next night he would be playing a Carlos Santana solo (both to perfection.) It
18 Richard Skelly. December 2, 1988 The Home News He keeps on pluckin.
19 Russell Shaw. October 20, 1977 Down Beat Magazine p. 28 Record Reviews.
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was during this time that he also began working regularly with bassist Ronnie Naspo. In
this October 3, 2005 interview Naspo recalls this period:
RN: I think my main association w/ Harry started in the seventies. It was from a
job I did with Harry that I met Bucky. Harry and I, when we were playing as a
duo got a job at Gullivers, Amos's guitar night -- It was our first guitar night
there and we had prepared some stuff --
FP: When was that?
RN: Closest I can come is the seventies -- we go and we set up, a little uneasy, I
was a little uneasy -- respected jazz club and I knew that a lot of players came in,
guitar players to hear Harry. So we're just getting set up we're on the stand -- the
end of the bar was directly in front of the bandstand, about six feet away -- with
just a few minutes tuning up, whatever, getting things set up and who comes in
but Bucky Pizzarelli and Les Paul and sit right down in front -- Les Paul was one
of my heroes, and one of Harry's too -- so we did what we did -- they were very
cordial -- they had to respect what Harry did, cause he was such a wonderful
player
FP: They must have known about him.
RN: Yeah, they, hey let's check this guy out -- Harry at that point, his name
was around -- Then we continued to play together as a duo. That started cause I
started taking lessons from him.20
Comparing Harry as a teacher to the old school of guitar teaching, as taught by his
first teacher Mickey Vest, Naspo said this: "The chord studies I got with Mickey were
20 Interview with Ronnie Naspo.
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like Mel Bay, the barre chord book. But with Harry, I guess he got it from Sandole, the
five different systems of chords, the sets. My jazz training with Mickey was we would
play duets. And he would play a chorus and then I would [pause] attempt. He said just
keep listening and keep trying. That was my jazz education -- He didn't talk about the
relationship of a specific type of scale to a specific type of chord -- Thats what jazz
education was at that point, when he was a young fellow, nothing, listen to the records
and try to copy them, figure it out, sort of. Cause he could play jazz. But Lord knows how
those guys learned it, strictly by ear. There were no methods.
The Gullivers that Naspo referred to was Amos Kaunes club in West Paterson,
New Jersey. In the early 1970s and into the early 1980s Gullivers was the biggest jazz
club in northern New Jersey. Kaunes first club, the Clifton Tap Room was where bassist
Roy Cumming had first met pianist Mike Melillo. In 1970 Kaune started a Monday guitar
night. Leahey was regularly featured on Monday guitar night. His growing reputation and
large number of students assured a busy night every time he appeared there. The night
was so successful that it was written up in Guitar Player Magazine. When interviewed for
the article Kaune singled out Leahey among the many guitarists who appeared there.
One of the most popular jazz rooms among guitarists on the east coast is a tavern
called Gulliver's. Located in West Paterson, New Jersey, about twenty miles from
New York City, the club presents jazz seven nights a week. And this room,
opened in 1970, has been the home away from home for many outstanding jazz
guitarists.
The setting is a warm and handsome one, dominated by a huge rectangular bar.
The bandstand, off in a corner, can be easily seen from any part of the room. The
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tables along the walls are made from shuffle boards which were cut and polished
by the club's owner, Amos Kaune.
Walls are lined with pictures of the various jazz musicians who have worked there
over the past couple of years. The piano is lighted by a bulb in the bell of a
trumpet which hangs from the ceiling, and the rest of the room is just as dimly lit.
The whole feeling is one of intimacy, a good background for the listening
audience.
Monday nights are reserved for jazz guitarists to perform. Week in and week out,
Guitar Night is one of Gulliver's' biggest attractions. Amos Kaune admits that not
only is it one of his best weeknights, but it's when he gets a chance to hear his
favorite instrument, the guitar.
What gave you the idea to make Mondays into Guitar Nights?
In prior years, here and at the last place I owned, I had tremendous success with
guitarists, and a lot of guitar players came to hear one another. On Mondays at my
old place we used to feature recognized jazz people, but somehow we always did
better with guitarists. We brought in Tal Farlow. Chuck Wayne, Jim Hall, Kenny
Burrell and Attila Zoller among others. Because of that previous success, I
brought Guitar Night to Gulliver's.
Which guitarists have you featured here?
We've had Pat Martino, Chuck Wayne, Joe Puma, Joe Cinderella, Skeeter Best
and some local players. The one who stands out most in my mind, though, is
Harry Leahey. Everyone who has heard him play agrees that he is the Johnny
Smith of the Seventies.
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Which ones have been the biggest Monday night draws?
They've all done quite well, even local guitarists like Jimmy DeAngelis and Pat
Mahoney who are two excellent players who just need breaks. The biggest
Mondays were ones when we featured Pat Martino, Harry Leahey, Bucky
Pizzarelli and the combination of Chuck Wayne with Joe Puma.21
In April 1973 Leahey was involved in Don Sebeskys Giant Box project. Sebesky,
who along with Bob James was a house arranger for Creed Taylors CTI label had
assembled an all-star cast for this ambitious project. This double LP featured such CTI
stars as flutist Hubert Laws, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, saxophonist Joe Farrell and
guitarist George Benson. Leahey is heard, albeit faintly on a medley of Igor Stravinskys
Firebird and John McLaughlins Birds Of Fire. For this recording Yamaha custom built a
twelve -string guitar for Leahey to play. The guitar is currently in the possession of James
Leahey, Leaheys older son and an excellent guitarist in his own right. Unfortunately
Leaheys work on this track is confined to section playing. In fact, the twelve-string
guitar could easily be mistaken for a harpsichord. Leahey told me that Sebesky had
recorded a tribute to Wes Montgomery, another CTI artist who had died 1968. Sadly that
track was not released. One can only speculate as to the effect that performance might
have had on Leaheys career.
In 1974 Leahey began teaching guitar at William Paterson University (then
William Paterson College) in the jazz program. He was one of the first adjuncts in jazz.
He continued to teach there until 1988.
21 Robert Yelin April 1973 Guitar Player Magazine Two unique nightclub experiments that worked.
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Another musician that Leahey worked with around this time was saxophonist Eric
Kloss. Again Cumming and Davis:
RC: We used to do gigs at a place called Richard's Lounge. Way back in the early
seventies.
FP: With Eric?
RC: In Free Association, and Eric.
GD: And Eric. Yeah. Actually I think we got our foot in the door with Eric. Eric
came out to the farm a couple of times and played just you know just session. And
then he got the gig down there and he hired us as a rhythm section. Bad move.
(Laughs)
FP: Why do you say that?
GD: Cause we were so out.
RC: It was like anarchy.
GD: Yeah. We were so out. Poor Eric was on his own.
RC: Mike liked to do certain tunes and that was it. That was the tunes we did.
Basically that's what we did. (Laughs)
FP: And if Eric called tunes that Mike didn't want to do.
RC: Well, all my tapes are of all the stuff that we did with Free Association.
GD: Yeah. I have some things with Eric but they were with Harry, at Wallace's.
FP: At Wallace's?
RC: And also at Gulliver's. I remember playing a couple of gigs with Harry and
Eric at the first Gulliver's. 22
22 From an interview with Roy Cumming and Glenn Davis.
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Leahey also performed with pianist John Coates. He appears with Coates on the
1981 OmniSound LP Pocono Friends. From 1974 to 1978 drummer Buddy
Deppenschmidt led a band called Jazz Renaissance which at various times included
Coates, Richie Cole, Mike Melillo, and the guitarist Harry Leahey.23
In the mid 1970s Leahey also performed with bassist Jack Six. The duo made
several appearances at Sweet Basils in New York City. When guitarist John Scofield left
Gerry Mulligan in 1976 Six recommended Leahey to Mulligan. Six recollects that
Mulligan was knocked out by Leahey, who subsequently performed with his band at
five or six engagements. Deborah Leahey recalls seeing her father with Mulligan at
Carnegie Hall but no documentation has surfaced as to the date of that concert.
Harry Leahey did perform at Carnegie Hall with the Phil Woods Quintet. As part
of the Newport Jazz Festival, the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra and the Phil Woods
Quintet shared the bill at a midnight concert on June 28, 1977. Unfortunately the New
York Times review the groups performance received was somewhat less than favorable.
Writer John S. Wilson said that Woods was in high virtuoso form on both alto and
soprano saxophones but that his group seemed bland by comparison, serving him with
strong support for his solos but not finding any solo ideas of its own that could stand up
against Mr. Woodss.24 Apparently Wilson felt that the Phil Woods Quintet had gone
very far downhill in a very short period of time. About one month earlier he had written
of the band Phil Woods, who has been a consistently interesting jazz saxophone soloist
for the last two decades, while he played, for the most part, with pickup groups is now
23 Barry Kernfeld: 'Deppenschmidt, Buddy', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 24 August 2005), . 24
John S. Wilson New York Times Jun 30, 1977 Newport Jazz: Vibrant Virtuosos.
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leading a quintet that functions as an ensemble rather than merely a backdrop for his
solos. At Hopper's, Avenue of the Americas at 11th Street, where the quintet is appearing
this week and next, Mr. Woods, playing alto and soprano saxophones, Mike Melillo on
piano and Harry Leahy[sic] on guitar, develop ensemble passages, backed by Steve
Gilmore, bass, and Bill Goodwin, drums, that are unusual in this generally solo-
dominated music. Like the Modern Jazz Quartet, the group as a whole is as important as
the individual members. And when the soloists enter, they sustain the level of interest
established by the ensemble.25
In 1978 Leahey left the Phil Woods Quintet. Again Woods:
Harry didn't stay with us that long. Harry was not a road rat. He made a couple of
tours, but he actually was a family man and he preferred teaching. He preferred
staying home and teaching. He didn't like those long days in the motel room
watching CNN. That was not his bag. And I can dig it.26
The May 19, 1978 issue of the Courier-News ran a feature on Harry Leahey
entitled Guitar teacher Harry Leahey looks at his performing as just a hobby, written by
staff writer Kenneth Best. Best refers to Leahey as a musician who is most at home
conveying his knowledge to students rather than performing on stage. He quotes Leahey
as referring to live performing a hobby. According to Leahey in this article he had been
added to the group for the Live at the Showboat album at the request of producer Norman
Schwartz and was originally just supposed to do the album. Leaheys humility and
respect for Woods came out in his statements that It took me a while to get used to
25 John S. Wilson New York Times May 26, 1977 Jazz: Phil Woods 5.
26 From an interview with Phil Woods.
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playing with Phil. He had been someone that I had listened to for years. I had a hard time
holding my pick. Anyone who had ever seen Leahey play live could attest to the fact
that he certainly had no trouble holding his pick! The article goes on to describe the
making of Song for Sisyphus, released in 1978 by Gryphon but listed in the article as a
Century release. The album was recorded direct-to-disk meaning that the group had to the
entire set with no mistakes! Again Leahey: We had to make three (disk) masters because
each one can only produce a limited number of copies. It took us 11 hours and there were
many starts. The music is all the stuff we were playing on the road, but it was still
difficult. Deborah Leahey stated that her father did not enjoy recording. This session
must have been quite a chore for him. On this album he contributes a beautiful solo
rendition of Django Reinhardts Nuages as well as burning solos on the title track and
several others. Although the article does not give an exact date to Leaheys departure
from Woodss band it states that earlier this year [he] had to decide whether to stay on
the road for the 200 days per year Woods required or return full time to his students and
his family. Leahey of course chose the latter. His explanation for his decision is a sad
commentary on the musicians lot in the field of jazz performance. One must look at his
statement in light of the fact that he was performing with a winner of the Down Beat,
Playboy and Metronome polls and with a Grammy Award winning band. It was a really
great year. I think my playing improved and I learned more in that time than in all my
years studying. But to survive playing jazz and trying to support a family is difficult.
Being on the road all the time is not always a very good life. It takes tremendous energy.
Most of the (jazz) money today is in the schools. He goes on to give a plug to a gig he is
holding down on Thursday s at a club called TJs in Meyersville, NJ. Upon his return
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from the road, Leahey found the demand for his tutelage extremely high. Now Im
teaching five days a week, sometimes 12 hours a day. At the time of this article he had
recently recorded with Michel LeGrand on the LeGrand Jazz album released in 1978 on
the Gryphon label. 27
After Leahey stopped touring with the Phil Woods Quintet, he resumed playing
with his In Free Association band mates Cumming and Davis. It was this band that was at
TJs (although neither Davis nor Cumming remembered the name of the club.). From the
October 12, 2005 interview:
GD: So then we started rehearsing again.
FP: So that's about '78.
RC: Yeah exactly.
GD: Yeah. Then we went into The Golden Putter. I think that was the first gig.
We had
RC: That's right. Steady gig for a year.
GD: What night was that anyway? It was a Thursday night?
RC: It was a Wednesday or Thursday.
GD: Wednesday or Thursday. And we got, we built that to the point where she
added a Sunday, a matinee Sunday. But she had two bars going. And we still
couldn't get any
RC: With two bands. They had a band after us.
27 Kenneth Best May 19, 1978 The Courier-News Guitar teacher Harry Leahey looks at his performing as
just a hobby.
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GD: We still couldn't get any money out of her. Every time we'd go in the room
she'd start whispering right. (Whispers) "Oh I can't do that right now. I wish I
could. You're certainly deserving." We couldn't get (laughs) and she's making lots
of money. At the same time you know I was trying to interest Yosho Inomaha into
doing something with OmniSound.
RC: Shawnee Records.
GD: Shawnee enterprises.
RC: That was the record company.
GD: Subdivision of Fred Warings press. And John Coates was doing all this
recording and John loved Harry.
RC: Cause they played together years ago.
GD: They played together too. John was instrumental and I kept on Yosho and
that's how that recording came. But it took him over a year. We were ready a year
before that.
RC: We were really hot on that stuff.
GD: We were hot. We actually weren't playing that material that we have on the
record. We had sort of moved on from that. So we had to go back and like sort of
redo it. You know, work it up again.
RC: We always felt that we had played that stuff better a year before we made
that record.
GD: Yeah I think we had.
FP: But that is a great record.
RC: Yeah everybody likes that record.
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FP: That record really holds up.
GD: Yeah it does hold up. We've actually listened to it lately. (laughs)
RC: Yeah because we wanted to make a CD of it. Cause the masters are gone.
FP: Didn't you tell me that you found a pristine copy of it?
RC: Yeah. So I brought it to a friend who's got a really high class system.
FP: The thing about your trio that was so great was that it was in the tradition but
it was extending the tradition. It was modern but it was not out. Just like a logical
extension.
GD: Right. Using all the elements. We did a concert in '85 or '86, something like
that up in
RC: Rochester?
GD: Rochester at a college and we did a concert with a choir. Mainly trio and
then a couple things they'd arranged for choir. Still Waters.
RC: The musical director arranged them.
GD: And the next day we did a workshop. I worked with drummers and Harry did
this thing about how you could play on notes, predominant notes in the chorus
and kept changing the ways that you could play off all this stuff. And we were
just looking at him like (laughs) what?28
The 1980s began with great promise for Leahey. His association with Phil Woods
including his participation on a Grammy Award winning LP had given him greater name
recognition. As he had stated in the Courier-News article he was now carrying a
28 From an interview with Roy Cumming and Glenn Davis.
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tremendous teaching load. In addition to his private students he served on the faculty in
the jazz program at William Paterson University. He was also playing a fair number of
jazz gigs. Listings in the New York Times announce performances with his trio, with Ron
Naspo and as a soloist. In March of 1981 Leahey was profiled in the Newark
Star-Ledger. George Kanzler was the papers jazz critic. In the article Kanzler states that
while Leaheys name doesnt appear in the Encyclopedia of Jazz, the omission is an
error on the part of the encyclopedias editors for, Harry Leahey is a terrific jazz guitarist
and the leader of one of the finest small combos in this area as well as a near legendary
guitar teacher who has influenced dozens of younger jazz and rock guitarists in New
Jersey. He then goes on to praise a performance by Leaheys trio with a guest
appearance by saxophonist Leo Johnson. He singles out a rendition of Sweet and
Lovely. Of note in this profile is the statement from Leahey that when he studied with
Johnny Smith, Smith liked me so much he never took a dime from me.29
On June 30, 1981 Leahey performed at the sixth annual jazz picnic sponsored by
the New Jersey Jazz Society and presented as part of the Kool Jazz Festival. He appeared
as part of the Don Elliot Quintet which also included pianist Derek Smith. The set was
called a bright contrast to the dominant traditional tone of the day and was noted for
performances of My Funny Valentine and Heres that Rainy Day.30 He continued to
be featured at Gullivers. Other venues that featured Leahey included the Plainfield
Public Library; Seton Hall University, where on March 25, 1982 his trio split the bill with
a duo of his brother in law Tom Anthony and his son James Leahey performing classical
29 Joseph F Sullivan June 30, 1981 The New York Times Twenties Classics Recreated in Jersey In a
Festive Part of Jazz Festival. 30
George Kanzler March 8, 1981 The Newark Star-Ledger A family man by day and top artist by night.
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duets; William Paterson College; the William Carlos Williams Center in Rutherford, New
Jersey; the Unitarian Fellowship in Morristown, New Jersey and the Small World Jazz
Caf in Hoboken, New Jersey. On March 18, 1984 Leahey gave a solo concert at the
Oldwick, New Jersey Community Center. That concert was recorded and contains
versions of I Concentrate on You, St. Louis Blues, Stardust, My Funny
Valentine, C Jam Blues, Embraceable You, You Stepped out of a Dream, All the
Things You Are, Strings and Things and Satin Doll. In these performances Leahey
displays his mastery of the solo jazz guitar idiom. In his melody statements and
improvised choruses he moves effortlessly between block chords, single notes, octaves,
melodies with chord accompaniments and two and three part polyphony. In St. Louis
Blues he moves the melody seamlessly between registers, from the treble accompanied
by lower chords to the bass with chords on the top, much as a pianist might. He opens
My Funny Valentine with a classically influenced arrangement that takes full
advantage of open strings within rich chords. He then plays a chorus of melody as a waltz
followed by and improvised chorus containing all the aforementioned elements. A
modulation up a whole step leads into the out chorus with a tag in 3/4 time. Although the
influences of Wes Montgomery, Barney Kessel, Joe Pass and Johnny Smith are evident
Leahey never imitates. Even while playing within the tradition of these great players he
always maintains his own unique identity. In both the melody and improvised choruses of
C Jam Blues he turns the guitar into a miniature big band.
Between 1984 and 1986, in addition to leading the Harry Leahey Trio, performing
solo and performing with Ronnie Naspo, Leahey performed with a trio consisting of
himself, organist Dave Braham and drummer Ronnie Glick. Glick, a Plainfield native had
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moved back to North Plainfield. Within two weeks of having moved there he noticed a
sign outside of Jones Chateau, a local club about six blocks from his house at 44
Watchung Avenue in Plainfield, advertising live organ trio jazz. He went into the club
and found that he knew the clubs owner, Willie Jones, from the Newark, New Jersey
jazz club scene. Glick had worked for Jones when he was the manager of the Cadillac
club. The two of them struck up a conversation. Jones knew who Harry Leahey was and
Glick told him that he could bring an organ trio into the club. Jones booked the trio for a
steady Tuesday night. After about a year he added Thursday nights. The group continued
at the club for about three years until an incident in the club, unrelated to the band
brought the gig to an end. In fact this (unspecified) incident put the club under and it
folded shortly after the band left. In 1985 Leahey suffered a heart attack. During his
recovery guitarists Vinnie Corrao, Bob DeVos and others subbed for him. Leaheys quick
recovery allowed him to return to the gig after a few weeks. During the trios extended
gig at Jones Chateau musicians, both local and well known, would stop by to hear the
trio. Fortunately there exist a small number of recordings of this group. In these
recordings one can hear an extremely cohesive and swinging group. All three musicians
contribute equally to the overall sound and demonstrate their abilities both as ensemble
players and as true virtuosi in the jazz idiom. Leahey is featured on Body and Soul. He
proves in this performance that his harmonic, melodic and rhythmic mastery of jazz
guitar were second to no one. During this time period the group also performed regularly
at OConnors in on 1719 Amwell Road in Somerset, New Jersey. In addition to trio gigs
the group also hosted a guest artist series. The headliners who appeared with the group
were Al Cohn, who did two evenings with the trio, David (Fathead) Newman and Lou
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Donaldson. Again, fortunately, a recording survives of the Donaldson performance.
Performing tunes such as Charlie Parkers Billies Bounce the four musicians dont sound
like a star with a local house rhythm section, but like four peers, four masters of jazz.
Other venues where Leahey performed in the 1980s included The Cornerstone in
Metuchen, New Jersey, where he played as a duo with Ronnie Naspo and with cornetist
Warren Vach.
On November 8, 1987 Karen Leahey succumbed to a long illness and died. This
was the second blow to a man for whom the future had looked so bright a few short years
earlier.
On April 24 1988 Leahey participated in a concert with pianist Derek Smiths
sextet. The concert was at the Hunterdon Hills Playhouse in Hampton, New Jersey. The
group also included trumpeter Randy Sandke, saxophonist Harry Allen, bassist John
Goldsby and drummer Chuck Riggs. The concert had been presented by the New Jersey
Jazz Society. Afterwards he went to visit his old friend Edie. After spending the evening
together he told her that he would call her and he left. The next day he went to the VA
Hospital in Watchung, NJ where he was diagnosed with stage-four cancer. Four days
later Edie asked singer Rosemary Conti if she had seen Leahey. Rosemary told her that
Leahey was still in the hospital recovering from surgery. Leahey began to study
macrobiotic cooking as a way to help him fight his illness but it was Edie and Leaheys
mother who did the cooking.
Harry Leahey had touched many peoples lives and there were several benefits
held to raise money to help defray his medical expenses. On June 5, 1988 a marathon
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benefit concert was held at The Strand Music Mall in Hackettstown, New Jersey. Among
the participants were Phil Woods, pianist Barry Miles and guitarist Vic Juris. On July 11,
1988 there was a benefit concert at Gullivers in Lincoln Park, New Jersey. Among the
performers were guitarists Tal Farlow and Vic Juris, saxophonists Bennie Wallace, Harry
Allen and Tom Hamilton, clarinetist Kenny Davern, pianists Keith MacDonald, Morris
Nanton and Rio Clemente, singers Grover Kemble and Kit Moran and others.
Harry Leahey had expressed that he wished, like saxophonist Al Cohn, to play
right up to the end. Between his diagnosis and his death he performed regularly at
Trumpets in Montclair, New Jersey at Caf DAngelico, also in Montclair, New Jersey
and numerous other venues including Zanzibar in New York City. During this time
period he frequently performed in a duo setting with bassists Gary Mazzaroppi and Rick
Crane as well as with his trio. He was the first call sub for guitarist Tal Farlow, whose
base of activity was the New Jersey shore. He also got together with veteran jazz guitarist
Chuck Wayne for informal sessions. On September 15, 1989 he performed at the
Watchung Arts Center in Watchung, New Jersey. On June 8, 1990 he performed there
again in a duo with Gary Mazzaroppi. Readers of the June 1990 Watchung Arts Center
newsletter were advised to make reservations for this performance. When Harry Leahey
picks up his guitar, the packed hall goes quiet. His nimble fingers dance over the strings
in seemingly effortless sweeps. Yet the sound that emerges is lively, circling around the
melody as he improvises his own interpretations of recognizable tunes. At the end of the
evening, the crowd is reluctant to let him go. On June 24, 1990 he participated in
George Weins JVC Jazz Festival performing in the Super Jazz Picnic in Waterloo
Village, Stanhope, New Jersey. Leahey shared the bill with such players as Flip Phillips,
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Dave McKenna, Jake Hanna, Kenny Davern, Frank Vignola, Randy Sandke, Ken
Peplowski, Buck Clayton and others. On Monday, July 16, 1990 Leahey made his last
appearance with In Free Association at Trumpets. On Saturday, July 28, 1990 he
performed at Caf DAngelico with Gary Mazzaroppi. Mazzaroppi says His playing was
brilliant despite a fluid retention problem that made him swollen and uncomfortable. It
was impossible for Harry to ever sound bad.31 The following day Leahey entered Robert
Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J. On Sunday August 12, 1990
Harry Leahey died.
Although he received very little critical acclaim, fellow musicians were
unanimous in their praise for Harry Leahey. A few representative quotes: Harry was a
master. Glenn Davis. The most complete guitarist I ever heard Vinnie Corrao. I
was flabbergasted by his playing Warren Vach. He was the top of the heap. He was
the best guitar player that I had ever played with and I played with every [one] Phil
Woods. I dont think therell ever be another Harry Leahey. Jack Six. He was a
great guitarist and a very beautiful man. Leo Johnson.
Over the course of a thirty year career as New Jerseys premier guitar teacher
Leahey taught literally thousands of students, many of whom went on to successful
careers. Among his former students are Vic Juris, Bob DeVos, Jon Herington, Warren
Vach, Jack Six, Walt Bibinger, Larry Barbee, Chuck Loeb, Jeff Mironov, Donovan
Mixon and Tom Kozic.
31 Summer 1991 All Music And the music was unforgettable.
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In addition to his devotion to music, the guitar and to his family Harry Leahey
was also an intellectually curious man with a deep interest in spirituality and philosophy.
Deborah Leahey told me that both of his parents were well read and would have
philosophical discussions long into the night. Because of this, and because of his
somewhat portly physique, Leahey was affectionately known to friends as The Buddha
of jazz. In fact bassist Roy Cumming wrote a tune in dedication to Leahey called The
Buddha.
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The Harry Leahey Chord Method
For this discussion of Harry Leaheys approach to teaching chordal playing on the guitar
I have drawn from lessons which he gave to me in the late 1960s and early 1970s and from
conversations with two of his former students, Walt Bibinger and Larry Maltz. I am grateful to
them for their help putting this together.
Leahey taught a system of chords built on five groups of four strings to which he gave
letter designations from A to E. With the highest string (in pitch) as 1 and the lowest as 6, the sets
were: A: 6432, B: 5432, C: 5321, D: 6543 and E: 4321. The basis of the system was five types of
seventh chords. Here in Leaheys own hand is his explanation of the derivation of the chord types
or qualities:
Although there are five chord sets, there are only two distinct sets of voicings. The
voicings of letter A are duplicated by letter C and letters B, D and E are all the same voicing.
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The chord study began with the progression C Major 7th, A minor 7th, D minor 7th, G7th.
The chords are to be learned as a progression in four positions and as four chords in four
inversions each. The following pages illustrate the chord progression worked out in five chord
sets. Each set is represented by a grid. The grids rows are the progression and its columns are the
chord inversions.
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The following pages illustrate the five seventh types worked out in all five chord sets.
Each set is represented by a grid. The grids rows are the five chord types and its columns are the
chord inversions. Although the sets are shown together they are meant to be studied individually,
each one mastered before going on to the next one.
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The next step towards mastery of a chord set is a series of root exercises which consist
of, in four inversions each CM7, FM7, BbM7, etc. through the circle of fifths. This is repeated for
each of the 7th chord types. Short chord progressions are given to figure out. Here is an example:
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Dm7 (#5), G7 (b5), CM7 (b5), CM7 (#5). Each chord is to be played in four inversions and the
progression is to be played in four positions.
From the 7th chords the 9th, 11th and 13th chords are derived as follows. Ninth chords are
built by replacing the root with the 2nd, 11th chords are built by replacing the 3rd with the 4th and
13th chords are built by replacing the 5th with the 6th. Once the student has learned the 9th, 11th and
13th chords the progressions become more complex as this next example illustrates: Fm (M7),
Bb7 (b5 b9), EbM13 11, cm11 (#5).
Harry Leahey stated his philosophy of teaching in an interview published in the Home
News, a Plainfield area newspaper. Most of the time what Im dealing with is mechanics. Since I
lean toward improvisation, I like to give the student a tune to play as soon as I feel he can handle
it. With guitar, you can go on teaching the mechanical and technical aspects for years. You can
take scales and go on to modes and intervals, and the student can have all this knowledge and still
not know how to play a tune.32 Here an example of a tune from a lesson he gave to me in late
1968.
32 Richard Skelly December 2, 1988 The Home News He keeps on pluckin.
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Standard songs such as Tenderly would be harmonized using these chord forms by
playing the melody on the highest string and finding the chord voicings that went under the
melody notes. While harmonizing a song using just one group of strings can necessitate awkward
leaps and occasional register changes, it opens the door to rich chord melody arrangements. Using
this system it is possible to create instant arrangements that are serviceable and often sound
great right out of the box.
After the student had done all five sets, Leahey would write out simple melodies with
chord progressions to harmonize with the melody on each of the six strings, using set C for the
first string, B for the second string, D for the third string, E for the forth string, C for the fifth
string and A for the sixth string. The first three combinations had the melody in the treble note of
the chords, the other three in the bass notes. Here is an example assignment and its solutions.
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Harry Leahey once told me that it is not how many chords you know, but how you use
the chords you know that is important. While it is certainly true that a guitarist can make
wonderful music with a limited chord vocabulary, in the hands of a creative musician the
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encyclopedic knowledge with which the diligent student of this system will be rewarded can
provide the basis for beautiful harmonic explorations.
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Analysis of Harry Leaheys solo on Djangos Castle (Manoir de Mes Rves)
Harry Leaheys solo on Djangos Castle (Django Reinhardt) from Live From
The Showboat by the Phil Woods Six (1977) RCA LP 12": BGL2-2202 is a masterpiece
of construction and motivic development. He uses Reinhardts melody as a point of
departure and builds upon it in extremely creative ways. While he doesnt use any of
Reinhardts signature licks, his glissandi, tremolos, bent notes, etc, his improvisation
stays connected to the melody throughout, sometimes in very subtle ways. His uses of
motives and contour give the entire solo coherence. His approach to the song is
dramatically different from Reinhardts. Where Reinhardt played the song as a slow,
Swing style ballad, Leahey gives it a Bossa Nova treatment. He retains the original key of
D Major. In the early part of the structure Leahey uses the same chords as Reinhardt but
alters the harmonic rhythm. Later he introduces chord substitutions. Even when his
chords go the furthest from the original they always sound inside and logical within the
framework of the song.
Reinhardts melody, as recorded by Django Reinhardt on February 17, 1943 for
the Swing record label and reproduced here, is based on an ascending two note motive
which is answered by a descending motive. Both motives are stretched out over two
measures. The theme is almost entirely built on this pattern, with decorative figures in the
half cadence at mm 12-16 and two ascending motives in the climax at mm 25-28. The
harmonic rhythm of the song, starting with the half note pickup note up to the last eight
measures at m 25, consists of a chord lasting two beats followed by a chord lasting for six
beats. This harmonic rhythm follows the melodic rhythm. At mm 25-28 the chords
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sustain for eight beats each. Finally at mm 29-30 there are two chords per measure, two
beats each. Measures 31-32 are essentially the tonic chord with two fill-in color chords at
beats three and four of m 31. For the first twenty four measures of his solo Leahey
employs the same chords as Reinhardt but alters the harmonic rhythm. Instead of the
repeating short/long pattern he smoothes out the rhythm and gives each chord four beats.
Measures 25-28 of the melody are the climax At this point the harmony consists of two
measures of the IV chord and two measures of the II7 chord. At this point, where
Reinhardt has slowed the harmonic rhythm, Leahey speeds it up. The two measures of
GMaj become one measure of GMaj7 followed by one measure of Em7. The rhythmic
momentum is heightened by a scale wise descending bass line from G to D in half notes,
effectively doubling the harmonic rhythm. At m 27, instead of progressing to an E7 chord
as Reinhardt does, Leahey continues the movement of the bass to a C#, as the root of a
C#m11 chord. This chord lasts for two beats and acts as a secondary ii chord to B minor,
the relative minor to the songs tonality. The C#m leads to an F#7, a secondary V chord
to B minor. In m 28 Leahey progresses to a B minor chord for two beats, and finally in
the second half of the measure to the E7 chord that was in the original. This entire two
measure sequence of chords has served as a way of delaying the entry of the E7 harmony.
In Leaheys melody statement he keeps the F# melody note as a common tone over this
series of chords. It is worth mentioning that this sequence of chords appears in the same
place in Richard Rogerss My Romance. Whether this was intentional on Leaheys part
will never be known. Measures 29-30 of the original contain a chromatic sequence of
#iim7 #V7 iim7 V7 leading to the final cadence. At this point Leahey applies an
interesting substitution. Where Reinhardt leads to the ii V from a half step above, Leahey
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puts a bivm7 bII7 progression in m31. He has used the chromatic ii V movement but
moved a half step down from Bm7 E9 sequence in m 28. Since Bbm7 and Eb7 are a
tritone away from Em7 and A7, this pair of chords serves as a substitute for the ii V
progression in D Major. Since the melody note in m 29 is an F it fits perfectly on top of
these substitute chords. In m 30 Leahey uses the original chords, Em7 to A7. Placing the
basic chords after the substitute chords has the effect of making the standard chords
sound surprising and fresh. At mm 31-32 Reinhardt breaks up the two measures of tonic
chord by putting a ivm6 and a #iv diminished 7 on the third and fourth beats of m 31,
returning to the tonic chord for m 32. Leahey takes this I ivm change and expands it into
a two measure interlude, one measure for each chord. This gives the soloist a sort of a
dnouement in which to wrap up the ideas expressed in the body of the solo. These
reharmonizations occur at the climactic part of the song and heighten that effect. They
also provide fertile ground for melodic invention.
Leaheys solo is one chorus long (thirty two bars plus the two bar interlude). He
expands on the songs call and response motif. Throughout the solo he builds a series of
call and response phrases, each one like a pair of perfectly matched bookends. The
original melody is almost entirely inside the chord changes. In keeping with the spirit
of this almost completely diatonic melody Leahey chooses almost exclusively notes that
fall within the scale or that relate closely to the chord against which they are played. Any
chromatic (relative to the chord) notes that he uses are either decorative, passing tones
between chord notes or clearly outline substitute chords. His use of chord substitutions is
masterful; in one place he presents three different sonorities against one basic harmony in
the space of one measure. He does this in such a melodic way that the listener is unaware
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that he has been taken on this sonic walk around the block. He uses rhythmic variety to
propel the solo forward and accentuate his note choices. There is not one single measure
of uninterrupted eighth or sixteenth notes. Instead there is a combination of syncopated
eighth and sixteenth note runs, with generous doses of sustained notes and rests.
Moreover he plays with the eighth note values. Never quite straight, never quite swing,
the runs float over the Bossa Nova-like rhythm section, gently playing with the listeners
ear. He uses subtle dynamics as well. Although most of the solo is played within a limited
dynamic range, at one point he plays a short figure, almost as an aside very softly,
immediately bringing the level up the match the intensity of the next phrase. Finally there
is his tone. Leahey used extra heavy strings on his guitar and played with a very small
polished stone pick. This gave his guitar an incredibly rich warm sound which was
captured beautifully in this recording. His sustained notes are given a lovely wide vibrato
and have an incredibly bright ringing sound for an amplified acoustic guitar.
Here are the first two phrases of Djangos Castle, mm 1-8 plus the pickup note:
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This alternation of a two note ascending motive with a two note descending motive sets
the pattern for most of the melody of the song. Here is the opening phrase of Leaheys
solo, mm 1-4:
He begins the first measure with F# to A, the motive with which Reinhardt begins his
original melody. Measure one ends with F# to E, the motive with which Reinhardt
answers the first. The C# and the second A in the middle of the measure serve to outline
the tonic D Major 7 chord. Just as Reinhardt did, Leahey sustains the last note of m 1 into
m 2 making a two bar motive. However Leahey has compressed the call and response of
Reinhardts first phrase into one motive. Reinhardt placed the F# in the pickup to the first
full measure. Placing it against the A7 (b9) chord gave the note color as it functioned as a
13th. Giving it two full beats further accentuated it and reinforced its status as an
important melody note. Leahey, on the other hand played a G note, the 7th of the
Dominant A7 chord as a pickup note. He plays it as an eighth note on the and of four,
giving it a definite upbeat feeling, as if he were taking a breath before going to the
important F# note on the downbeat. Like Reinhardt Leahey completes his phrase with a
two measure answering motive. Measures 3-4 are virtually identical in rhythm and very
similar in contour to mm 1-2. Rather than outline the chord, he plays a short scalar
passage from B, the 6th of the harmony to D, the tonic before descending to G. The G is
sustained and serves as a sort of a reverse suspension. Within the D Major 7 chord the G
is a dissonant non-chord note, the avoid note. In m 4 it becomes the 7th of the A7 and
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thus resolves, albeit to the most dissonant member of the chord. The original melody
places a pickup note prominently on the third beat of m 2, leading to the answer. By
contrast, Leahey leads into his, again on the third beat, with a three note stepwise figure
in a descending sequence that dovetails beautifully into m 3. The four measure phrase is
symmetrical, consisting of two semi phrases of two measures each. While it is primarily
made up of ascending figures the overall contour is descending. The main motivic
material is in eighth and longer notes and the connecting sequence uses sixteenth notes to
move it forward. The pickup note leading into the phrase and the final note of the phrase
are G notes.
Here is the second phrase of the solo, mm 5-8, with the pickup note:
Again Leahey leads into the phrase with a pickup note on the and of four leading down
stepwise to the downbeat. He then continues with a variation of Reinhardts up/down
motif. In m 5 he plays on lower pitches than m 1, but they function as higher voices
within the chord. He sustains the last note of m 5 into m 6 and plays an arpeggio as a lead
into the motive that begins in m 7. There is a subtle subtext to the up/down pattern in
these two measures. He expands on the pickup note stepping down to a stressed note. The
second half of m 6 is a C# diminished 7th arpeggio, which forms the upper notes of an
A7(b9) chord. A D note on the and of two leads down, stepwise to this arpeggio. The
Bb note on the and of four leads stepwise down to an A note in m 7. This A note in turn
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begins another up/down figure. There are two interesting features to this measure. First of
all, a more common figure for a guitarist to play would have been this:
The B note would have continued the forward motion (and been easier to play.) But
Leahey was not finished with his pattern of stepping downward into accented notes. He
then goes up to a D, or the 11th of the chord in anticipation of t