Leitham, John

Leitham, John, American bassist, b. Scott Air Force Base, 111., Aug. 10, 1953. He is a savvy, left-handed bassist whose swinging high- energy performances and remarkable technique have placed him in the jazz forefront through appearances and recordings with luminaries such as Mel Torme, George Shearing, Herb Geller, Spike Robinson, Bill Perkins, and the late Bob Cooper, his good friend and mentor. Leitham grew up in Reading, Pa., attended high school in the Philadelphia area and, upon graduation, sang and played electric bass in local groups. As his musical studies became increasingly serious, he switched to acoustic bass under the tutelage of Al Stauffer, who heavily influenced him after Leitham saw Stauffer perform with French jazz pianist Bernard Peiffer. Within a few years, he was playing in big bands and jazz groups, and accompanying well-known traveling performers throughout Eastern Pa. While working in a South Philadelphia house band, he was recruited for the Woody Herman Young Thundering Herd in 1981, which resulted in extensive touring and exposure to the jazz festival scene.

In 1983, he left Philadelphia for Calif., where he quickly formed long-term musical associations with Ed Shaughnessy, Bob Cooper, Tommy Tedesco, Bill Watrous, Tom Ranier, and others. While freelancing in the Los Angeles area, he came to the attention of pianist George Shearing, who contacted him in 1987 to play a live-recorded gig at the Paul Masson Winery with singer Mel Torme he subsequently recorded nine Torme CDs, is seen on two of the singer’s videos, and was scheduled to tour and record as part of Torme’s rhythm section right up to the time of the singer’s August 1996 stroke. He currently works club dates on the West Coast, often with his own trio, and appears throughout the U.S. at festivals, where he has become a crowd favorite for his considerable instrumental skills and his friendly presence.

Discography

A Vintage Year (1988); Leitham Up (1992); The Southpaw (1993); Lefty Leaps In (1996); Live (1998).

—John T. Bitter