FEATHER, LEONARD

FEATHER, LEONARD (1914–1994), jazz critic, producer, composer, lyricist, and instrumentalist. Feather was born into an upper-middle-class Jewish family in the London suburbs and was supposed to follow his father into the family garment business, but after a friend played Louis Armstrong's "West Side Blues" for him in a local record store, young Leonard decided on another career path. He had already been studying piano and clarinet, so his musical knowledge was greater than many of his early competitors. At the urging of the American record producer and critic John Hammond, Feather made his way to the United States in 1935 and never looked back. He quickly became an influential critic at Esquire and Metronome, eventually landing the job of jazz critic at the Los Angeles Times. More important, Feather was a prolific author, responsible for several key texts including The Encyclopedia of Jazz (co-edited with Ira Gitler) and the pioneering volume Inside Bebop (1949), his first book, and countless liner notes. From his pulpit at the la Times, Feather was also a tireless opponent of segregation and racism in jazz at a time when few regular jobs were open to African-American musicians.

bibliography:

G. Giddins, "Leonard Feather, 1914–1980," in: The Village Voice (Sept. 29, 1980); "The Leonard Feather Scrapbooks," at: www.leonardfeather.com; P. Watrous, "Leonard Feather, 80, Composer and the Dean of Jazz Critics," in: New York Times (Sept. 24, 1994).

[George Robinson (2^nd ed.)]