Toney, Tricia - Diverse City Works.com (October, 2003) - Jazz Bassist Jennifer Leitham Changes Key

Los Angeles - Starving artists choose a difficult road.

While the public exalts and rewards movie stars, rock stars, and the occasional painter, most of those who follow artistic dreams end up as waiters, secretaries, or cable installers in their daily, waking lives. Unwilling to give up their art, those who eventually succeed (and many who don’t) do this because their artistic expression is a large part of who they are. Giving it up would mean surrendering their identities.

Jennifer Leitham knows all about the struggle to claim and maintain one's true identity. She discovered jazz music and then string bass nearly 30 years ago. Since then, it has become part of her soul. She proceeded to practice and play her way into prominent bands. For years, she backed the likes of Mel Torme and Doc Severinsen, among others. For most of those years, her name was John Leitham.

John Leitham became well-known to jazz enthusiasts as “the left-handed virtuoso of the upright bass.” John Leitham was considered a jazz musician who “made it."

As jazz has a smaller fan base than rock or country, making a living as a jazz musician is quite an accomplishment. It hadn’t been an easy road. As a young man, John’s parents wanted him to go to college. But he didn’t have any interest, and was strong enough to realize that college was not his calling. He didn’t know, however, what that calling was. Jennifer says “I knew for a long time that something was very wrong with me, and it was scary. I didn’t want anyone else to know.”

In his late teens, John Leitham began playing the electric bass guitar with various local bands where “talent was not a requirement.” At age 20, he became interested in the string bass, and began studying in earnest. “Music became my refuge from depression,” says Jennifer. “I would be in my room for hours on end, playing along with my records.” While immersed in music, there was no pressure to do or be anything different.

Whatever the reasons spurring the music, the dedication to it paid off. Well-prepared for greater opportunity, John Leitham moved to LA in the mid-80s. He recorded with Mel Torme in 1987, and the two toured together for nearly ten years. John Leitham recorded on over 70 albums, including 5 of his own.

But making music for a living did not fill the gnawing void that John felt about his own identity. The decision to transition into a more true form of herself took Jennifer Leitham years. “I just didn’t know what could be done,” she says. “I had built a career. As far as I knew, transitioning could have meant professional suicide,” she admits.

At the same time, the drive for an authentic expression of self could no longer be held at bay by the expression of music. At the age of 48, John became Jennifer, the woman he felt he had been at heart his whole life.

Even after the decision, the transition has been a longer process than usual. Jennifer experienced complications from surgery, resulting in a year of pain - and a series of corrective procedures. She scheduled surgeries and follow-up visits around a busy touring schedule.

As it turns out, Jennifer’s transition has not been the downfall of her career; but it has had some surprising side-effects. She has gained a strong following from the LGBT community. If John was in the public eye, Jennifer is famous. “I didn’t plan to be the poster-child for transsexuals,” she says, “but here I am.”

The Learning Channel followed Jennifer’s transition for a TV documentary called Sexchange. It has aired multiple times. She has done interviews with dozens of publications and multiple radio programs. Most recently, the LA Times ran a three-page spread on Leitham’s life and music.

I’ve had to get very comfortable being open about all parts of my life,” says Leitham. “There isn’t anything I haven’t been asked. Most transsexuals like to hide in their new lives, but I don’t have that option.”

Leitham says that she wouldn’t want to deny who she has been anyway. Losing her past, she says, would mean losing lots of friends, associates and an impressive professional history, none of which Jennifer is willing to give up.

Today, Jennifer is feeling stronger and healthier than she has in a long time. While she still makes most of her living as a “side person” for other headlining jazz players, Jennifer is stepping into the spotlight a little more. “I make my living playing other people’s music,” says Leitham. “But my favorite thing to do is my own show.”

Leitham has a large collection of original compositions and original arrangements adapted from other works. “Her show” consists of the music she chooses, accompanied by a pianist and a drummer.

On stage, Leitham is a natural performer. Her music varies from up-beat and fun, to dramatic and intense. At either extreme, it remains vibrant and melodic. Watching Leitham play, an audience can see her intimate connection with the music. She smiles easily and moves rhythmically to the light, jazzy numbers. For the more complicated sections, where she and her bass are featured, she closes her eyes. She plays by the feeling of it, and it uses her whole essence.

Even if there were no flowing musical tones coming from the plucked strings of the big instrument, it would still be mesmerizing to watch such a master at work. Leitham brings a passion and a sexiness to her music. Her already-exotic look intensifies as she is swept away into her craft. In between numbers, she talks to the audience in a friendly, casual way, as if what she is doing is easy.

Leitham says she hopes to headline more, broadening her audience and touring under her own name. It is not easy without a manager, but Leitham has gained some advantages that may help.

“I’m more comfortable than I ever was before,” she says. “More relaxed.” This is perhaps because now her looks, her feelings, her music and her lifestyle all have the power of authentic expression. It is the soul of the artist’s truth that attracts the spotlight.

Jennifer Leitham plays gigs regularly around the country. For more information on this artist and her schedule, visit her website at: http://www.jenniferleitham.com