The time has finally come for a CD to bear my true identity. I recorded "Two For The Road" back in August of 1999. It was a tumultuous time, my marriage was falling apart and sadness was pervasive. I was artistically being stifled while playing too many symphony pops shows with ethnic themes. No Jazz-at-all. To make matters worse, my Gender Dysphoria was at one of its peak manifestations. I was hurting and short tempered. Not the most optimum time to make a CD but as it turned out, it was quite a positive result. I was Executive Producer, arranger, producer, record mogul, and President of Sinistral Records. Jimmy Bruno flew out to L.A from Philadelphia and we recorded in Tommy Tedesco's living room. The CD was engineered and mastered by Tommy's son Damon. It's been six years since we made that CD. I had hoped that by the present a record company might have shown interest in having me record a new CD but that hasn't been the case so far. I've been through so much, and my music has evolved along with me. There is so much that is different about my approach these days, as my teacher Al Stauffer used to say, "you have to live your life" and I've certainly done that! I've metamorphosized in more ways than one, certainly physically and musically. The record business is continually in a state of flux, especially in the jazz idiom. There currently seems to be a movement to record mostly very young artists, I assume it's in the hopes of appealing to future jazz fans, heaven knows jazz is going to need them. Most of the artists of my generation are having to resort to self-producing their artistic endeavors, putting up their own money in order to satisfy the creative juices. That is basically how I made "Two For the Road". It was well worth it, and it has garnered enough interest to be re-released this August by Azica Records. Since most of my funds were used up while producing my SRS and subsequent complications, I am grateful that Azica has been willing to redo the artwork and put it into traditional distribution. A career in the arts is a continual tussle between art and commerce. I'm hoping to either find backers willing to invest in my current projects or earn enough to invest in myself again. There are several projects in the works that should result in recording a new CD by the end of the fall. I have enough material prepared to fill about six CDs right now! Tomorrow is my third re-birthday, a new CD, coupled with the book I'm writing, and a possible film in the works, should make this coming year a very interesting time of my life. Jennifer Leitham July 18, 2005