Berman Foundation
Excerpts from reviews of the 2002 & 2004
Topeka Jazz Festivals, Topeka, Kansas - (Take that Rev Phelps!!!)
2002

Other festival debuts worthy of note were those of trumpeter Terell Stafford, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon and bassist Jennifer Leitham.

Leitham was making one of her first appearances since she switched from John to Jennifer, but the flamboyantly dressed bassist soon dispelled any possible tension in the audience with her astounding technique and ingratiating good humor. Accompanied by pianist Russ Long and drummer Joe Ascione, she played a highly articulated lead on "I Thought About You," followed by a wonderful version of "Manha da Carnaval (A Day in the Life of a Fool)," from "Black Orpheus." Her bass solo was profound and virtuosic.

Thanking festival organizers, Leitham said she was "flattered to be asked to come even after my life changes." On posters for the festival that were printed last year, she was billed as John Leitham, a name familiar to fans of Mel Torme, with whom the bassist played and recorded extensively over the last decade of the singer's towering career.

But the nicest touch of all was Leitham's introduction to the next tune, a solo bass medley of "Out of This World" and the Joni Mitchell song "All I Want." Declaring herself a big Mitchell fan, she said, "I could do "Both Sides Now", but that would be a little too obvious." Her performance combined a free, lyrical improvisation with dark harmonies, powerful chords and percussive hand slapping.

After establishing her own abundant talents, Leitham allowed more space for her accompanists on "What Is This Thing Called Love" and "Isn't It Romantic?" on which she expertly stated the melody on bowed bass.
 
2004
In an attempt to entice more area jazz fans to buy tickets for the three-day 2004 Topeka Jazz Festival, organizers ramped up a free pre-fest Friday evening event, called the Topeka Yard Party, featuring festival favorite Karrin Allyson and an all-star assemblage of TJF artists.

By all reports, the yard party—staged on the lawn west of the Topeka Performing Arts Center—successfully encouraged many participants to spend at least part of their Memorial Day weekend inside TPAC listening to some of the best jazz around. For festival novices, it was a nice introduction to the level of talent and the format that they could expect. For those of us TJF veterans who were going to be there anyway, it was simply a great way to get the long weekend off to a good start.

The TJF all-stars included trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, saxophonist Ken Peplowski, pianists Shelly Berg and Bill Mays, guitarist Rod Fleeman, bassists Jennifer Leitham and Jay Leonhart, drummers Joe Ascione and Jackie Williams and singers Lee Gibson and Giacomo Gates, rotating on and off the stage in “jazz party” fashion.

For the seventh consecutive year, TJF Artistic Director Jim Monroe had done yeoman service in booking and scheduling a daunting number of artists for the Memorial Day weekend, this year comprising a series of 40 sets in formats ranging from a duo to a sextet.

The 2004 TJF featured many of the same musicians performing many of the same tunes as in the past, but there were enough surprises and a consistently high level of performance quality to make it enjoyable over the course of the three-day marathon, May 29-31. The Midwest’s best jazz party was held in the comfortable confines of the Georgia Neese Gray Performance Hall at the Topeka Performing Arts Center.

.........Now thoroughly engaged, the audience was ready for the duo teaming bassist Jennifer Leitham and guitarist Rod Fleeman. The Kansas City-based fret master effortlessly quoted other tunes in his breezy treatment of “East of the Sun (and West of the Moon).” Leitham took the melody on Jobim’s “How Insensitive,” teasing the sustained notes out of the bass in lyrical, emotive fashion. In their dialogue, Leitham and Freeman perfectly illustrated the conversational aspect of jazz improvisation.

On Hoagy Carmichael’s ballad “Skylark,” the two seemed similar in musical temperament, both demonstrating subtle shadings and rococo filigree in their phrasing. Leitham showed her mastery of percussive thumb popping and string slapping on a mid-tempo “Alone Together,” with Fleeman cleverly interpolating “I Got Rhythm.” They finished with a tender reading of “So Many Stars.”

Leitham returned fronting her own trio with newcomer pianist Shelly Berg and drummer Joe Ascione, another festival favorite. This exciting, inspired set consisted almost entirely of original compositions and rarities, proving that TJF music need not be familiar to the audience to be appreciated. Leitham’s own uptempo “Turkish Bizarre” had an Eastern spice with virtuosic bass chording in octaves and an animated solo by Berg, a marvelously gifted improviser. Ascione followed with another inspired solo.

Having undergone a sex-change from John to Jennifer a few years ago, Leitham exhibits a refreshing sense of humor about her transformation, introducing “The Altered Blues” as a tune written for her surgeon, Dr. Alter (really!). It was a haunting piece with a repeated bass motif, an inventive use of harmonics and Ascione’s spirited hand-drumming.

“Riff Raff,” also by Leitham, was an infectious harmonic riff. The trio finished with the poignant beauty of “One Hand on the Heart” from “West Side Story.” Berg’s piano solo was totally enraptured and touched the listener with visceral power.

We were pleasantly surprised by the soulful sophistication of singer Giacomo Gates, a natural-born hipster with an easy delivery, a throaty baritone voice and an engaging stage presence. Accompanied by pianist Bill Mays, bassist Jennifer Leitham and drummer Todd Strait, he enthusiastically launched into Tadd Dameron’s “Ladybird,” the first of several tunes from Gates’ new release “Centerpiece,” reviewed elsewhere in this issue of Jazz. Combining scat and yodel somewhat in the style of the late Leon Thomas, Gates immediately established himself as a formidable vocal stylist.

The Leitham trio again challenged the audience with lesser-known tunes like the bluesy “Bittersweet” by bassist Sam Jones. They performed Henry Mancini’s “Dreamsville” in 5/4 and 6/4 instead of the usual 4/4, and “Besame Mucho” featured a booming, dramatic bass drone. Leitham’s snappy tune “The Studio City Stomp” had bluegrass underpinnings. The closer, Basie’s “Jumpin’ at the Woodside,” was taken at a very fast clip.

The vocal magic of Giacomo Gates returned with pianist Mays, bassist Leitham and drummer Ascione and an original take on Gershwin’s “Summertime,” complete with flute-like whistling. Gates wrote the lyrics for Lee Morgan’s bluesy “Speedball,” replacing the drug-related theme with the more common addiction to a woman. In “Since I Fell For You,” Mays cleverly injected a snippet of “’Round Midnight” as Gates sang, “I get the blues for you around 12 o’clock each night.”

Gates sang the Babs Gonzales lyric for “Ornithology,” Charlie Parker’s treatment of “How High the Moon,” then returned to his own lyric contribution to Oliver Nelson’s “Stolen Moments.” His lyrics to Miles Davis’ “Milestones” are very hip, making one hope that Gates will continue to practice his craft as a wordsmith.

Ken Peplowski fronted a quartet that put the finishing, swinging touches on TJF 2004. “Peps” delivered some solid tenor sax work, Shelly Berg contributed a Garnerish two-fisted solo and Jennifer Leitham followed with a thick-chorded bass solo on Johnny Mandel’s “Low Life.” Peplowski switched to clarinet for Sergio Mendes’ “So Many Stars,” the TJF veteran’s tribute to Artistic Director Jim Monroe for his long dedication to the festival and to jazz in general.