Joe Leader - Biography

Joe has spent all of his life playing music. Born into a family of world-class musicians, Joe has grown up immersed in the passion of musical performance. In fact, Joe and his first band won the “Daily Telegraph Young Jazz Awards” aged sixteen.

His mother, pianist Lucille Orden Leader, studied with Alfred Brendel in Vienna, Edward Steuermann at Juilliard and Winfried Wolf at the Salzburg Mozarteum. She taught Joe to perform the saxophone in the spirit of the ‘Romantic style.’ Trained in the Stanislavski method of acting by his mother, Joe learned how to ‘make atmosphere’ with each note, each movement, each breath. Combining this musical intensity with Aikido Training (Second-Degree Black Belt), Joe’s thrilling stage performance is sought after the world over.

His vast experience enabled him to set up and lead a 20-piece show band called “The Joe Leader Collective,” who launched at London’s Café de Paris. Joe’s First Class Honours Degree in Music Technology from LCMM, empowered him to produce his own solo album, ‘Seductive Sax’.

“I believe in the limitless possibilities of creation and of manifestation. I learn and practice my art to perform music that inspires and touches the hearts of my audience.

I was born to be a performer. As the Son of a famous concert Pianist, it is in my blood. My mother taught me to think about the atmosphere I wish to create and then project it through my music.”

Training

Growing up learning both music performance and martial arts has made me the artist I am today. Passionate, flowing, dynamic and exciting! My training in Aikido, taught me how to flow with movement, maintaining balance, inner strength and clarity of thought. This philosophy and dedication was tremendously important in my music performance, as it too, required a harmonious interaction with other musicians on stage, as well as the ability to flow with an improvised solo.

My rigorous training helped my confidence on stage as a performer, using my Aikido principles to keep my centre whilst I perform. Aikido is a balance of mind, body and spirit, cultivating the highest level of health, fitness, and mental clarity. Together with a vision and a spiritual connection to my higher-self, this allows me to express who I am through the medium of music, and to inspire people with my performances.

Music trained me to believe in magic and that anything was possible; martial arts gave me the focus and strength to achieve it!

Career Highlights

• Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sydmonton Festival – July 1996 (performed alongside Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Linda Brava)

• 60th Anniversary D-Day Celebrations/Literary Festival in Trouville, France – 2004

• “Joe Leader Collective” Gala show at Cafe De Paris – September 2007 (20-Piece showband in association with Absolut Vodka)

• Symphony Orchestra of India – Indian Cultural Festival (Mumbai and Chennai) – January 2011

• Global Angels Awards show (The Brewery, London, England) – December 2012 (with Joss Stone, Beverley Knight and Sandie Shaw)

• Featured shows at The Leicester Square Theatre, London, England – June 2012/2013

• Debut performance on the ‘Dave Koz & Friends at Sea’ Smooth Jazz cruise – October 2013 (with Dave Koz, Gerald Albright and Mindi Abair).

• Debut performance at The Pizza Express Jazz Club, Dean St, London – February 2014

 

The exciting debut release from this handsome young talent, features a stellar live performance at London’s Pizza Express Jazz club. Joe expertly fuses soulful Jazz with R&B, Rock & Pop, to create a thrilling album of Smooth Jazz favourites. He enfolds you in a world of seduction, a world of irreplaceable beauty; through each note, he communicates emotions and feelings that touch the hearts of audiences worldwide. It is a unique, emotive musical journey leading to cool, rousing and powerful performances, unlike any other. With 112,000 fans on Facebook, Joe’s debut album has 135 global radio plays per week and reached the Top 20 in the US Jazz charts. His incredible career has taken him all over the world, performing on stage with such greats as Dave Koz, Gerald Albright, Mindi Abair, Joss Stone, Beverley Knight, Sandie Shaw, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Stephen Gately and Pharrell Williams.

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www.festivalarchive.com/artist/joe-leader