Leo Green

Leo Green
Born 30 August 1972
Origin British
Occupation(s) Broadcaster, musician, agent/promoter, actor, singer, saxophonist, producer
Instruments Tenor saxophone, clarinet, vocals, percussion
Years active 1993–present
Associated acts The Leo Green Experience
Website www.theleogreenexperience.com

Leo Green (30 August 1972) is a British musician, broadcaster, producer, actor, musical arranger and concert promoter

Early life

Green is the son of the late BBC Radio 2 broadcaster, writer and musician Benny Green and actress Toni Kanal, and is the brother of the writer and musician Dominic Green.

Career in the 1990s

By the age of 20, Green was playing sax for Jerry Lee Lewis. Lewis declared Green "The greatest sax player I have ever worked with".[1] Following two years touring all over the world with Jerry Lee Lewis, Green joined Van Morrison's band from 1995 to 2000, appearing all over the world, playing concerts, festivals and theatres. During this period, Green recorded many albums with Morrison, as a soloist and as an arranger.[2] He also spent two years touring and recording with Jools Holland, toured the world with Lisa Stansfield and toured regularly with Marti Pellow.

By the end of his twenties, he had built up an astonishing CV, having worked with almost every major musical figure in the world: Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, James Brown, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Burt Bacharach & Hal David, Tom Jones, Ronnie Wood, Elvis Costello, Paul Weller, Dionne Warwick, Chrissie Hynde, Lionel Richie, Sting, Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey, Ray Davies, Jeff Beck, Joss Stone, Ryan Adams, Bryan Ferry, Carl Perkins, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, Ben E. King, Sam Moore, Hank Crawford & Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Witherspoon, John Dankworth, Annie Ross, Mose Allison, Petula Clark, Clarence Clemons, Marti Pellow, Noel Gallagher, Georgie Fame, Paul Carrack, Lulu, Jay Kay, Dannii Minogue, Daniel Bedingfield, Lisa Stansfield, Cerys Matthews, Emma Bunton, Heather Small, Stereophonics, Mick Hucknall, Robbie Williams, Brian Kennedy, All Saints, Charleen Spitteri, Dina Carroll, Gabrielle, Simon Webbe, Sir Paul McCartney. In addition he has served as the producer for Robbie Williams.

He made his acting debut in the British movie Swing, in which he appeared alongside Hugo Speer, Rita Tushingham, Tom Bell, Alexei Sayle, Clarence Clemons and Lisa Stansfield and was also featured on the soundtrack album.

Green was the musical director and conductor for Burt Bacharach and Hal David during their show at the Royal Albert Hall. Green was musical director, arranger and conductor for Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for their show at the Hammersmith Apollo.

2000s

Green began booking and promoting shows in the U.K. and was appointed Artistic Director of Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in 2005, prior to a huge refurbishment. As Artistic Director, Green completely over hauled the stage times and opening hours of the club and introduced the concept of 2 houses in one night at the club. In two and a half years, Green booked, contracted and promoted over 400 acts and managed to somehow convince an incredible array of artists to appear at the club: Tony Bennett, Van Morrison, Wynton Marsalis, Chick Corea, David Sanborn, Ramsey Lewis, Ron Carter, Branford Marsalis, Keely Smith, Macy Gray, Jose Felliciano, Chris Botti, Little Jimmy Scott, The Stylistics, Joan Armatrading, Marlena Shaw, Roy Hargrove, Jeff Beck, Monty Alexander, and others. He came up and implemented the idea of "The Ronnie Scott's All Stars", "The Ronnie Scott's Club Big Band" and with Trumpeter Gerard Presencer, "The Ronnie Scott's Vanguard Orchestra". He established "The Ronnie Scott's Jazz Awards", which he wrote and presented, and through his bookings, ensured the club received worldwide media coverage. He established and presented "The Ronnie Scott's Club Podcast', which became the most downloaded jazz podcast in the world.

In December 2007 Green left Ronnie Scott's and moved to the iconic 02 where he spent 2 years as Senior Booker for AEG Live booking, contracting and promoting some of the most iconic acts in the world into AEG's flagship venue "Indigo2". In March 2010 Green joined forces with entertainment industry veteran John Revell and together they launched "Bluesfest London" www.bluesfest.co.uk

Other activities

Green also plays saxophone and sings in his own band: The Leo Green Experience.

He is also a radio broadcaster. Green has presented on Smooth FM, from October 2008 – June 2012 he hosted his own show Leo Green and Friends on Jazz FM, for which he received a nomination for "Best Newcomer on U.K. Radio" at the prestigious "Arqiva Radio Awards". The show aired at 2pm-4pm every Sunday – the same time his late father, Benny Green's show aired for twenty years on BBC Radio 2.

In 2013 Green made his debut on BBC Radio2 and has since written and presented numerous series for the station, including: "It Was A Very Good Year" a series celebrating the composer Ervin Drake, "Leo Green's Hollywood Special" & "Ella And The Songbooks", celebrating Ella Fitzgerald's songbook recordings.

Musical style

Green's saxophone style is heavily influenced by the Rhythm and Blues players of the 1950s, Big Jay McNeely, Illinois Jacquet, Arnett Cobb, King Curtis, Junior Walker and his explosive, high energy stage performances have become his trademark. In 2010 the legendary guitarist Jeff Beck declared "Leo Green has to be one of the best and craziest saxophonists ever".[3]

Credits

As a solo artist:

Green is credited as a musician on the following recordings:[4]

Jeff Beck

Van Morrison

Lisa Stansfield

Jane Horrocks

Jools Holland

Daniel Bedingfield

Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man

Various

References

  1. ↑ "Leo Green: Jazz FM". jazzfm.com. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  2. ↑ Becker, Günter. "Van Morrison: song database". ivan.vanomatic.de. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  3. ↑ Beck, Jeff (17 June 2010). "Jeff Beck". jeffbeck.com. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  4. ↑ "Leo Green". Allmusic. Retrieved 23 December 2008.

External links