Harry Leahey


Harry F. Leahey was an American jazz guitarist and teacher.

Biography

Guitar studies

Leahey received his first guitar at the age of thirteen. He went on to study with Lou Melia at Sayer's Studio in Plainfield; Al Volpe, the studio guitarist and teacher of such players as Joe Pass and Sal Salvador; jazz and studio guitarist Johnny Smith and Dennis Sandole, teacher of such students as Pat Martino and John Coltrane. He studied music theory and composition at Manhattan School of Music.

Career

Leahey's career began in the early 1960s and continued until his death in 1990. He played and recorded with Phil Woods at Carnegie Hall, Gerry Mulligan, Al Cohn, Jack Six, Warren Vaché Jr., Mark Murphy and other well-known jazz artists. As part of the Newport Jazz Festival, the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra and the Phil Woods Quintet shared the bill at a midnight concert on June 28, 1977.
He was on the Grammy Award winning Phil Woods Six - Live from the Showboat album. His composition "Rain Danse" and his arrangement of Django Reinhardt's "Manoir de mes Rêves " were featured on the album. From 1978 to 1990 he performed with his own trio, featuring Roy Cumming on bass and Glenn Davis on drums and in duo settings with various bass players. As leader, he recorded one album with his trio, one duo album with bassist Steve Gilmore and one solo album.

Tuition

He gave guitar lessons at his home in Plainfield, New Jersey and from 1974 to 1988 at William Paterson University. His students include Bob DeVos, Jon Herington, Vic Juris, Chuck Loeb, Jack Six, and Warren Vaché Jr.

Selected discography