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Introducing Saxophonist Veronica Leahy

By Sanford Josephson
November 4, 2024
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She turned everyone's heads in the band, including Wynton Marsalis'.
—Ted Nash

This article first appeared in Jersey Jazz Magazine.

Growing up in Charlotte, NC,

Veronica Leahy

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Veronica Leahy began playing classical piano at an early age. Then, when she was in the fourth grade, she heard a recording by tenor saxophonist

" data-original-title="" title="">Joshua Redman. "There was something about the saxophone that caught my fascination," she recalled. "It was kind a fusion record, but I did eventually go to see him live."

Leahy was somewhat familiar with jazz because her father plays jazz trumpet—"not professionally, but it's like his biggest hobby in life." As a result, "I grew up listening to a lot of classics, like

Ella Fitzgerald

vocals
1917 - 1996

" data-original-title="" title="">Ella Fitzgerald and

Louis Armstrong

trumpet and vocals
1901 - 1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Louis Armstrong."

When she started playing jazz on the alto saxophone in seventh grade, improvising came naturally to her because, "I always was an improviser, and I didn't even know it. I'd improvise off of the classical pieces, and my teacher would get mad." While she was learning the saxophone, her parents took her to a

Chick Corea

piano
1941 - 2021

" data-original-title="" title="">Chick Corea concert. "He was asking, 'Are there any young musicians in the audience?' My parents were pointing at me, and he brought me up. I wasn't really a jazz player at the time; I was just starting to get interested in it. We improvised this little piano duet together. Whatever I played, he made it sound good. I really learned about the power of improv. It was life changing."

Leahy's school didn't have a jazz band, but, fortunately, there was a youth music program in the Charlotte area called the Jazz Arts Initiative (now known as Jazz Arts Charlotte). The organization was founded in 2009 and became a 501 (c) (3) a year later. It is run by

Lonnie Davis

" data-original-title="" title="">Lonnie Davis, a flutist and arts advocate who is Immediate Past President of the Jazz Education Network. "Sort of our version of Jazz House Kids," is how Leahy described the organization. "That was really my first exposure to playing jazz with other people," she said. Prior to that, she would just play with recordings —"I would just try to learn all of

Charlie Parker

saxophone, alto
1920 - 1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Parker's solos." JAC, she said, "connects people from all across the city to play together. There were just enough of us that we could form a band and learn from each other at a young age."

Davis described Leahy as "a shining star with a real dedication to the music ever since she joined us in the eighth grade. Although she was one of the youngest students in our most advanced student ensembles, she always exhibited a high level of dedication and maturity, both socially and musically. She was a real force (in the best sense), a natural leader on the bandstand, and beyond. She inspired so many of our students to become better musicians, because she showed them what was possible. We are extremely proud of her and what's ahead for this brilliant young woman."

Other student musicians with Leahy at JAC included pianist

Sean Mason

trumpet
b.1987

" data-original-title="" title="">Sean Mason and pianist/drummer

Luther Allison

piano
b.1939

" data-original-title="" title="">Luther Allison. Mason was featured as a Rising Star in the October 2021 issue of Jersey Jazz and recently recorded an album with vocalist

Catherine Russell

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Catherine Russell, My Ideal (Dot Time). As of October 28, it had been on the JazzWeek chart for eight weeks, reaching as high as Number 3. Allison now has his own trio and sextet and has performed with vocalist

Samara Joy

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Samara Joy and drummers

Joe Farnsworth

drums
b.1968

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Farnsworth and

Ulysses Owens, Jr.

drums
b.1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Ulysses Owens, Jr., among others. His Posi-Tone album, I Owe It All To You, was on the JazzWeek chart for 12 weeks, reaching as high as Number 8.

After graduating from high school, Leahy was accepted into a dual degree program at Harvard University and the Berklee College of Music. "It was an amazing experience," she said. "The way that works is it's a cross enrollment. I got my degree from Harvard, but Berklee was where I was taking private lessons, and I was part of the ensembles. I remember applying to that when I was in high school. I didn't feel quite right just going to a conservatory; I still wanted to take classes in other areas. I applied to Harvard/Berklee early action and found out in early December that I'd gotten in. I canceled all my conservatory auditions because I realized that's what I really wanted.

"Berklee and Harvard were very open minded," she continued. "I was really able to craft my own way through it. I still ended up majoring in music at Harvard. I really liked their music department —musicology, music theory. I minored in the theater, dance, and media program, but theater was what I was focusing on. I got really interested in writing musicals. It was a really cool experience."

Her musical mentors at Berklee were drummer

Terri Lyne Carrington

drums
b.1965

" data-original-title="" title="">Terri Lyne Carrington, pianist

Kris Davis

piano
b.1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Kris Davis, and saxophonist

George Garzone

saxophone, tenor
b.1950

" data-original-title="" title="">George Garzone; at Harvard, her main faculty mentor was pianist

Vijay Iyer

piano
b.1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Vijay Iyer. "He was my thesis advisor. I ended up doing a huge thesis project my senior year. I wrote a whole suite of music about chronic illness because I have type 1 diabetes. I'm hoping to record it soon."

Leahy was heavily involved in Berklee's Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, founded by Carrington "to recruit, teach, mentor, and advocate for musicians seeking to study or perform jazz, with gender justice and racial justice as guiding principles." In 2013, Carrington was the first woman to win a Grammy Award in the Best Jazz Instrumental Album category, for the Concord Jazz recording, Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue, a reconceptualizing of the

Duke Ellington

piano
1899 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Ellington classic.

"The idea of the Institute," Leahy explained, "was that, rather than say it's going to be all women, they just wanted to have more gender balance. The ensembles would be at least half women, and through that I got very close with Terri Lyne; when she did this project called 101 Lead Sheets by Women Composers (Berklee Press: 2022), she featured me in the book. I have a composition in there, and I play bass clarinet on her album, which ended up winning a Grammy (New Standards Vol. 1, Candid: 2002, Best Instrumental Jazz Album, 2023). It was a crazy experience. My composition was called '20/20.' Terri is such an amazing player. She doesn't have to do all that she does in terms of mentorship. She's called me for gigs. I get to play with her in a professional setting. There was always a mentor relationship, but she's also treated me like a professional and hired me to play, which was really cool."

Leahy moved to New York after graduating and is currently studying for her masters degree at Juilliard. A few months ago, she had her first gig as a bandleader during the 11 p.m. set at Dizzy's. She plays with multireedist

Ted Nash

saxophone
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Ted Nash's big band, which has a residency at Dizzy's. "That's really a fantastic experience. I love woodwind doubling, and he always writes lots of very involved clarinet parts, so it's a challenge." She also plays with

Ed Palermo

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Ed Palermo's big band, and, drawing on her theater experience, she'll be playing woodwinds in the Christmas show at Millburn, NJ's Paper Mill Playhouse.

Nash met Leahy in Charlotte when she was 14 years old. "I was one of the judges in a contest on jazz improvisation," he recalled, "and she was the undisputed winner. As part of her 'award,' she got to sit in with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in a concert that night, and she turned everyone's heads in the band, including

Wynton Marsalis

trumpet
b.1961

" data-original-title="" title="">Wynton Marsalis.'

"For several years, Veronica and I maintained a teacher-student relationship with private lessons, mostly handled virtually. I loved working with Veronica. Besides being talented, hardworking, and dedicated, she was open to trying different approaches to playing." When Leahy arrived in New York after graduating from Harvard, Nash was assembling his big band for a bimonthly residency at Dizzy's. "I jumped at the opportunity to invite her to be part of the band," he said. "With her incredible ability at doubling (playing flute and clarinet in addition to sax) and her complex yet soulful improvisations, she is really bringing something special to the band. It brings a smile to my face to hear her play and remember the 14-year-old girl I met in Charlotte nine years ago."

Part of a group of young female jazz musicians making their mark on the New York jazz scene, the 23-year-old Leahy is on trumpeter

Summer Camargo

trumpet
b.2001

" data-original-title="" title="">Summer Camargo's debut Blue Engine Records album, To Whom I Love. And, she has performed with big bands led by trumpeters

Kellin Hanas

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Kellin Hanas and

Grace Fox

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Grace Fox. Camargo and Hanas have previously been featured as Jersey Jazz Rising Stars, May 2021 and January 2024, respectively, and Fox was a 2023 New Jersey Jazz Society scholarship recipient. Camargo, who will be leading a trio at NJJS' December 8th Jersey Jazz LIVE! concert, said she and Leahy "have a musical connection on stage where we can almost read each other's minds. She is an amazing section player. I really thought of her immediately when I was writing my tunes because she's able to double on everything super well. It's unusual to see someone in our age range who can do that. I told her, 'If I end up writing oboe in my music, I'm sure you can learn that in a week and be fine.'"

Hanas, when asked about Leahy, described her as, "not only one of the best friends I've ever had, but arguably the most hardworking, gifted and intelligent person/musician I've ever met. Her incredibly individual and unique perspective on music and art is exactly what the world needs right now."

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