Leroy Jenkins (March 11, 1932 – February 24, 2007) was an American composer and violinist/violist.
Operas and a Cantata
Mother of Three Sons, a dance-opera based on African mythology created in collaboration with choreographer/director Bill T. Jones and librettist Ann T. Greene. Commissioned by and premiered at the 1990 Munich Biennial New Music Theatre Festival (Hans Werner Henze, Artistic Director). Also performed by the New York City Opera (US premiere, 1991) and the Houston Grand Opera (1992).
Fresh Faust, a jazz-rap opera in collaboration with librettist Greg Tate. Performed at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art (1994).
The Negros Burial Ground, a cantata in collaboration with librettist Ann T. Greene and director Dominic Taylor. Presented by The Kitchen (1996) and workshopped at UMass Amherst (1995).
The Three Willies, a multimedia jazz opera that explores the stereotype of Black men as "perpetual suspect." Created in collaboration with librettist Homer Jackson and choreographer Rennie Harris (Philadelphia show), director Talvin Wilks (NY show), and conductor/music director Alan Johnson (NY show). Premiered at The Painted Bride in Philadelphia (1996), NY premiere at The Kitchen (2001). Public Panels were jointly organized with the NYU Vera List Center for Art and Politics and a Digital Happy House on Race, Identity, and Media moderated by Christian Haye. Produced by Providence Productions International, Inc. with the support of Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Co-produced by The Kitchen.
Coincidents, a multimedia opera in collaboration with librettist Mary Griffin and visual artist Hisao Ihara. Jenkins and Griffin use incidents from their personal family histories to illustrate the fragility, flexibility, and resilience of individual identity. Performed at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn (2012)..
For Players Only (JCOA Records, 1975, LP)
Swift are the Winds of Life (Survival, 1975, LP)
Solo Concert (India Navigation, 1977, LP)
Lifelong Ambitions (Black Saint, 1981, LP; 1993, CD)
The Legend of Ai Glatson (Black Saint, 1978, LP; 1993, CD)
Space Minds New Worlds, Survival of America (Tomato, 1979, LP; 1989, CD)
Mixed Quintet (Black Saint, 1983, LP; 1997, CD)
Straight Ahead/Free at Last (Red Record, 1980, LP)
Urgan Blues (Black Saint, 1984, LP; 1997, CD)
Jenkins Live! (Black Saint, 1993, CD)
Themes and Improvisations on the Blues (CRI eXchange, 1994, CD)
Solo (Lovely Music, 1998, CD)
Leroy Jenkins' Driftwood-The Art of Improvisation (Mutable Music, 2005, CD)
With Muhal Richard Abrams
Levels and Degrees of Light (Delmark, 1968)
Mama and Daddy (Black Saint, 1980)
With Carla Bley
Escaltor over the Hill (JCOA Records/ECM, 1971, 3LPs)
With Anthony Braxton
3 Compositions of New Jazz (Delmark, 1968, LP; Delmark, 1991, CD)
Silence (Freedom Records, 1975, LP)
Anthony Braxton (BYG Actuel, 1969, LP)
This Time... (BYG Actuel, 1970, LP)
New York, Fall 1974 (Arista, 1975, LP)
With Thomas Buckner
Sign of the Times (Lovely Music, 1994, CD)
With Don Cherry
Relativity Suite (JCOA Records, 1973, LP)
With Alice Coltrane
Universal Consciousness (Impulse!, 1971)
World Galaxy (Impulse!, 1972)
With Creative Construction Company
Creative Construction Company (Muse, 1970 [1975])
Creative Construction Company Vol. II (Muse, 1970 [1976])
With Anthony Davis
Of Blues and Dreams (Sackville 3032, 1979)
With James Emery
Artlife (Lumina Records, 1982, LP)
With Equal Interest
Equal Interest (Omnitone Records, 1999, CD)
With Carl Hancock Rux
Apothecary Rx (Giant Step, 2004)
Good Bread Alley (Thirsty Ear, 2006)
With Joseph Jarman
Out of the Mist (Oregon Recordings, 1997, CD)
With Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Rahsaan Rahsaan (Atlantic, 1970)
With George Lewis
Shadowgraph (Black Saint, 1978, LP; 1998, CD)
With Grachan Moncur III
Echoes of a Prayer (JCOA Records, 1974, LP)
With Paul Motian
Conception Vessel (ECM, 1973)
With Mtume
Allkebu-Lan (Land of the Blacks) at the East (Strata East, 1972, 2LPs)
With Dewey Redman
Coincide (Impulse!, 1974)
With Revolutionary Ensemble
Manhattan Cycles (India Navigation, 1972)
Vietnam (ESP-Disk, 1972)
The Peoples Republic (A&M, 1975)
The Psyche (Mutable Music, 1975)
The Revolutionary Ensemble Recorded Live at Moosham Castle (Inner City, 1977)
And Now... (Pi Recordings, 2004)
Beyond The Boundary of Time (Mutable Music, 2008)
Counterparts (Mutable Music, 2008)
With Jeffrey Schanzer
Vistas (Music Vistas, 1987, LP)
With Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp & Philly Joe Jones (Fantasy Records, 1975, LP)
Pitchin Can (American Records, 1970, LP)
Things Have Got to Change (Impulse Records, 1971, LP)
Attica Blues (Impulse, 1972, LP)
Black Gipsy (Prestige Records, 1977, LP)
The Cry of My People Impulse, 1973, LP)
With Cecil Taylor
Live in Bologna, Leo Records (1988, 2 LPs; 1988, CD)
Live in Vienna, (Leo Records, 1988, 2 LPs-Limited edition; 1991, CD)
With Henry Threadgill
Too Much Sugar for a Dime (Axiom, 1993, CD)
Fromm Music Foundation, Harvard University, commission, 2003
New York State Council on the Arts, Nyasaland, 2002; Jenkins Squared, 2000
Meet the Composer, Color Eugoloid for the Relâche Ensemble, 2002; Three Willies, 1996
The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Coincidents, 2002
Ford Foundation, Three Willies, 2001
Animating Democracy, Americans for the Arts (funded by the Ford Foundation and the NEA), Three Willies, 2001
Mutable Music, brass quartet and voice piece, 1998; trio and voice piece, 1991
Rockefeller Foundation, The Negros Burial Ground, 1996; Fresh Faust, 1992
Mary Flagler Cary Trust, The Negros Burial Ground, 1995
New York Foundation for the Arts, music fellowship, 1992, 1986
Munich Biennial New Music Theatre Festival, The Mother of Three Sons, 1990
National Endowment for the Arts, special projects grant, 1990, 1988, 1984
National Endowment for the Arts, jazz composition fellowship, 1987, 1979, 1973
Creative Arts Program, service grant, 1974
The ASCAP Foundation Rudolf Nissim Prize, Concerto for Improvised Violin and Orchestra, 2006
Nominated for United States Artists Fellowships, 2006
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, 2004
The New York Dance and Performance Bessie Awards, The Mother of Three Sons, 1992
Downbeat Magazine International Critics’ and Readers’ Poll, awardee, 1987, 1972
Jazz Magazine Poll for violin, awardee, 1979
Downbeat Magazine Talent Deserving Wider Recognition, awardee, 1974
Artist in Residence, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA, 2002 spring
Composer inR esidence, Other Minds Festival, San Francisco, CA, 2000
Artist in Residence, Harvestworks, New York, NY, 2000
Master Artist in Residence, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL 1993
Artist in Residence, Atlanta Virtuosi, Atlanta, GA, 1991
Composer in Residence, Oberlin Conservatory, Oberlin, OH, 1990
Visiting Professor, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 1989 spring
Board of Directors, Meet The Composer (founding member)
Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM)
SESAC
Atlantic Center for the Arts
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL - B. A. in Music Education (full music scholarship)
American Conservatory of Music, Chicago, IL
DuSable High School, Captain Walter Dyett, Chicago, IL
