SB Acoustic Presents: Sonny Leyland Trio

Doors: 6:00 PM Show: 7:30 PM Ages: All Ages *Dinner tables in the stage room. * Born & raised on the South Coast of England, Carl Sonny Leyland was drawn to the American music which he heard on LP records his father would play. It was here that he developed an appreciation for Traditional Jazz and Swing, the Rock & Roll of the 1950s & the Country Music of Jimmie Rodgers & Hank Williams. He discovered boogie woogie when he heard a school friend working through a written arrangement JD's Boogie Woogie (by Marvin Wright). Captivated by the sound of the repeating 8 to the bar left hand pattern, Sonny was inspired to fully explore the piano blues genre, becoming an authority on early & obscure styles. Sonny’s initial visit to New Orleans in 1988 inspired him to relocate to that city where he would spend the next nine years. By the time Sonny relocated to Southern California in 1997, his repertoire had expanded to include ragtime & early jazz styles, which enabled him to become part of the traditional jazz scene around Los Angeles. The Carl Sonny Leyland Trio with drummer Hal Smith/ Josh Collazo & bassist Marty Eggers have recorded seven cds (including a collaboration with Nathan James & Ben Hernandez). HeeHe appears on occasion with such notables as Jontavious Willis, Kim Wilson, & Rod Piazza. He has recorded with Blues greats Billy Boy Arnold, Jerry McCain, Beverley Watlins, James Harman, and Anson Funderburg & Sam Myers. Sonny’s playing displays an infectious spontaneity, providing plenty of surprises for the listener. While he possesses the necessary vocabulary to pay tribute to the greats of old, he refuses to be limit himself to this & prefers to let each performance be an opportunity to say something new. His repertoire spans the Ragtime era through the 1950s, & includes a large amount of self written songs and instrumental compositions.