Sam Leak

Sam Leak is an English jazz pianist based in London, known for his albums Places,^[1] on Jellymould Jazz, and Aquarium,^[2] on the Babel Label.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Education

Leak studied Jazz piano with Gwilym Simcock at the Royal Academy of Music. Leak is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge,^[7] where he is researching the learnability of Absolute Pitch by adults.^[8]^[9]

Lecturer in music

Leak is a Senior lecturer in Popular Music at Middlesex University.^[10]

Critical reception

His band 'Aquarium,' with saxophonist James Allsopp, double bassist Calum Gourlay, and drummer Joshua Blackmore, have been described by BBC Music Magazine as playing "assured and sophisticated acoustic jazz with deep roots in the tradition, that knows exactly what it's trying to do, and succeeds."^[11] Mojo describe them as: "Multi-faceted and smart as a pin, this is poetic chamber jazz of a very high order."^[12]

Discography

As leader:

Aquarium - Aquarium (Babel Label 2011)
Places - Aquarium (Jellymould Jazz 2013)

As sideman

In Bad Company - Filipe Monteiro (Filipe Monteiro 2012)
Road Ahead - Mark Perry and Duncan Eagles Quintet (F-ire Presents 2013)
Seven Deadly Sings - Louise Gibbs (33 Jazz 2014)
Ghetto - The Spike Orchestra (Spike Records 2014)
John Zorn - The Spike Orchestra – Cerberus: The Book of Angels Volume 26 - The Spike Orchestra (Tzadik 2015)
Simians of Swing - Simians of Swing (Coffee and Apple Records 2016)
Gathering - Chris Rand (Dot Time Records 2016)
Ask, Seek, Knock - Samuel Eagles and Spirit (Whirlwind Recordings 2017)

References

^ Fordham, John (13 June 2013). "Sam Leak's Aquarium: Places – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
^ Fordham, John (26 August 2011). "CD Reviews". The Guardian (Suppl. 7). pp. 14–15. Retrieved 18 April 2017. The Royal Academy of Music's jazz programme has produced a remarkable crop of newcomers in recent times: notably the Mercury-nominated pianists Gwilym Simcock and Kit Downes. Now comes Sam Leak, an artist of comparable promise...Leak is a subtle storyteller who keeps the grooves and colours changing.
^ Hobart, Mike (29 August 2011). "Arts & Television". Financial Times. p. 11. Leak's well-worked, linear compositions are shaded with English eccentricity. Bucolic reveries toughen into grimy urban soundscapes, there are classical references and the band's performance has a gritty matter-of-factness....Improvisation remains at the heart of any jazz performance, and both Leak and Allsopp are strong soloists who grasp complex themes with a firm hand. Leak solos with long lines that move from near-abstraction to rootsy repeats and then fade tantalisingly into the lower register.
^ Spicer, Daniel (2 January 2011). "Taking Off". Jazzwise. No. 149. pp. 18–19. Aquarium is a mature and often sumptuous statement of intent
^ Le Gendre, Kevin (9 September 2011). "Aquarium Review". BBC Music Magazine. Retrieved 5 August 2017. The emphasis is wholly on a carefully handled tension in the rhythm section with drums and bass locked in a fraught, plaintive drone, the delicacy of which is emphasized by Blackmore's almost tabla-like snare work and the discreet throb of Gourlay's bass, tantaslizing with two or three note stabs. Leak plays economically, brushing upper register chords with a Satie-like finesse to imbue the whole atmosphere with a brooding grace that is then heightened by Allsopp's stringently wrought overtones and terse but melodic coda
^ Graham, Stephen (25 August 2011). "Jazz breaking news: Aquarium Launch Their Debut Album At The Vortex". Jazzwise Magazine. Retrieved 16 January 2011. Leak fingertipping the keys in an elegant fashion that complemented Allsopp's Phrygian modal developmental sections nonetheless delivered, his runs involving satin textures underpinned by Gourlay's round woody sound.
^ "Cambridge University Centre for Music and Science". Cms.mus.cam.ac.uk. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
^ "Bio". Samleak.com. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
^ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HORXRnOSC20&feature=youtu.be
^ "Middlesex University academic and research staff". Retrieved 24 May 2023.
^ Spicer, Daniel. "BBC Music Magazine: Aquarium - 'Places' Review". Retrieved 18 April 2017.
^ Ingham, Chris (10 January 2011). "Aquarium ****". MOJO. No. 215. Bauer Media. p. 96. Multi-faceted and smart as a pin, this is poetic chamber jazz of a very high order

External links

Official website

[1] Fordham, John (13 June 2013). "Sam Leak's Aquarium: Places – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 April 2017.

[2] Fordham, John (26 August 2011). "CD Reviews". The Guardian (Suppl. 7). pp. 14–15. Retrieved 18 April 2017. The Royal Academy of Music's jazz programme has produced a remarkable crop of newcomers in recent times: notably the Mercury-nominated pianists Gwilym Simcock and Kit Downes. Now comes Sam Leak, an artist of comparable promise...Leak is a subtle storyteller who keeps the grooves and colours changing.

[3] Hobart, Mike (29 August 2011). "Arts & Television". Financial Times. p. 11. Leak's well-worked, linear compositions are shaded with English eccentricity. Bucolic reveries toughen into grimy urban soundscapes, there are classical references and the band's performance has a gritty matter-of-factness....Improvisation remains at the heart of any jazz performance, and both Leak and Allsopp are strong soloists who grasp complex themes with a firm hand. Leak solos with long lines that move from near-abstraction to rootsy repeats and then fade tantalisingly into the lower register.

[4] Spicer, Daniel (2 January 2011). "Taking Off". Jazzwise. No. 149. pp. 18–19. Aquarium is a mature and often sumptuous statement of intent

[5] Le Gendre, Kevin (9 September 2011). "Aquarium Review". BBC Music Magazine. Retrieved 5 August 2017. The emphasis is wholly on a carefully handled tension in the rhythm section with drums and bass locked in a fraught, plaintive drone, the delicacy of which is emphasized by Blackmore's almost tabla-like snare work and the discreet throb of Gourlay's bass, tantaslizing with two or three note stabs. Leak plays economically, brushing upper register chords with a Satie-like finesse to imbue the whole atmosphere with a brooding grace that is then heightened by Allsopp's stringently wrought overtones and terse but melodic coda

[6] Graham, Stephen (25 August 2011). "Jazz breaking news: Aquarium Launch Their Debut Album At The Vortex". Jazzwise Magazine. Retrieved 16 January 2011. Leak fingertipping the keys in an elegant fashion that complemented Allsopp's Phrygian modal developmental sections nonetheless delivered, his runs involving satin textures underpinned by Gourlay's round woody sound.

[7] "Cambridge University Centre for Music and Science". Cms.mus.cam.ac.uk. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2017.

[8] "Bio". Samleak.com. Retrieved 8 August 2020.

[9] ttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HORXRnOSC20&feature=youtu.be

[10] "Middlesex University academic and research staff". Retrieved 24 May 2023.

[11] Spicer, Daniel. "BBC Music Magazine: Aquarium - 'Places' Review". Retrieved 18 April 2017.

[12] Ingham, Chris (10 January 2011). "Aquarium ****". MOJO. No. 215. Bauer Media. p. 96. Multi-faceted and smart as a pin, this is poetic chamber jazz of a very high order

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