{"id":4168,"date":"2022-03-20T20:58:55","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T01:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=4168"},"modified":"2022-03-27T10:46:09","modified_gmt":"2022-03-27T15:46:09","slug":"peaks-valleys-michael-leonhart-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/peaks-valleys-michael-leonhart-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Peaks and Valleys: A Conversation with Michael Leonhart (Part One)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sometimes the most complicated things in life are those that appear deceptively simple. We all understand, at a surface level, our emotions. We learn, from an early age, what it means to be happy, sad, or angry. But the reality is that these sensations are often far more complex than they seem. While we all can categorize grief as sadness, affective science tells us it is actually composed of five parts- denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Not all of those components are \u201csad\u201d in the sense most people think of that word. Relatedly, throughout history, artists have composed music that focuses on the depression element of grief but seldom do works encompass the entirety of the emotion. The Michael Leonhart Orchestra\u2019s The Normyn Suites <\/em>(Sunnyside, 2022) is different; it encompasses all facets of the emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than just languishing dirges across the album\u2019s two suites, Leonhart takes a broader perspective of the emotions stirred by his loss of a beloved family pet. \u201cShut Him Down\u201d and \u201cAnger\u201d are funky, with the latter expressing an appropriate level of fury. The gorgeously haunting \u201cCatharsis\u201d with Bill Frisell slides between sadness and building towards acceptance. The lush strings of \u201cUnconditional Love\u201d underscore the purity of the relationship one has with a pet. And, from the presence of Leonhart\u2019s parents, sister, wife, and son on the album to Joshua Redman recording on his own father\u2019s horn for the first time, the importance of family remains a recurring theme throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many ways, Leonhart\u2019s Orchestra is the ideal organization to dive deep into the complexity of human emotions. The Orchestra is the same band that examined the nebulous nature of romantic love on Nels Cline\u2019s Lovers<\/em> (Blue Note, 2016). Leonhart himself has an eclectic background that gives him many colors to work with, whether his 25-year association with Steely Dan, his scoring of Red Dead Redemption 2 <\/em>(Rockstar, 2018), or working with Elvis Costello (who also appears on The Normyn Suites). <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We sat down with Leonhart to discuss The Normyn Suites<\/em> and the meaning of love and loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PostGenre: You dedicated The Normyn Suites<\/em> to your late dog and her life. What can you share about her?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Leonhart: Well, I married my best friend, Jamie. Jamie and I wanted to have kids, but I’ve always kind of unapologetically been a self-involved dreamer. That\u2019s something that I’ve tried to work on. So, we got Normyn, a mini Dachshund, essentially, as a dry run for becoming parents to a human child. Our son is now 12 and a half. We always wanted to start with a dog. I quickly discovered that a dog was a great way to get ready to have a human child. I was ready to do anything for this little dog. The experience awakened the dad part of my personality. <\/p>

Normyn would also always come to recording sessions with me.  She was there for everything from soundchecks to when I was working on producing Donald Fagen\u2019s album [Sunken Condos <\/em>(Reprise, 2012)]. Normyn, why we named her that is a whole other story, was kind of my wingman. I also wound up learning a lot about people from how they interacted with her. Some people I worked with would ask to take her for a walk and others would almost step on her, not even noticing she was there. Whether they would even be aware she was there was fascinating. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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