Brooklyn based jazz guitarist who likes to play not jazz

David Leon is a Cuban-American saxophonist, woodwinds player, and composer/improviser living in Brooklyn, New York. 

His diverse musical output is pervaded by the exploration of nuance: in timbre by creatively manipulating saxophone technique, in pitch by tampering with equal temperament and employing microtonality, and in texture possibility through orchestration and improvisation. As the winner of the 2017 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer’s Award, David debuted a new quartet at the Newport Jazz Festival in August of that year. In November 2018, he performed alongside pianist Kris Davis as part of The Jazz Gallery’s Mentoring Series. 

David plans to release his debut record as a leader Aire De Agua in Fall 2021. His other solo endeavors include the Current Obsession series - which documents improvisations with current collaborators, David Leon Trio; the co-led project Sound Underground, and various improvised configurations. An active sideperson, David has collaborated with artists including Ingrid Laubrock, Nick Dunston, Kris Davis, Justin Vernon, Brian Lynch, Adam O’Farrill, Brandon Seabrook, Kate Gentile, Chris Pitsiokos, Arturo O’Farrill, Tomas Fujiwara, Lesley Mok, Michael Formanek, Matt Mitchell, Henry Fraser, Michael Attias, Tom Rainey, and others. 

Born and raised in Miami, Florida, David discovered a love for music in his uncle's collection of global percussion instruments. After starting formal instruction on piano he found the saxophone by chance, and was accepted into the prestigious New World School of the Arts high school to study jazz. He quickly garnered national recognition from the National YoungArts Foundation, the GRAMMY Foundation, the ASCAP Foundation, Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Jazz Band of America. His trio #bicmnrosfulmfrenh was recognized as the Best Small Ensemble by Downbeat Magazine’s Student Music Awards in 2016.

David graduated with a Bachelor of Music from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, as a member of the cross-genre Henry Mancini Institute. In addition, David is a two-time alumni of the Kennedy Center's Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program and the Banff Centre in Canada. He has been mentored by Terence Blanchard, Jason Moran, Kris Davis, and Ira Sullivan.

577 Records is proud to be celebrating its 24 year anniversary.  The legendary music master Daniel Carter was one of the first people 577 cofounder Federico Ughi met soon after arriving in New York from Italy in 2000, after a brief stint in London.  It was a meeting of like minds and shortly thereafter the two started a series of house concerts at 577 Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn, the apartment where Federico was living at the time. The spontaneous nature of the concerts along with the incredible caliber of the deep downtown underground music they were able to present inspired them to bring the unique nature of what they were doing to a wider audience and they founded the label 577 Records to further that mission. 

577 Records started the New York Forward Festival in 2015 to mark the momentous occasion of Daniel Carter’s 70th birthday, now with festival editions happening in Morocco and Italy as well, and the international residency program Sounds of Freedom, in which active musicians are awarded the opportunity to develop their own sound, skills, and improvisation concept.

100% of profit from the sale of most of these albums goes to the musicians.

 

 “Guided by a mission to capture the ephemeral, to keep jazz relevant, and to foster a collaborative community of artists, the music 577 releases is timeless, masterful, and mystical.” - Bandcamp

“the music of new possibilities, full of spirituality and introspection, an alternative that did not need volume or screaming at the top of your lungs to position itself, and coupled with a deep sense of pulse and the blues.” - Free Jazz Blog

“577 Records, the musical home of the daring and the brave” - All About Jazz


577 Records
Brooklyn, New York
www.577records.com
©+℗ 2025

Jukka Kääriäinen is a musician and sound artist based in Helsinki Finland. He has collaborated with musicians such as Teppo Hauta-Aho, Kalle Kalima, Harri Sjöström, Emilio Gordoa, Elena Kakaliagou, Rieko Okuda, Antti Virtaranta, Lauri Hyvärinen, Roomet Jakapi, Dario Fariello, Anil Eraslan, Mikko Innanen and Paul Pignon and premiered pieces by composers such as Sebastian Hilli, Sami Klemola, Clara de Asis and Leo Dupleix.

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