Leighton Harrell's Band

leightonmckinleyharrell.com

Leighton Harrell (he/him) is a bassist and composer from Raleigh, North Carolina. He found his passion for music at the age of 16, and a year later was selected to be a member of the Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble, with which he attended the 2017 Essentially Ellington competition in New York City. Upon graduating from high school in 2017, Leighton received a scholarship to attend the University of Toronto’s Jazz Performance program where he studied from 2017-2021. While in Toronto, Leighton balanced a busy schedule of gigs around the city with his studies, and beginning in 2019 held a residency at Poetry Jazz Café with his quartet, as well as a weekly residency at the Rex Hotel Jazz and Blues Bar in the fall of 2020. After graduating from UofT, Leighton relocated to Montréal where he is currently based.

In addition to freelance work on the Toronto and Montréal jazz scenes, Leighton has worked with Toronto R&B artist LOONY. He has also toured with Fiver and The Atlantic School of Spontaneous Composition, and actively tours with Montréal indie artist Ada Lea.

As a composer and artist, Leighton draws inspiration from hymns and spirituals, folk music, and various traditions of Black American Music in which jazz has its roots.

You can hear Leighton on three upcoming recordings scheduled for fall 2021 release. You Are The Light And The Way by Alex Bird, The Adema-Manoukas Octet, and Moments by Alyssa Giamarria.

In September 2014, Leighton read the entirety of the critically acclaimed Shonen Jump manga, Naruto, in just two weeks.