“I remember my mother playing all these amazing albums in the house growing up,” says Michael Leonhart. “The Miles & Gil Evans collaborations, the Ellington suites, Sinatra & Nelson Riddle, Quincy Jones, and tons of Thad Jones/Mel Lewis…While my dad [bassist Jay Leonhart] was out playing gigs and recording, it was my mother’s DJ’ing that was the ‘gateway drug’ that led me to discover Stravinsky, Ravel, Olivier Messiaen, Morricone, and David Axelrod.” A GRAMMY Award winner at age 17, Leonhart has been an in–demand trumpet player, arranger and composer for decades, with stage and studio credits including Steely Dan, Mark Ronson, and the Antibalas Orchestra to name a few. But it was when he took on the role as arranger/conductor for the 21–piece orchestra on guitarist Nels Cline’s eclec­tic album Lovers (Blue Note, 2015) that his love of conducting, arranging and composing for large en­semble was reignited. When Lovers was finished, Leonhart was certain that he wanted to create a solo project in this vein, and thus was born the Michael Leonhart Orchestra and its Sunnyside debut album The Painted Lady Suite. This ambitious seven–movement work features performances by Nels Cline and sax­ophonists Donny McCaslin and Sam Sadigursky: “When creating MLO,” says the leader, “my idea was to get an all-star mix of soloists, ensemble players and pocket-players who would be as comfortable playing Mingus and Ellington as they would be playing Wu–Tang and Fela Kuti.” Leonhart says. This premier engagement promises to be one of the year’s most significant Jazz Standard debuts – make your reserva­tions now!  Michael Leonhard – conductor, arranger Nels Cline – special guest guitar TBA – special guest tenor saxophone [7/18 only] Philip Dizack, Dave Guy, Carter Yasutake – trumpet Ray Mason – trombone John Ellis, Ian Hendrickson Smith – tenor saxophone, flutes Jason Marshall – bari saxophone, bass clarinet Sarah Schoenbeck – bassoon Paulin Kim – violin Erik Friedlander – cello Kevin Rackza – drums Richie Goods – bass Robbie Mangano – guitar Nathan Koci – accordian Elizabeth Pupo-Walker – percussion