Bassist/Producer Jake K. Leckie embraces a wide variety of music from around the world. Born in Boston, he studied double bass with John Lockwood and piano with Ken Cook, and began playing professionally at the age of 15, busking regularly in Harvard Square with Eli "Paperboy" Reed, Eli Keszler and Gabe Birnbaum. He attended the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore where he studied with Michael Formanek and the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory, and earned a BA in Anthropology with a concentration in Ethnomusicology, and an MA in Audio Science with a concentration in Recording and Production. He continued his education at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, and with the McGill Baroque Orchestra in Montreal where he also studied with tango pianist/composer Victor Simon.
Jake has performed and recorded with a diverse array of artists, including Sixto "Sugarman" Rodriguez, Don Sonero (of New Swing Sextet), Pedro Brull, Domingo Quiñones, The Pacific Mambo Orchestra, Cesar Orozco, The Cris Jacobs Band, Lyn Taitt, Warren Wolf, Ran Blake, Mike Munford, Matana Roberts, Ursula Rucker (of The Roots), Phil Cunneff's New Trio, John Dierker, Snail Knights, The Love Unit, Charm City Tango, Bossalingo, Arty Hill, Hot Club of Baltimore, The Mash Potangos, Corner Quartet, The Baltimore Jazz Alliance Big Band, John Ginty (of Dixie Chicks), Dave Ballou, Alex Norris, Susan Alcorn, Jens Lindemann, the Kalmunity Vibe Collective, Out Of Your Head, String Orchestra of Brooklyn, and Baltimore Boom Bap Society. He has held the principal bass position for the Brooklyn Conservatory Orchestra and the McGill Baroque Orchestra. He has served on the music ministry of The Greater Faith Baptist Church in Baltimore, and Parkchester Baptist Church in the Bronx. He has participated in residencies at The Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, The Silver Lake Conference Center in Connecticut, The Sucre Jazz Lounge in Brooklyn, The 8x10 in Baltimore, and L'Escalier in Montreal. He has played on the stages of Rams Head Live (Baltimore), Twins Jazz (Washington, DC), SOBs (NYC), Symphony Space (NYC), Barbes (Brooklyn), Roulette (NYC), Upstairs (Montreal), Jamboree (Barcelona), Black Sheep (Ottawa), Red Room (Baltimore), Knitting Factory (NYC), The Middle East (Boston), Ashkenaz (Berkeley), Yoshi's (San Francisco), Bethlehem Muzikfest (Bethlehem, PA), Montreal Jazz Festival, Baltimore Jazz and Blues Festival, The All Good Festival, The Federal Hill Festival, Canada Music Week, Hot August Blues, Lunar Bay, Washington DC Jazz Festival, and San Jose Jazz Festival.
Jake has been a recording engineer at The Peabody Conservatory, Towson University, Loyola University, The Bunker, Heartwood Sound Studios, Symphony Space, The Banff Center, and his own studio Organic Sound Lab. He has recorded over 500 live concerts, and produced albums for several bands, singer songwriters, jazz groups, tango ensembles, and chamber musicians including Eva Castillo, The Good Owls, The Mash Potangos, Franck Feutre, and Superland Stage Band.
Via Boston, Barcelona, Banff, Montreal, Brooklyn, and Baltimore, Jake currently resides in San Francisco. He can be heard on numerous recordings as a sideman, and is in high demand as an audio-engineer/producer. He has composed for several films, and was recently commissioned by the Baltimore Museum of Art to compose music for the re-opening of the contemporary gallery. He has taught Music Fundamentals and Bass Lessons in the music department at Loyola University Maryland, and Musical Acoustics and Sound on Film for the Recording Arts Department of the Peabody Conservatory. Since moving to the Bay Area, he has been playing with Avance, Orquesta Bembe, Ape Like Impact, Hippopotamus, Broken Shadows Family Band, and otherwise freelancing heavily in the jazz and salsa scenes.
Jake plays a 1890s flat-back Bohemian (Czech) bass, Full Circle pickup, Markbass Amp, and Aguilar Cabinet. For Salsa/Latin Jazz he uses a Ray Ramirez Baby Bass. For electric bass, a Fender Jazz Bass.