The Normyn Suites
Release date: March 25, 2022
Label: Sunnyside Records

The Normyn Suites by the Michael Leonhart Orchestra is both a requiem and celebration, inspired by the life and death of the bandleader’s 15-year-old dog, a female mini dachshund named Normyn. The third album by the Michael Leonhart Orchestra features a pair of suites – the first of which is an exploration of the stages of grieving, while the second is a reflection on love and loss. In keeping with the MLO’s eclectic musical palette, the album features several collaborations with Elvis Costello, with contributions by Bill Frisell, Nels Cline, and JSWISS as well as two bonus offerings with Donny McCaslin. 

The Normyn Suites is an elegy; to listen is to spend time in that space of loss, reckoning, questioning, and mourning. At the same time, though, with each note, each phrase, we are propelled back into life,” reflects author Alexandra Horowitz in the stirring liner notes. The first part is titled “The Normyn Suite #1: (Soundtrack to the Five Stages of Grieving)”, and was inspired by “The Kübler-Ross Grief Cycle”, a model introduced by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in her 1969 book On Death and Dying. “The Five Stages of Grief” is a critically acclaimed study on how humans handle loss.

For this suite in five parts, Leonhart expands the MLO’s live performance palette of brass, woodwinds and strings to include choir and found percussion over gritty breakbeat drums. 

Leonhart shares, “I wanted “Denial” and “Anger” to have an emotional tension and raw quality, almost a whiplash effect, before the contemplative soloing of Bill Frisell over the peaceful “Catharsis”.” The fourth composition, “Nostalgia” opens with a nod to the main melody of “The Dunes Of Cahoon Hollow” (from “Suite #2), orchestrated for choir and monophonic synths before Jim Pugh (trombone) and Walt Weiskopf (tenor sax) take turns as instrumental narrators. Leonhart’s years with Pugh and Weiskopf as part of the Steely Dan horn section inspired him to choose them specifically for their expressiveness and personal experiences with loss. The final movement of the suite,“Acceptance” starts with Leonhart’s mother Donna singing a wordless melody over chamber strings. Leonhart utilizes gospel harmonies and a written soli over a soulful 6/8 groove to represent the peace and empowerment that come with the true recognition of personal heartbreaking loss. 

“The Normyn Suite #2: (Love & Loss)” is a collection of six pieces Leonhart began composing in the final weeks of Normyn’s life, when she was physically too weak to walk and began to lose her appetite. Leonhart would bring her to the studio where she would rest in her favorite bag on top of the grand piano while he played and composed. The six pieces “May The Young Grow Old” (featuring Larry Goldings), “Waking From Sedation” (featuring Bill Frisell), “Freedom From The Pain”, “Unconditional Love”, “La Preghiera”, and “The Dunes Of Cahoon Hollow” take listeners on an dazzling sonic journey.

In addition to the two suites, the album features three songs co-written with Elvis Costello during the quarantine. There are two versions of “Shut Him Down” bookending the suites — one with Joshua Redman, playing his late father Dewey’s newly restored tenor saxophone for the first time on record, the other with Chris Potter on bass clarinet. Costello performs spoken word on “Radio is Everything”, featuring legendary guitarists Bill Frisell Nels Cline who also co-wrote the songs with Leonhart and Costello. The final collaboration is the driving “Newspaper Pane”.

Two bonus tracks, “Kenny Dorham” and “Wayne Shorter”, present the debut recording of Leonhart’s organ quartet featuring Donny McCaslin. These two songs were initially composed as a birthday tribute to each of these jazz legends, two of Leonhart’s favorite small group composers.

The Michael Leonhart Orchestra developed its singular sound over the course of its monthly residencies at Jazz Standard, one of New York’s most prestigious jazz rooms. Pre-pandemic, Leonhart was steadily honing his vision there, with unconventional instrumentation and a shapeshifting community of sought-after players from a variety of cutting-edge scenes and disciplines. Leonhart’s approach to the MLO is informed by his many other activities and wide-ranging credits: he’s a top-level jazz trumpeter and longtime member of Steely Dan; a gifted and distinctive pianist; a singer, songwriter and film composer; a session player with credits including the Bruno Mars/Mark Ronson megahit “Uptown Funk“; an accomplished orchestrator (Nels Cline’s Lovers) and producer (Donald Fagen’s Sunken Condos, Sachal Vasandani’s Slow Motion Miracles). The polyglot musical worldview Leonhart has developed as a result stamps the MLO’s work at every moment. And the joy he gets from it is infectious. 

Hailed as “a blazing hot mess of awesome” by The New York City Jazz Record, the Michael Leonhart Orchestra (MLO) traverses a huge swath of musical terrain, guided by the highly developed ears, ceaselessly omnivorous tastes and playful yet meticulous artistry of its leader, Michael Leonhart.

The Michael Leonhart Orchestra features a who’s-who of today’s contemporary musical talent including Keyon HarroldCatherine Russell, E.J. StricklandFreddie HendrixEric FriedlanderRyan Keberle, and more.

JEREMY SMITH
LAST ROW MUSIC
Read the complete album announcement here.

PRESTON FRAZIER
SOMETHING ELSE!
"[Leonhart] is a remarkable arranger and bandleader, melding heady pieces to create a cohesive and emotionally compelling album. These 17 songs are yet another example as to why Michael Leonhart is among the best jazz composers and arrangers today." Read the review here.

PHIL FREEMAN
STEREOGUM
"[Leonhart] puts unexpected covers into equally surprising contexts, with vivid arrangements that draw new elements out while still offering the thrill of recognition." Read The Month in Jazz for March 2022 here.

JIM HYNES
GLIDE MAGAZINE
"The Michael Leonhart Orchestra thrives on unconventional instrumentation, relatable themes, and highly sought-after players coming at this work from different perspectives ... the Costello co-writes and the quartet features ... add intrigue and contrasting tonality that amplify the emotional impact of the two cohesive suites." Read the review here.

FILIPE FREITAS
JAZZ TRAIL
"Leonhart not only reveals enormous compositional prowess and mastery of several idioms, but also gives an earnest modern perspective to his orchestra, allowing multiple shades of color to fester in each arrangement." Read the 4-star review here.

GARY FUKUSHIMA
DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE
"The presentation of this music amounts to a memorial service befitting one given top-dog status, for Leonhart has assembled, in addition to his orchestra of A-list New York musicians, a cadre of featured celebrity soloists: Elvis Costello, Joshua Redman, Chris Potter, Larry Goldings, DonnyMcCaslin, Nels Cline and Bill Frisell all take all-star turns at the front lectern." Four star review here.

WULF MULLER
ALL THAT JAZZ
"his is a timeless recording I can’t recommend enough. Stunning!" Read the review here.

PETER QUINN
JAZZWISE
"The eponymous subject of this moving and powerful album is the bandleader Michael Leonhart’s 15-year-old mini dachshund, for whom the recording serves as a singular musical eulogy." Read the review here.

ROB SHEPHERD
POST-GENRE
"In many ways, Leonhart’s Orchestra is the ideal organization to dive deep into the complexity of human emotions." Read part one of the interview here, and part two here.

MICHAEL CALDWELL
JAZZ BASTARD PODCAST
Listen to the complete episode, featuring a review of The Normyn Suites, here.

FRED GOATY
JAZZ MAGAZINE
Feature in the March 2022 issue.

MARCO CANGIANO
NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD
"A luscious recording and early candidate for the album of the year." Read the review in the April 2022 issue here.

MATT COLLAR
ALL MUSIC
"Sprawling and ambitious, The Normyn Suites is an engaging album of genre-bending mood music that leaves you contemplating Leonhart's expansive creative voice and the dog that inspired him." Read the 4-star review here.

DEE DEE MCNEIL
MUSICAL MEMOIRS
"I’m intrigued by the poetry and by Michael Leonhart’s mournful cry on trumpet." Read the review here.

ANGELO LEONARDI
ALL ABOUT JAZZ
Read the review in Italian here.

CATHERINE CARETTE
RADIO FRANCE
Read the review in French here.

JEFF TAMARKIN
JAZZ TIMES
"Before you even play a note of The Normyn Suites, you know at the very least that it’s going to be an interesting listen." Read the review here.

MICHAEL TOLAND
THE BIG TAKEOVER
"With melodic consistency and tight arrangements, the ride isn’t as rollicking as one might expect, and instead unrolls like an expertly painted canvas." Read the review here.

MATT MICUCCI
JAZZIZ
Read The Week in Jazz here.

GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO
NEW YORK TIMES
"The Grammy-winning Michael Leonhart Orchestra converts itself into a crack studio band on “Shut Him Down,” the guest star-fueled opener to its newest album." See here.

LUDOVICO GRANVASSU
ALL ABOUT JAZZ
Read the Best of 2022 list here.

STAFF
NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD
Listed as a Best Large Ensemble release of 2022 here.

PRESTON FRAZIER
SOMETHING ELSE
"Longtime Steely Dan collaborator Michael Leonhart’s career has spanned more than three decades." Read the full interview here.

JONATHAN WIDRAN
JAZZIZ
Check out the feature here.

ROSS BOISSONEAU
SOMETHING ELSE 
"Sprawling, sad, engaging, and never mundane, The Normyn Suites also features the composer on trumpet alongside Donny McCaslin on two tunes." Read the rest of the review here.