Leroy Leon Pendarvis (born 1945) is an American session musician. He plays keyboards and is a background vocalist. He is also an occasional guitarist. The artists he has worked with over the years include

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

on her '' Streetlights'' album which was released in 1974, Van McCoy on his ''

Disco Baby ''Disco Baby'' is the second studio album recorded by Van McCoy & the Soul City Symphony, released in 1975 on the Avco label. History The album reached No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs chart and topped the ''Billboard'' Soul LPs chart. The ...

'' album which was released in 1975, Barbra Streisand on her '' Songbird'' album which was released in 1978,

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

on his '' August'' album which was released in 1986, Don Johnson on his '' Let It Roll'' album which was released in 1989,

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002), is the ...

on her ''

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'' album which was released on 2007, and many more. He was at one time a member of the group Passion. He is also the musical director and conductor for

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'' Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) Band. Since 1986 he has been a member of The Blues Brothers band. He was the husband of singer and chorist

Janice Pendarvis Janice Gadsden Pendarvis is an American singer, songwriter, and voiceover artist. She has worked with artists such as Sting, David Bowie, Steely Dan, Peter Tosh, Brandy, the O'Jays, Philip Glass, Jimmy Cliff, Laurie Anderson, the Naked Brothe ...

(born Janice Gadsden), who sang for Roberta Flack,

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

, David Bowie, and the Naked Brothers Band.

Background

The son of a first-grade primary school teacher, Pendarvis grew up in South Carolina. In addition to teaching, his mother was also pianist at their church. She also gave piano lessons to make extra money. The young Pendarvis graduated from climbing up on the bench to hit the keys to being taught by his mother. He also learned to play trumpet and saxophone. He also was a bass player when he came to New York. He was married to Janice Pendarvis (formerly Janice Gadsden) whom he had known since she was 13. They married some time after she left her parents place and moved in with her cousin Andrew Gadsden who was Pendarvis's roommate. He is also a board member for the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation. He was married to former Los Jovenes del Barrio singer Jillian, (born Jill Maureen Armsbury) who died in January 2009 from mesothelioma.

Career

1970s

He played keyboards and provided the backing vocals for Richard Roundtree's 1972 album, ''The Man from Shaft''. Along with Janice Gadsden, he co-wrote "Sing a Happy Song" for Taj Mahal. He also produced the song which was released in 1978.

1980s

He composed, recorded and mixed the original dramatic music for the music video "

BAD Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being * Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored troll ...

" by Michael Jackson.

2000s

By 2014, he had been with the Saturday Night Live Band, playing keyboards for 30 years and was the longest serving member with the outfit. As of early 2018, Pendarvis was still the music director and band conductor for '' Saturday Night Live''. Along with guitarist Larry Campbell, and bass virtuoso Pino Palladino, Pendarvis played on the 2018

Bettye LaVette Bettye LaVette (born Betty Jo Haskins, January 29, 1946) is an American soul singer-songwriter who made her first record at sixteen, but achieved only intermittent fame until 2005, when her album ''I've Got My Own Hell to Raise'' was released to ...

album '' Things Have Changed'', an album of songs by Bob Dylan which was released on Verve Records.

Work with Van McCoy

Along with Richard Tee, Pendarvis played keyboards on the Van McCoy & the Soul City Symphony album, ''Love Is the Answer'' which was released on Avco Records in 1974. He also played clavinet and piano on their next album ''

'', which contained the massive hit in 1975, " The Hustle". He played on McCoy's album ''The Disco Kid'', which was released on Avco Records in 1975.Discogs
Van McCoy – The Disco Kid
/ref>

References

External links

Discogs: Leon Pendarvis

Imdb: Leon Pendarvis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pendarvis, Leon Music directors American music arrangers 20th-century American keyboardists 21st-century American musicians African-American pianists American organists American male organists 1945 births Living people Saturday Night Live Band members The Blues Brothers members 21st-century organists 21st-century American keyboardists Date of birth missing (living people)