Leon Diamond Washington (June 27, 1909,

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

– February 19, 1973,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

tenor saxophonist. Born in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, Washington grew up in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

from the age of three. He started on clarinet before moving on to tenor saxophone, and studied under

Santy Runyon Clinton "Santy" Runyon (July 4, 1907 – April 4, 2003) was an American saxophonist and flautist as well as a designer and manufacturer of mouthpieces for woodwind instruments. Runyon's career included, among other things, playing at Al Capone ...

. After finishing

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, he played professionally from 1926, joining Zinky Cohn's band and recording with Frankie Franko (1930) and Bernie Young & the Creolians (1931–33). He played with

Carroll Dickerson Carroll Dickerson (November 1, 1895 – October 9, 1957) was a Chicago and New York-based dixieland jazz violinist and bandleader, probably better known for his extensive work with Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines or his more brief work to ...

from 1934-35 at the Sunset Cafe in Chicago, then played briefly with Louis Armstrong in 1935. He played with Earl Hines in 1937, before joining Red Saunders' group, where he remained for the next 25 years,

Leon Washington Leon Dewitt Washington Sr. (born August 29, 1982) is a former American football running back and return specialist. He currently serves as a coach for the New York Jets. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL Dra ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

recording with him extensively in addition to occasionally releasing material under his own name.Red Saunders Discography http://campber.people.clemson.edu/saunders.html Accessed August 15, 2009. Leaving Saunders' band in 1963, he became an official at the Chicago musicians' union. Washington died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

in 1973.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Leon 1909 births 1973 deaths American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists 20th-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from Mississippi 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians