Leslie Ford, is a Trumpeter, Arranger, Composer, Lecturer and Educator. and the Producer/Host of Jazz Talk on Princeton TV. He is a self-taught musician. Until the age of sixteen he did not take school seriously and was on the verge of becoming a juvenile delinquent. At this point he could not read. One day while helping his father paint and listening to a Freddie Hubbard Jazz album his dad was playing, the melodic tones of the lead trumpet mesmerized Leslie. Suddenly, he wanted to know everything about Jazz and the trumpet.
Eventually a relative gave him a used horn which he picked up and taught himself how to play by listening to music. He became a musical hermit. All he did was sneak into Jazz clubs and listen to records. By the time he was nineteen he played well enough to play with local bands. Before long he was touring with both big and small bands.
Having learned to read music proficiently, he decided it was time for him to learn how to read words. With the help of many people around him, Leslie taught himself how to read and to this day is a compulsive reader/researcher. Mr. Ford’s never ending quest to learn more has led to him becoming a prolific composer and arranger.
He has performed with Joe Thomas, Frank Foster’s Big Band, Rehearsed with Horace Silver, played with Zahir Batins Ensemble, Steve Torre, Hilton Rauz, Tommy Gryce, The Tony Hurdle Octet, and Phil Bowler Sextet, just to name a few. Mr. Ford has been also performed with the New Jersey State Orchestra under the direction of Mr. Duke Anderson, as well as many pit orchestras.
Leslie has served as Assistant Musical Director for the off-off Broadway Musical. A Different Kinda Blues, and the Miss Black America Beauty Pageant. He also co-produced and wrote his album, LESLIE FORD/RADAM SCHWARTZ CONNECTION, which has been aired on jazz stations throughout the country. He has played trumpet and flugelhorn on several other artist’s albums and is presently working on a new CD.
In 1981 Mr. Ford had hopes of bringing jazz to the New Brunswick, NJ area. He soon selected a group of musicians to record and perform. This led to him becoming the co-founder of the New Brunswick Jazz Collective. However there was still a dream welling inside of him. Leslie attributes “the great music of Jazz,” to saving and changing the course of his life. He believed there were other youths out there that needed to be saved. This led to his dream becoming a reality.
