Leon Oakley

US jazz trumpeter with Turk Murphy. In 1968 Leon relocated from Binghamton, NY to join the Turk Murphy Jazz Band in San Francisco. After leaving Turk's band in 1979, he became a member of The South Frisco Jazz Band until the band retired in 1998. During this period, Leon also worked a day job as a senior electrical engineer with BART, retiring in 2000. Shortly thereafter, Leon became a member of John Gill's Yerba Buena Stompers, that continues to perform at jazz festivals around the country. Around the San Francisco Bay Area, Leon is a regular with Clint Baker's All-Stars at Cafe Borrone in Menlo Park on Friday nights and with Mal Sharpe's Big Money Jazz Band at the Fior d’Italia in San Francisco’s North Beach. He often is a guest musician with local bands, including Dave Rickett's Gaucho Gypsy Jazz Band, in which he was a guest recording artist on their “Pearl” and “Part-Time Sweetheart” CDs. Leon has made many recordings produced by various labels with the Turk Murphy, South Frisco and Yerba Buena Stompers jazz bands.