The Leslie Drayton Orchestra was an American jazz-funk big band led by trumpeter Leslie Drayton, an original member of Earth Wind & Fire. He released three albums and an EP with his orchestra between 1980 and 1984, followed by two albums with his followup combo Fun, all on his own Family Enterprises-imprint Esoteric Records.
Background
The Leslie Drayton Orchestra formed in 1977 when Los Angeles trumpeter-arranger Leslie Drayton formalized his earlier big-band work under his own name.
Drayton was born March 4, 1950, in Los Angeles, California, to a musical family. His father played bass for Louis Jordan and Lena Horne, while his mother worked as Pearl Bailey’s hairdresser. Drayton began piano, bongos, and clarinet studies at age five. Family friend Benny Carter gave him his first trumpet at eleven.
At fifteen, Drayton joined a youth band that trained him in composition and music arrangement. Drayton also played with pianist Horace Tapscott through the Los Angeles music community surrounding Grant’s Music Center and Marion Sherrill Script House. After Los Angeles High School, he continued his studies at Los Angeles Valley College.
Early Credits
In 1970, Maurice White selected Drayton at Los Angeles auditions for Earth, Wind & Fire. Drayton played trumpet and arranged horn charts for the group’s self-titled Warner Bros. debut. Maurice White dissolved the original lineup in 1972 after two albums. Drayton then formed a big band with trombonist-arranger Melba Liston. On March 31, 1974, he led a big-band engagement at the Inner City Cultural Center in Los Angeles.
Between 1974 and 1978, Drayton earned musician/arranger credits on albums by Genie Brown, Masterfleet, Wright Brothers Flying Machine, and two Marvin Gaye concert sets, including the “Fossil Medley” on Marvin Gaye Live! He arranged horns and strings on the first three Sylvester solo albums and joined the brass section on the 1979 self-titled third Gap Band album.
Drayton established Esoteric Records as his own label and took the orchestra to Conway Recording Studios in 1980 for Our Music Is Your Music.
Discography:
- Our Music Is Your Music (1980 • The Leslie Drayton Orchestra)
- Turning a Corner (1981 • The Leslie Drayton Orchestra)
- Close Pursuit (EP, 1983)
- Love Is a Four-Letter Word (1984 • The Leslie Drayton Orchestra featuring Barbara Morrison)
- What It Is, Is What It Is (1986 • Leslie Drayton & Fun)
- Innuendos (1987 • Leslie Drayton & Fun)
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