Leonard Feather was best-known as easily the most famous jazz critic in the world, writing at least ten jazz books (including the famed Encyclopedia of Jazz series) and thousands of liner notes, along with articles and reviews for all of the jazz magazines and most of the daily newspapers. Feather, who was very modest about his piano playing, produced many important sessions from the late '30s on but his inclusion in this book is due to his skills as a lyricist/composer. He was responsible for such songs as "Evil Gal Blues" (a hit for Dinah Washington), "Blowtop Blues," the memorable "Mighty Like the Blues," "I Remember Bird," "Signing Off," "Twelve Tone Blues," and "How Blue Can You Get." Feather also led record dates on an irregular basis starting from 1937 (some of which he played on), most notably two 1971 sets for Mainstream with his Night Blooming Jazzmen, a group including Blue Mitchell and Ernie Watts.
 
- by Scott Yanow
All Music Group