Broadcaster/Producer

Leonard Feather actively produced movies and radio and television shows. For most of his career he was on the air in one form or another. He was featured as a jazz expert on radio shows such as "RCA Victor Show" and the "Lower Basin Street Chamber Music and Jazz Society."

In 1940, Feather and Bob Bach created the show "Platterbrains" that aired on WNEW and WMCA in New York. The show was a variation on the program he had initiated earlier on Radio Normandy: listeners would submit jazz recordings and questions that a panel of experts would try to answer, all the while segments of the records were played until they attempted a response. It exposed the public to recorded jazz music as well as the experts and artists on the panels. In the second year of the series, Count Basie recorded the song "Platterbrains" to be used as its theme, based on a Tab Smith original. The show ran for several years and was later revived in 1953. At that time, "Platterbrains" was broadcast to a much wider audience on the ABC radio network and ran every week until 1958.

Another of Leonard Feather's early radio projects was "Jazz Club USA" on the U.S. State Department's "Voice of America," which broadcast Jazz music and events around the world. By exposing many more people to jazz for the first time, particularly in Eastern Europe and the USSR, the fan base for the genre was broadened. Feather continued to work on the air as host, guest, and producer for the rest of his career. He was presented with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting award for excellence in local programming in 1978 for "The Leonard Feather Show" featured on KUSC in Los Angeles.

Steve Allen, Gene Krupa, Leonard Feather, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Duke Ellington
Left to right: Steve Allen, Gene Krupa, Leonard Feather, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Duke Ellington

In 1961, executives at MCA commissioned Feather to create 23 short films about jazz for German television. Since MCA was associated with Universal Pictures, the resulting series Feather on Jazz was built from a vast collection of footage, some of which had never been seen by the public. The English versions of the narration, however, were never sold and were never seen in the U.S except for the few viewings arranged by Feather himself.

Leonard had many other experiences with television. He served as a consultant for the NBC educational series The Subject is Jazz in 1958 and was nominated for an Emmy in 1971 for the production of the KNBC series The Jazz Show.Leonard Feather contributed to many television programs and acted as a movie consultant. His musical creations have also been used in films, a legacy that continued after his death.

Partial television list (via New York Times):

  • Benny Carter: Symphony in Riffs (TV Special, 1989) Role: Actor
  • Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker (TV Special, 1987) Role: Actor
  • Duke Named Ellington (TV Special, 1987) Role: Actor
  • Long Night of Lady Day (TV Special, 1984) Role: Actor
  • Louis Armstrong — Chicago Style (TV Movie, 1976) Role: Technical Advisor

Partial film list (via New York Times):

  • Hollywoodland (2006) Role: Song
  • Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) Role: Song
  • The Cable Guy (1996) Role: Song
  • Swing Kids (1993) Role: Consultant
  • Bird (1988) Role: Consultant, Assistant