Leon Redbone is a singer and guitarist specializing in interpretations of early 20th-century music, including jazz and blues standards and Tin Pan Alley classics. One of Leon Redbone classics Shine on harvest Moon is a fine example of his talent. Redbone's origins are shrouded in mystery. Redbone has cited his date of birth as October 29, 1929; the date was the day of the U.S. stock market crash that sparked the Great Depression. Redbone also claimed to have been born in Bombay during a monsoon to parents Niccolò Paganini (a composer and violinist who died in 1840) and Jenny Lind (a singer who died in 1887). Leon sings Diddy Wah Diddy He first appeared on stage in Canada in the early 1970s. Redbone so impressed musician Ramblin' Jack Elliot, that when he returned to New York he told everyone he knew about Redbone's musical breadth and mysterious eccentricities. Bob Dylan sought him out at the next Mariposa Folk Festival. In a Rolling Stone interview, Dylan said that if he were ever to start a label, Redbone would be the first artist he wanted to record. Leon sings Melancholy baby: He acted in the offbeat feature film "Candy Mountain," with Tom Waits. He provided television theme songs to "Mr. Belvedere" and "Harry and the Hendersons," and had a memorable guest role as the quixotic, guitar-wielding guardian to Corky on ABC's critically acclaimed "Life Goes On." He's even been the subject of Far Side cartoons. "I think of these things as obstacles rather than opportunities," Leon modestly confesses, "because if they were opportunities it means I actually took the business of doing them seriously. To take myself too seriously is the gentle kiss of death." New York choreographer Eliot Feld wrote Paper Tiger, a ballet woven around 11 of Redbone's signature songs. Apparently a conversation between Feld and Mikhail Baryshnikov included a mention of Redbone, and a phone call started the process. A few months later, a ballet was born. "Most things I get involved in usually work out that way," he explains. "Somebody makes a phone call. There's not very much in the way of initiating or soliciting from my end. It's not my forte." If there is one common element to Redbone's diverse music, it's his mastery of his constant companion: the acoustic guitar. It's easy to get lost in his stage exploits, which move between vaudeville and performance art, and overlook what an accomplished player he is. Fingerpicking is delivered with a ragtime bounce, mirroring the style of Blind Blake, and chords are leaped upon with the grace of a hurler. Describing his playing, Redbone says, "I am totally absorbed in the business of learning, but I don't want to be an apprentice to the business of learning. I simply want to absorb everything I can and not be compartmentalized in my approach...I only know what sounds good to me." He has so far released a total of eleven albums.
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