{{Short description|American jazz guitarist}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Leonard Ware | image = Billy Taylor, Zutty Singleton, Leonard Ware (Gottlieb 15341).jpg | caption = Leonard Ware (right) with Billy Taylor and Zutty Singleton in New York City, mid-1940s<br/>Photograph by William P. Gottlieb | birth_date = {{Birth date|1909|12|28}} | birth_place = Richmond, Virginia, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1974|3|30 |1909|12|28 |mf=yes}} | genre = Jazz, blues | occupation = Musician | instrument = Guitar | years_active = 1930s–1940s }}

'''Leonard Ware''' (December 28, 1909 &ndash; March 30, 1974)<ref name="bare">{{cite book|last1=Eagle|first1=Bob|last2=LeBlanc|first2=Eric S.|title=Blues: A Regional Experience|date=2013|publisher=Praeger| location=Santa Barbara, California|isbn=978-0313344237|page=132}}</ref> was one of the first American jazz guitarists to play electric guitar.

==Career== Ware was born in Richmond, Virginia. He went to college at the Tuskegee Institute and learned how to play the oboe.<ref name="Kelsey">{{cite web|last1=Kelsey|first1=Chris|title=Leonard Ware|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/leonard-ware-mn0000245432/biography|website=AllMusic|accessdate=7 November 2017}}</ref>

In 1938, Ware played electric guitar on recordings by Sidney Bechet.<ref name="Kelsey" /><ref name="Yanow">{{cite book|last1=Yanow|first1=Scott|title=The Great Jazz Guitarists|date=2013|publisher=Backbeat|location =San Francisco|isbn=978-1-61713-023-6|page=214}}</ref> The duo he then started with Jimmy Shirley was one of the first groups to have two electric guitarists. Ware performed in a trio during the 1940s and recorded as a leader in 1947. He also recorded with Don Byas, Albennie Jones, Buddy Johnson, and Big Joe Turner.<ref name="Kelsey" />

In December 1938, he played at Carnegie Hall with the Kansas City Six (Lester Young and Buck Clayton); in 1939 he recorded with Benny Goodman ("Umbrella Man").

Ware was the co-composer of "Hold Tight" (which he recorded with Bechet) and "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Harlem" (with Jerry Gray and Buddy Feyne), which was recorded by Glenn Miller and The Delta Rhythm Boys in 1941. A few years later, he dropped out of music.<ref name="Kelsey" /> He died in 1974.<ref name="bare"/>

==Discography== * ''1937–1938'', Sidney Bechet (Classics)<ref name="Yanow" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== * Bielefelder Katalog 1988 * Richard Cook & Brian Morton: ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD'' 6th edition. {{ISBN|0-14-051521-6}} * Leonard Feather, Ira Gitler: ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz.'' Oxford University Press, Oxford usw. 1999; {{ISBN|978-0-19-532000-8}} * John Jörgensen, Erik Wiedemann ''Jazzlexikon''. Mosaik, München, 1967

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ware, Leonard}} Category:1909 births Category:1974 deaths Category:Musicians from Richmond, Virginia Category:African-American jazz guitarists Category:American male jazz composers Category:American jazz guitarists Category:20th-century American guitarists Category:Jazz musicians from Virginia Category:American male guitarists Category:20th-century American jazz composers Category:20th-century African-American musicians Category:20th-century American male composers