Leon Brady, KCK jazz musician & teacher, dies. He’s remembered for ‘giving musical life’
Leon Brady, a beloved Kansas City, Kansas, jazz musician and music teacher, has died at age 92.
Brady, who had been suffering from dementia, passed peacefully Friday morning at the assisted living facility where he had been staying, his wife, Patricia Baker, told The Star.
“He loved teaching children. He would teach anybody. He would start at 4 years old and had them all playing drums,” Baker said of her husband.
Originally from Louisiana, Brady moved to Kansas City in 1959 after serving in the U.S. Air Force. He accepted a position as band director at Dunbar Elementary and Northeast Junior High Schools before transferring to Sumner High School in Kansas City, Kan., where he became director of the music department and taught until 1976.
In the late 1960s, Brady opened his own studio, Progressive Music Studio, in Kansas City’s Quindaro neighborhood. In 1976, he opened Brady & Sons Music Company, which sold instruments and offered lessons until 2000.
Unready to give up his passion for mentoring young musicians, Brady founded Kansas City Youth Jazz in 2001, remaining directly involved in the program until 2011. As recently as last February, Brady returned to Sumner High School to meet and speak with students.
Steven Boyd, a performing vocalist based in the Cleveland area, said the experience of having Brady as his orchestra teacher in junior high and high school was formative. What he taught students transcended music, Boyd said.
“I don’t know that anyone can say they knew Mr. Leon Brady and wouldn’t say he was the coolest person that they ever met,” Boyd said. “He was very cool, he was very patient with all of his students, and that just imparted to us the necessity to keep a level head about approaching music and about approaching life in general.”
Boyd said students were impressed that their teacher had played alongside such musical greats as trumpeter Clark Terry and even more excited when he brought Terry in to speak to the class.
“He was just really dedicated, I think more so than performing to the idea of giving musical life to people,” Boyd said.
“All musicians can’t teach. Just because you play an instrument or just because you sing, that doesn’t mean that you can teach others how to do that. It takes a special kind of person with patience, with excellent communication skills, to instruct. That was Mr. Brady’s gift.”
Music remained an important part of Brady’s life until the very end, Baker said, reminiscing about the performances he put on for other residents at the nursing home.
“There was a lady that drives the bus out there at the facility he was at. She played the guitar and he would use his drumsticks and they would have a little concert out in the lobby,” Baker said.
Brady was a percussionist in the KC Jazz Quintet and became a member of the Elder Statesmen of Kansas City Jazz, an esteemed group of performers recognized for their impact on the local scene, going on to serve on the advisory committee of the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra.
Baker said the 101 trophies and commemorative plaques her husband was awarded are on display at the Black Archives of Mid-America across the border in Missouri.
His bronze medallion in the American Jazz Walk of Fame at 18th and Vine is between Harry Belafonte and Quincy Jones.
Brady’s daughter, Sherri Brady, said her father’s legacy will live on in the thousands of lives he touched. That doesn’t make the loss any easier.
“We love him. We’ll miss him. I can’t even find words right now,” she said.
Brady is survived by his wife, three children and a granddaughter. Arrangements for his funeral have not yet been made.
This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 4:01 PM.
