Following “Of Two Minds” 2008 and “Keeper Of The Flame” 2010, “Midnight Sun” is the third release by jazz vocalist Leslie Lewis and the Gerard Hagen Trio (Gerard Hagen piano, Domenic Genova bass, Jerry Kalaf drums) on the Surf Cove Jazz label. Like their previous recordings, “Midnight Sun” features guest artists, in this case trombonist Joey Sellers and tenor saxophonist Chuck Manning. GERARD: “Both Joey and Chuck are willing to jump into any musical situation and they are fearless improvisors. Since Leslie approaches her repertoire with new eyes on every performance, they are perfect collaborators for her.”

One of the aspects of this music is space used in the way Leslie phrases the melodies. GERARD:“Leslie and I played the tunes a few times and as she sang the way she felt them I would notate what she sang. This is how we came up with the treatment for the melodies.” “Midnight Sun” uses 5 bar phrases and “It’s Alright With Me” alternates between meters of 4/4 and 3/4 time. Leslie makes these phrases sound natural, as though this is the way these melodies have always been sung.

At the beginning of 2011 Gerard added Joey and Chuck as guest artists on a monthly job his trio had with Leslie. At each performance they learned more about the sound of the group and eventually Gerard began writing arrangements that featured Leslie with the two horns. These arrangements became the repertoire for “Midnight Sun”. GERARD: “I had always loved the combined sound of tenor sax and trombone. The register of those instruments fits well with Leslie’s voice. Only after we had performed the music live a few times and then recorded it did it dawn on me that Leslie had chosen a repertoire of songs about love in all it’s varied states. I don’t what, if anything, that means!”
The repertoire covers the American song book from George Gershwin and Cole Porter to Burt Bacharach and Paul McCartney, all with Leslie’s trademark swinging rhythm and colorful voice.

The debut recording for Leslie & Gerard. Made Los Angeles in 2008 and licensed to SSJ Records for release in Japan in 2011. "Of Two Minds" is an important step for Leslie as an artist. This recording is her point of view as it were, she chose the music, and discussed the direction she wanted the music to take with Gerard. The arrangements were written accordingly. This process created music which was truly "Of Two Minds." Leslie rarely performs a tune in the same way twice, tempos, meters, rhythmic feels, all change according to the moment. The music is constantly evolving from one performance to the next. Consequently, to record her performance of a song doesn't really give a listener the full measure of the musical potential she hears in each song. It is simply how she feels the music at that moment. The working relationship Leslie has developed with the Gerard Hagen Trio, born of many hours on the bandstand, was easily extended to include some of Los Angeles' finest jazz musicians. A horn section of Gary Foster alto sax/alto flute, Rob Lockart tenor sax, Ron Stout trumpet, provided a sonic palette from which many moments of beauty, excitement, and pure joy are to be found throughout this recording. Larry Koonse added his talents playing nylon string guitar to Nature Boy rounding out a well thought out program of tunes.