Leon Abbey

Who was Leon Abbey?

Leon Abbey was an American jazz violinist and bandleader.

In the 1920s his eleven-piece band, known successively as the Charleston Bearcats, the Savoy Bearcats, and Leon Abbey's Band, was considered one of the best in jazz.

Abbey took successors to this band, also known as Leon Abbey's Band, on extended tours of South America, Europe, and India in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1939 he returned from India to New York City, where he led a trio in the 1940s. He moved to Chicago late in the decade, and worked there with his trio into the 1950s. Abbey frequently worked with sidemen such as Emile Christian, Crickett Smith, Peter DuConge, Fletcher Allen, and Bill Coleman.