The concept of “Leisure Jazz” was shaped in 1968 by three friends who were hanging out together inside a Chicago jazz club. The three friends were John Shoup, Charles Stepney and Hagood Hardy, and the Chicago jazz club was The London House, located at Wacker Drive and Michigan Avenue, where Ramsey Lewis ran the house band. Hagood Hardy, who was a composer and vibraphonist, had just left Herbie Mann’s band and was performing at The London House with George Shearing’s Quartet. Charles Stepney, who was an arranger, producer and performer, was there with his manager, John Shoup.
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