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Chris Leslie | |
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.jpg) Leslie performing with theFairport Convention in 2022 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1956-12-15)15 December 1956 (age 68) Banbury,Oxfordshire, England |
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| Years active | 1973–present |
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| Website | chrislesliemusic |
Christopher Julian Leslie (born 15 December 1956) is aBritish folk rock musician. He joinedFairport Convention in 1997.
Leslie grew up inBanbury,Oxfordshire. His brother John steered him towardThe Watersons'Frost and Fire,Dave Swarbrick, andThe Corries. In 1969 he began to teach himselffiddle and modelled himself on the fiddle-playing of Dave Swarbrick ofFairport Convention,Peter Knight ofSteeleye Span, andBarry Dransfield.
Leslie made his first recording at the age of 16, with a Banbury-based folk rock band and then went on to forge a successful career around the folk clubs with his brother John – cutting their first album,The Ship of Time in 1976. During this period he was also the fiddle player for The Hookey Band and a member of the morris dancers at Adderbury. It was around this time that he first came to the attention of Fairport'sDave Pegg.
From 1981 to 1983 Chris Leslie studied violin making, under the watchful eye of maker Patrick Jowett, at the Newark School of Violin Making in Nottinghamshire, England. He currently plays the second fiddle he made at Newark on stage.
Since then he has worked withSteve Ashley,Whippersnapper, theAlbion Band,All About Eve,Simon Mayor andIan Anderson (ofJethro Tull). In 1981 he contributed to a cassette tape of peace songs bySteve Ashley released byCND entitledDemo Tapes. Also on the tape were sessions by members of Fairport Convention, Dave Pegg, Simon Nicol and Bruce Rowland. In 1983 he contributed toMore Demo Tapes, another Steve Ashley cassette album for CND. He also accompanied Steve Ashley on his song "Down By the Old Embankment" on the albumAll Through the Year (1991). This was a compilation of original tracks by various artists. He also appeared onPeople on the Highway (Bert Jansch tribute album, 2000). There were other appearances on Steve Ashley albums (see discography). In 2003, Chris played violin on several tracks fromMostly Autumn's albumPassengers. In late 2007 he recorded violin and mandolin parts on Dan Crisp's debut albumFar From Here.
In 1997 he joined Fairport Convention as singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has recorded five solo albums –The Flow,The Gift,Dancing Days,Origins,Turquoise Tales andFiddle Back. At first sightDancing Days appears to be a Fairport Convention album, as it featuresSimon Nicol,Dave Pegg,Ashley Hutchings andRic Sanders. However, each of these artists appears only in a sequence of duos with Leslie. He has also recorded collaborations with Ashley Hutchings includingGrandson of Morris On .
Chris also takes part in an annual Christmas tour with St Agnes Fountain and also takes part in "A Feast of Fiddles" – a collaboration withPeter Knight, Tom Leary (The Hookey Band), Ian Cutler,Phil Beer (Show of Hands) andBrian McNeill (The Battlefield Band).
He is Buddhist, a vegetarian, and a teetotaler.[1]
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