death_date years_active label background instrument birth_date genre article_title name occupation
26 june 2009 1940 -- 2009 jac recording non_vocal_instrumentalist harmonica 24 june 1921 jazz , classical charles leighton
 charles leighton harmonica player recording engineer
charles leighton

charles leighton -lrb- 24 june 1921 -- 26 june 2009 -rrb- was an american virtuoso classical and jazz harmonica player who flourished from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s , then -- after a hiatus while managing a recording studio that he co-founded -- reemerged in the mid-1980s and continued to play publicly until his death .
he had been member of harmonica ensembles of international rank ; he had performed as soloist ; and he had recorded as studio musician for radio , television , and film .
leighton , in the mid-1950s , founded a small , prolific recording studio -- jac recording , inc. -- which was housed in his apartment on the eighth floor at 152 west 58th street -lrb- apartment 8d -rrb- , manhattan , new york .
in the late 1950s , his studio hired phil ramone whom leighton and other engineers from the studio mentored .
ramone , who attributes his first love of studio engineering to leighton , went on to become one of the most prolific producers and recording engineers of pop music , jazz , and notably , rock n roll .
