Leon Pendarvis

Leroy Leon Pendarvis (born 1945) is an American session musician. He plays keyboards and is a background vocalist. He is also an occasional guitarist. The artists he has worked with over the years include

The son of a first-grade primary school teacher, Pendarvis grew up in South Carolina. In addition to teaching, his mother was also pianist at their church. She also gave piano lessons to make extra money. The young Pendarvis graduated from climbing up on the bench to hit the keys to being taught by his mother. He also learned to play trumpet and saxophone. He also was a bass player when he came to New York.[2]

He was married to Janice Pendarvis (formerly Janice Gadsden) whom he had known since she was 13. They married some time after she left her parents place and moved in with her cousin Andrew Gadsden who was Pendarvis's roommate.^[3]

He is also a board member for the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation.

He played keyboards and provided the backing vocals for Richard Roundtree's 1972 album, The Man from Shaft.^[10] Along with

He composed, recorded and mixed the original dramatic music for the music video "BAD" by Michael Jackson.^[13]

2000s

By 2014, he had been with the Saturday Night Live Band, playing keyboards for 30 years and was the longest serving member with the outfit.^[14]

Along with guitarist Larry Campbell, and bass virtuoso Pino Palladino, Pendarvis played on the 2018 Bettye LaVette album Things Have Changed, an album of songs by Bob Dylan which was released on Verve Records.^[15][16]

Work with Van McCoy

Along with