ACTIVE LEYS STILL HITTING HIGH NOTES FROM CLASSES TO STUDIO JOBS TO TOURING, HORN PLAYER LEYS STILL BUSY.

Byline: BETTIE RENCORET Senior columnist

PALMDALE - Trombonist John Leys is a studio musician who has played with many of the big band greats and is still making it on the celebrity circuit.

Playing with Les Brown and His Band of Renown, now led by Les Brown Jr., keeps him on the go these days.

``Les Jr. is so much like his late father that you can't tell the difference between the old and the new,'' Leys said. ``He has all of his dad's gestures and mannerisms down pat. Of course, it doesn't hurt that most of the musicians in the band are the same ones who played with Les Sr. We get a lot of work.''

Leys also plays locally with The Music Connection, led by his vocalist wife, Beverly Jensen; and Loren Dexheimer's Golden Age All Stars.

And he works as a substitute teacher for instrumental students at Nancy Cory School in Lancaster and gives private lessons in trombone, base trombone, baritone horn, trumpet, flute, tuba and piano.

``I play all of the low brass instruments, some better than others,'' Leys said with a grin. ``I'm not as good on the piano, but I'm at least better than my students.''

Past television credits for Leys have included the Doc Severenson Band on ``The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.'' He's done sound tracks for the ``Star Trek'' shows, including ``Star Trek: The Next Generation,'' ``Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,'' and ``Star Trek: Voyager,'' plus some of the ones for ``JAG.''

His work in the studios has spanned 30 years on and off.

``The 'Star Trek' series has kept me the busiest,'' he said. ``I've been doing those for about 10 years. We just finished the last segment of 'Voyager,' but there's another one on the way.''

The new show, ``The Enterprise,`` is being developed right now, and he's counting on being involved in that one, too.

``As long as there are trekkies out there, they'll keep those shows going and I expect to do every one of them,'' he said.

``The Tonight Show'' gigs came about mainly because of where he lived. When the regular bass trombone player, Ernie Tack, wanted time off, Leys said he was called to fill in for him.

``I got a lot of last-minute calls to do that since I lived so close to NBC. From my couch at home to my chair on the set of ``The Tonight Show'' was only about 15 minutes,'' he said.

He played background for the movies ``Analyze This'' with Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal and ``The Out-of-Towners,'' with Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin.

Broadway shows he's proud to include in his credits include ``The Phantom of the Opera'' with lead actors Michael Crawford, Robert Guillaume and Davis Gaines; ``The King and I'' with Yul Brynner; and ``Fiddler on the Roof'' starring Zero Mostel.

``I loved them all,'' Leys said ``but I think my most memorable music moments were with the Buddy Rich Band.''

When Buddy Rich's daughter organized ``The Buddy Rich Memorial Scholarship Concert,'' performed at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles in 1989, he was privileged to be among the players.

``It was a benefit and all the proceeds went into a scholarship fund to assist some deserving young drummer with his education,'' he said.

``I was in real good company,'' he said. ``The drummers performing that night were Louie Belson, Dennis Chambers, Dave Weckl, Vinnie Colaiuta, Greg Bissonette and Steve Gadd.''

During the time he was with Buddy Rich, he worked ``The Tony Bennett Show'' several times.

``I probably worked with him more than any other singer,'' he said.

For about four years during the 1970s, however, he played with the Andy Williams band on tour, including performances in Southeast Asia.

``He maintained a small nucleus band - a rhythm section, four horns and some back-up singers,'' said Leys. ``It was very functional and he could take it anywhere.''

He's toured Australia, the United States and Canada with Buddy Rich, Harry James and Yanni. He's also played with the Righteous Brothers and Seals and Croft.

He played for a time in the band at the Lawrence Welk Theatre in Branson, Mo., under the management of Lawrence Welk Jr.

``They recreated the old Welk TV show of the 1950s,'' he said.

His interest in music began to emerge while he was going to Mark Twain Junior High School. It continued all the way through Venice High School, his Los Angeles college days and his four years' duty during the Vietnam War.

He was a musician second class on aircraft carriers and was on two cruises to Vietnam, during which he could see a lot of shelling at night. His last year of service was spent in San Diego.

``I met Beverly in college,'' he said. ``I heard her sing before I ever saw her, and I couldn't understand why any girl with a voice like that was singing with a college group.''

They've been married for 18 years now and he says he couldn't have accomplished all he has without her.

``Beverly and I have been together through feast and famine and we've just kept going. Sometimes we just look at each other and marvel at all the things we've done without having to get out of the music field,'' he said.

Sometimes, he said, vacation plans are all made and then one or both of them will get a call to do a week-long gig and all those plans have to be postponed or canceled.

``We just do it, and she never complains,'' he said. ``I've been really blessed. I wouldn't change anything for the world.''

< Menus for the week at the senior life nutrition sites in Lancaster, Palmdale and South Valley have been announced. All meals include bread, margarine and coffee, tea or milk for a donation of $2.

Monday: Hearty beef stew, cornbread, corn niblets, marinated beets, grape juice, chocolate cake.

Tuesday: Garlic ginger chicken pilau, butternut squash, coleslaw, gelatin with fruit.

Wednesday: July 4th holiday.

Thursday: Roast pork, sweet potatoes, stewed tomatoes, garden salad, fruit cocktail.

Friday: Hot dog, parsleyed potatoes, cooked cabbage, marinated salad, tapioca pudding.

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(color) Trombonist John Leys plays most of ten these days with the band of Les Brown Jr., in addition to teaching.