23-02-2025
Leger recalled as talented musician, giving mentor
There's one less trumpet in the jazz ensemble this month.
Steve Leger — father, musical virtuoso, mentor to many and brother of U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández — died Feb. 6 of a heart attack. He was 71.
Through spontaneous trumpet and flute performances, ownership of the Love Musica music store in his hometown of Las Vegas, N.M., and tours across the country with bands like Cascabel, The Drifters, and Santa Fe Plaza bandstand staple Los Tropicales, it was Steve Leger's nature to share his talents with those who crossed his path.
'Everywhere he went, he went with that flute or trumpet,' said Leger Fernández.
Born Jan. 20, 1954 to Ray and Mela Leger in Las Vegas, Steve Leger started the trumpet in the fourth grade, showing his talent almost instantly, said his sister.
But it wasn't just his expertise that made Steve Leger special, she said. It was his 'goodness,' and propensity for sharing.
' He was somebody who believed that this gift he had was not his,' she said. 'It was everybody's.'
It wasn't uncommon for Leger to play throughout the Las Vegas farmers market or at the local hot springs. Not for money, but just to bring music to the public space — often recruiting listening passersby to get involved in the rhythm.
That musicality didn't stop on the family ski trips, said Leger Fernández. Her brother swapped the ski poles for a trumpet and led 'parades' of skiers following his musical line down the mountain, getting some 'interesting' looks in the process, she said.
'He was the soundtrack to our family. And he was the soundtrack to my campaign,' added the congresswoman, who said Steve was a mainstay on her parade floats and in her rallies for his rendition of La Adelita.
So too did he share with others the gift of his red chile, remembered by many as exquisite, and a little different each time. It is one gift of Leger's that will not be lost to time, thanks to his dutiful passing down of his recipe.
One bearer of the chile torch is Leger's son, Steven Ray 'Cat' Leger, who also takes the reins as new owner of his father's music store.
Love Musica won't be the same without his father, he said. Steve Leger made the store into a community hub for all those who loved music.
'He spent so much time teaching kids. Every time someone would walk in the store, he was always so happy to give them a free music lesson with each instrument," Steven Ray Leger said.
The two played in a father-son jazz duet, named DaddyCats, with dad Steve Leger on the trumpet and Steven Ray 'Cat' on the piano.
' Even though my dad was the owner of a music store, he never really pressured me to play music,' he said. 'He was just happy that I enjoyed playing music with him.'
In line with his love of sharing his expertise, Leger was a massive proponent of education.
At his local Highlands University, Leger served as adjunct music faculty, directed the jazz band, sang in the choir, played trumpet and percussion for the jazz ensemble and received the Excellence in Music Award from the school's Melodic Majors Club.
Edward Harrington, music professor and chair of art and music at Highlands, had known Steve Leger for 19 years.
Leger was 'crazy' talented at sight-reading music, he said — especially for Leger's specialty, Latin jazz, which he enjoyed for its creativity and improvisation.
Leger heavily involved in the local music community, Harrington said, inviting groups from the university to his store to practice in preparation of jazz bebop saxophonist Richie Cole.
'We'd kind of just all fit in between the keyboards and the the sound systems rehearsing there,' Harrington said.
When Cole finally made it to Las Vegas, Jamie García, a singer and multi-instrumentalist, recalled being nervous to get on stage with the jazz legend.
That is, until her mentor, the 'old school rock and roller' Steve Leger, 'lit a fire under her' to get up on stage and do improv singing with Cole.
That's how he was, García said: 'He wanted to encourage everyone to play.'
When the two met, García was rusty after a hiatus on the trumpet, but Leger 'took her under his wing,' always pushing her to be better.
Like Leger Fernández, García recalled Leger as a 'leader of the parade.'
' He was a very generous person,' she said. 'He loved to feed people. He really just wanted everyone to celebrate with food, laughs, music — and just let everyone have a good time.'
