Brandy Billingsley Jazz

Bio

Brandy Irish-Gerjuoy

Brandy grew up mostly on Massachusetts’ North Shore and the Southern Maine Seacoast.  She began playing the organ at age 7 and by age 12 was playing the organ for church services. Brandy continued her musical studies throughout high school and enrolled at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. She considers herself very blessed to have studied jazz organ pedaling with the late Joe Bucci Sr. and classical pedaling with Dr. Robert Littlefield. Most recently, she decided to engage in further professional development by attending an intensive jazz immersion program at the Roni Ben-Hur Jazz Camp at the University of Vermont in Burlington, VT. As well as playing the organ, Brandy is also a skilled pianist and accomplished jazz vocalist. During her time in the Boston music scene, Brandy performed as a featured vocalist in several area big band’s which included the Dave Whitney Big Band and the Dick Donovan Orchestra.  She also has appeared as a pianist and vocalist in small groups and for several years was a mainstay with the Donn Carr Jazz Band.  Brandy also appears as a soloist on piano and vocals. In addition to performing, Brandy also taught piano and voice for many years and currently teaches at the Seacoast Academy of Music in North Hampton, New Hampshire.

Currently, Brandy is the music director for Saint Therese of Lisieux Parish in Sanford, Maine.

IN MEMORIUM

David "Leif" Gerjuoy

June 12, 1951 – December 19, 2024

This section of my website is dedicated to the memory of my wonderfully talented and gifted late husband, Leif Gerjuoy. He possessed a beautiful soul along with a warm, kind and generous heart. He spent much of his life in dedication to improving the lot in life for many folks, particularly the disadvantaged and disabled. Little did I know when I walked into the PressRoom in Portsmouth, NH back in March of 2006 how much this extraordinarily talented vibraphonist would change the direction of my life.

Leif Gerjuoy was born in Hollywood, raised mostly in Pittsburgh, PA and lived for more than 30 years in New Hampshire. Leif was a multi-instrumental percussionist with a specialty on the washboard, which he kidnapped from the laundry room to astonish young and old alike. Leif Gerjuoy was ½ of the BrandyLeaf Duo in which, along with his wife Brandy on piano and vocals, he played washboard, drum kit, mallet percussion and sang. Along with all of that, he also played piano and guitar.  During the time that they lived in Pittsburgh, PA, they were featured at the Carnegie Library’s Sunday music series and at the Azorean Café in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood. Leif also performed on the washboard with Colonel Eagleburger’s High Stepping Goodtime Band, a brass and percussion ensemble that continues to be featured in many Pittsburgh area parades, festivals and other events. Leif was also a featured performer in Washboard concerts in Ohio at the Columbus Washboard Festival in Logan, Ohio, in Wallingford, Connecticut at the Trad Jazz Festival and in Monterey CA, at the Monterey Jazz Bash by the Bay. Leif could also be seen playing washboard on a tune or two with the late Jazz Alto wizard, Richie Cole on Sunday afternoons at the Village Tavern in Pittsburgh’s West End or Nightown in Cleveland, Ohio. Leif and Richie were the best of friends and Richie often referred to Leif as his “secret weapon”.

Leif was raised on the music of Leadbelly, Josh White, Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald as well as musical comedies and classical music. By growing up in Pittsburgh he was exposed to many of the greats of the Pittsburgh Jazz tradition and of course the rock and roll revolution of the sixties. Leif loved music that blended the roots of different styles in new ways. After teaching and playing music in the Northern Virginia area for seven years, Leif relocated to New Hampshire in 1982 and for the next thirty years participated in the music scene in the Seacoast area which featured both thriving folk and jazz communities.

Legacy