LEO CASINO
THE STAR OF SOUTH FLORIDA!
BIO'S AND ACTIVITIES
 

“I’ll tell you, I really got into his character, I really became him. I tried to channel him and strip away any opinions I had about him.”

Leo Caspno2.jpg (103696 bytes)To say the least, Leo Casino doesn’t like Art Teele, the indicted former Miami city commissioner who shot himself in the Miami Herald building on July 27, 2005.

But strangely enough — and despite their rancorous relationship — hard feelings aren’t stopping Casino from playing the role of Teele in an upcoming docudrama about the late politician, tentatively titled The Arthur E. Teele, Jr. Documentary and produced by University of Miami students Josh Miller and Sam Rega.

A few years ago, Casino filed a $20 million class-action federal lawsuit against the city and Commissioner Teele for the alleged “theft” of the Church of the Divine Mission in Overtown. The court has since asked Casino to refile the suit, given its lack of legalese (such as references to statutes and pertinent language) — no surprise since he and the church members named in the class action couldn’t find a lawyer to represent them.

Sitting in the outdoor patio at Books & Books in Coral Gables and wearing a dapper yellow suit, Casino, a jazz musician and outspokenLeo_Caspno2.jpg (103696 bytes) community activist, claims he had contacted “some of the most prominent black attorneys,” but no one would take the case.   “I went to several lawyers and they all refused and told me they wouldn’t do it because Teele was too powerful and well-connected,”  he says.

Now Casino wants to reinstate the suit to repossess the church (which is, in reality, a shabby three-story apartment building) and convert it into a youth community center. The only obstacle: still no attorney in sight. Currently the building is owned by the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, which has closed up the structure with concrete blocks to deter any prostitution or drug-related activities, according to Frank Rollason, who recently stepped down as the CRA’s executive director to run for a City Commission seat.

“We had to close it up because there were homeless people, prostitutes and drugs going through there and you couldn’t secure the place,” says Rollason. “I’d put plywood up and they’d break through. I know that Teele’s plan for the place was to make it an artist loft-type project, and he wanted to use the Ward Rooming House as an art gallery. For the church building, the idea was to go in there and double the size of the units so that there would be a live-area and a studio space, and the structure would have been part of the Lyric Village. But there are no plans for the building now.”

DR. LEO CASINO GIVES BACK TO PITTSBURGH

Dr. Leo Casino, saxophonist, composer, writer and political activist, whose documentary film "Return to the Hill" is a glimpse back at his native Pittsburgh from a man who evolved beyond his own roots of struggle -- was the guest speaker at the Allegheny County Jail's Government Equivalency Diploma (G.E.D.) graduation ceremony honoring the jail's prisoners on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 and he also presented "A Coming Home Gospel Concert" For Black History Month, Saturday, February 25, 2006 @ 6pm @ Covenant Who So Ever Will Church, which featured Hostess Vicki Hill, Rev. Clyde Davis, Rev. Dr. Bobbie Fulton, The Sons of Thunder, Min. Eugene Gamble from "Blessed Music Work" with Recording Artist "Servant Nova", Elder David Holmes, Rev. Keesha Sheffey, Elder Brenda Collins, Muhammad Abdul Aziz, Debra Germany-Morris, Lewis Colyar, and yours truly Brotha Ash. It was an honor to finally meet the musical legend, Dr. Leo Casino. He is a very giving and caring individual.  During his time here, he was filming for his upcoming documentary "Return to the Hill" which will air on HBO in the near future.

NOW CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS   CLICK HERE!!!

Title Brotha Ash Productions pics of "Coming Home Gospel Concert" For Black History Month, Saturday, February 25, 2006

Hill District native hopes film will stop the violence By Ervin Dyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Mr. Casino" has been in show business for over 30 years. He began studying music at the age of 9 in Pittsburgh, and had the good fortune of playing with such hometown heroes as Stanley Turrentine, Sy Morocco and George Benson. After overcoming a very tough childhood, he was awarded a full scholarship to Howard University, where he completed the first Jazz Major in the U.S. studying with legends Donald Byrd and Quincy Jones. During his 30-year career, "Mr. Casino" has played with a who*s who of the world*s great jazz, blues and pop musicians *including everyone from Earth, Wind & Fire, Neil Diamond and James Brown to Jimmie Hendrix, Jaco Pastorius and Bob Marley. "Mr. Casino" has written and acted in numerous plays and musicals, including the plays I am Innocent and Odyssey, and the musicals Land My Father Died and Funk Opera. Among his film credits are Forsythe County (1989), "Soweto" (1988), East of Overtown (in progress.) He can also be seen in the 1987 German film, Otto, and in a 1986 episode of Miami Vice. He has played at numerous events including the White House annual party, the American Cancer Society, President Nixon*s Inauguration and has lectured on race relations at universities around the country including U.C.L.A, Harvard Law School, the University of Chicago and Moorehouse College. He holds an honorary Doctorate Degree from Mallory College. "Mr. Casino*s latest CD, Better Days, is dedicated to the victims and families of 9/11.

To contact Dr. Leo Casino either visit www.leocasino.us or email him @  Casinoleo3@aol.com

LEO CASINO

AND LENNY KRAVITZ

Pittsburgh*s epidemic of black-on-black violence
A 9-year old boy is gunned down while playing ball in front of his home*
A 16-year old is murdered while watching his mother*s booth at a local flea market*
North Side club is the scene of 3rd homicide in just 7 months*
On their own, these headlines are depressing enough. Sadly, the number of murders in
Pittsburgh is rising. And the most outrageous part is that the vast majority of these
murders are committed against blacks, by blacks.

Consider the following:
· There were 114 murders in Allegheny County in 2004, tying the all-time high, set a decade earlier.
· Of the 74 murders in Pittsburgh in 2004, 63 of these were committed against blacks.
· Of the 63 murders against blacks, almost all were committed by blacks, and in particular, by young black men.

According to law enforcement officials, this rise in violence highlights two disturbing trends:
the growth of dangerous street gangs in Pittsburgh, and the ease with which young people can get guns. In fact, in 2004, 47 children under the age of 16 were arrested for gun-related crimes in the city: up from 29 such arrests in 2003. With the recent lift of the assault weapons ban and continued budget cuts to the city*s police department, the situation will most likely get worse, before it gets better.


                                                            

RETURN TO THE HILL by Dr. Leo Casino               

It's another sultry night along Washington Avenue and the music from the nightclubs wafts out into the street. At Mint the strip's most popular club saxophonist Leo Casino and his band play to a packed house of young, sexy hipsters. South Beach, Miami has been good to Leo: he*s made a great living getting these kids (most less than half his age) dancing to his R & B beat.

But tonight Leo isn't focusing on the music or the beautiful people swaying to his sounds. A phone call earlier in the day from a childhood friend in his native Pittsburgh has brought troubling news. The man's son has been gunned down. Despite violence being down throughout the city, an alarming number of young black men are killing each other. By the end of the set, Leo's promised himself that he'll return to the Hill District, the downtrodden neighborhood where he grew up and try to find a way to keep these young black men from killing each other.

Leo could have ended up like one of these kids. When he returns to Pittsburgh, the memories rush back: his mother, a prostitute, would shoot him up with heroin as a baby, to quiet him. The nurse who found him at 6 months, rolling around on the floor, eating his own excrement. The father he never met; and his sister - kept in captivity by a pimp, forced into prostitution, and eventually killed. Just think Leo would one day be voted into TownTalk Magazine's "50 Best-Dressed Men in the World".

In Pittsburgh, Leo organizes a town hall meeting and invites the media, community leaders and young black teens, both at-risk kids and gang members. World-renowned coroner Cyril Wecht speaks, talking about death in matter-of-fact, unglamorous terms these kids don't hear in rap tunes. A woman whose 23-year old son was killed by gang violence speaks about the death of her only child, how she*s forgiven her son's killers - but more than anything, wants the killings to stop.

Leo continues, explaining how he turned his life around. Leo recalls being adopted by a loving family (who often had guests like Lena Horne), finishing school and going onto college, where he became one of the world's first Jazz Studies Majors at Howard University and studied under Quincy Jones. Leo describes how he's moved to Miami and had a successful music and 20-year film career, including being inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame at the Kodak Theater, Los Angeles, in 1998. And how he became something of a real-life Forrest Gump meeting three U.S. 3 Presidents, corresponding with a jailed South American Dictator, produced TV for Geraldo Rivera, played for Paris Hilton.

The town hall concludes, and Leo hopes he's reached some of these kids. He urges them to find a family outside of the gang, and latch onto someone who will encourage them in any way whether it's a friend, teacher, coach, etc. He finishes by playing a tune with a local rap group: the song's message is uplifting, without being corny; authentic, but hopeful

BIO ADDITION IN HIS WEB SITE

The Biography of "Leo Casino"

 

Producer, Composer, Songwriter, Film Maker, Musician, Vocalist, Actor

 

"Mr. Casino" has been in show business for the past thirty years. His musical training at the early age of nine included work with such musical giants as Stanley Turrentine, Sy Morocco and George Benson in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received a full scholarship to the prestigious Howard University in Washington, D. C. The first Jazz Major in the United States, he studied under Donald Byrd and the great Quincy Jones.

 

During his thirty-year career, "Mr. Casino
" has played with the likes of Dr. Lonnie
Smith, George Benson, Earth, Wind & Fire,
Timmy Thomas, Neil Diamond, Mitch
Ryder, James Brown, Wilson Pickett,
Eddie Floyd, Jimmie Hendrix, Spider
Martin, Jack McDuff, Carla Thomas,
Benny Latimore, Roberta Flack, Donnie
Hathaway, Shirley Scott, Diamond Tooth
Mary, David Keith, Don Johnson, Jaco
Pastorius, Neville Brothers, Bobbie Keys,
Robert Cray Band, Meat Loaf, Viola Wells,
Donna Summers, Gloria Gaynor, Grace Jones,
Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.

 

"Mr. Casino" has written and acted in numerous plays and musicals. Among the plays are "I am Innocent" performed in February 1990 and "Odyssey" performed in September 1991. His musical credits include "Land My Father Died" produced in December 1985 and "Funk Opera" in November 1995. Among his film credits are "Forsythe County" May 1989, "Soweto" June 1988, "East Of Overtown" in progress. He can also be seen in the 1987 German Film "Otto" and in a 1986 episode of "Miami Vice" as Slick.

 

He has played at numerous benefits and public events such as the White House Party, American Cancer Society, President Nixon's Inauguration in 1968, Orthopedic March and Soul Explosion a benefit for the homeless. "Mr. Casino" has lectured on race relations in Miami at Colleges and Universities around the country including UCLA, Harvard Law School, University of Chicago and Moorehouse College. He is the holder of an honorary Doctorate Degree from Mallory College. "Mr. Casino" continues to perform as a jazz musician with the "Florida Players. He is also working on his latest documentary film project "Brothers" the story of his chance reunification in May of 1996 with his younger brother Reginald Harris, whom he had not seen or heard from in over thirty years. "Mr. Casino" latest CD "Better Days" is dedicated to those that lost their lives on 9-11-01 and their Families and Love Ones.

 

                 "Leo Casino" is under the management of Roy Harris from
               Jazzii Entertainment & Productions, Corp.
, Memphis, TN.

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