A member of Baltimore's notorious community of historic jazz musicians of Irish descent, trumpeter Leo McConville was sighted on bandstands as early as 1914. "Big name" status came his way some five years later when he began playing with the Louisiana Five. In the following decade the trumpeter began being heard well outside the Maryland territories, for example working with bandleader Jean Goldkette at the hip Greystone Ballroom venue in Detroit. Some of McConville's work was also in touring vaudeville revues. By the late '20s, he was getting significant recording session assignments as well as jobs on radio.

In terms of gigs between 1928 and 1931, McConville was mostly busy in the band of Don Vorhees. Somewhere in the middle of the '30s the man decided on a significant career switch, becoming a chicken farmer in the rural locality of Reistertown, Maryland. While cynics may consider the waste material he was thus dealing with as too similar to experiences in the music business, McConville let neither this nor a farmer's early hours get in the way of his trumpet case leaving the house. Until his death in 1968 he gigged with local bands just as he had done in the early days of his career, scribbling many dates in his calender for employers such as the Bob Craig Band and an orchestra under the direction of Bob Iula.

As a recording artist, most of McConville's work was accomplished during the latter half of the Roaring Twenties. The word "most" can be understood in all its glory when examining this discography, the trumpeter seemingly packing more recording dates into a five year period than some players get in on in a half a century. Discographer Tom Lord puts the count at 167 recording sessions--multiplied by the "x" factor of reissues, repackagings and compilations, it is a considerable legacy. In some instances the phenomenon is simply the company McConville was keeping, such as the great conductorEugene Ormandy in his early days as a dance band violinist. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi