Cornetist Leon Oakley lives near San Francisco, California and works as an electrical engineer for the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART) and is currently on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation.

He was with the South Frisco Jazz Band from May 1979 to November 1998, and previously was with the Turk Murphy San Francisco Band for 11 years, from 1968 to 1979. He can be heard on a number of recordings with both bands, including eight LPs with Turk, and on several under his own leadership. His most recent recordings are Hotter Than That by Bob Helm's Jazz Band and Ma 'n Bessie Greater Tent Show Act I and Act II, by Bob Helm and Miss Carol Leigh's Blues & Jazz Review, produced by Stomp Off Records.