Before embarking on a career in jazz, Leslie Pintchik earned a Master of Philosophy degree in seventeenth-century English literature from Columbia University. She first surfaced on the Manhattan scene in a trio with legendary bassist Red Mitchell at Bradley's, and in the ensuing years Pintchik formed her own trio which performs regularly at New York City and East Coast jazz venues. Her trio was one of four finalists in the 1995 Cognac Hennessy Jazz Search, held at the Bottom Line in New York City.

Pintchik has performed and/or recorded with saxophonists Steve Wilson and Rich Perry, trumpeter Ron Horton, percussionist Satoshi Takeishi, drummers Michael Sarin, Clarence Penn, Alvester Garnett, Mark Ferber, and Keith Copeland, and the accordian player Shoko Nagai.

Pintchik's debut CD, So Glad To Be Here (2004), received four stars in DownBeat, and was followed by Quartets (2007). In 2010, she released her third CD, We're Here To Listen, as well as a DVD, Leslie Pintchik Quartet Live In Concert. Jim Wilke, creator of the nationally syndicated Jazz After Hours radio show, included We're Here To Listen on his "Best CDs of 2010" list. The New Yorker called Pintchik's fourth CD, In The Nature Of Things (2014), "one of the more captivating recordings to come out so far this year." True North followed in 2016; All About Jazz wrote, "Getting lost in this music is simply a joy."

You Eat My Food, You Drink My Wine, You Steal My Girl! (2018) reached number 4 in the country for radio spins on JazzWeek, and remained in the top 10 for five weeks. Also in 2018, two tracks from Pintchik’s CDs were included in the soundtrack of Orson Welles' final movie, The Other Side of the Wind.

2019's release, Same Day Delivery: Leslie Pintchik Trio Live, was recorded live at NYC's Jazz at Kitano, and received a four-star review in DownBeat that year. Her eight CD, Prayer for What Remains (2024) has just been released. Stay tuned!

*

In addition to composing the music for her band, Leslie has also written the liner notes for some notable jazz CDs, including Duologue by saxophonist Steve Wilson and drummer Lewis Nash, and Daybreak by pianist Bruce Barth.