Kamau Kenyatta (born June 27, 1955) is a Grammy Award-winning record producer. He is a musician, arranger, film composer, and educator. He is a Teaching Professor at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

(UCSD).

Life and career

Kenyatta was born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. A long-time collaborator with vocalist Gregory Porter, he produced Porter's debut album ''

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

'' ''(2010)'', which was nominated for a Best Jazz Vocal Album Grammy. In 2013, he served as associate producer and arranger for

Gregory Porter Gregory Porter (born November 4, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He has twice won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album: first in 2014 for ''Liquid Spirit'' and then again in 2017 for ''Take Me to the Alley''. Early li ...

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue notes of jazz and the blues. Or ...

debut album, ''

Liquid Spirit ''Liquid Spirit'' is the third studio album by American jazz musician Gregory Porter. It was released through Blue Note Records on September 2, 2013. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2014. The record also produced six ...

''. In February 2014, the recording won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category. In 2016, releases of his productions included Gregory Porter's ''

Take Me to the Alley ''Take Me to the Alley'' is the fourth studio album by Gregory Porter, released on May 6, 2016 through Blue Note Records. It earned Porter a 2017 Grammy Award for Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album, Best Jazz Vocal Album. The album was re ...

'',

Ed Motta Eduardo "Ed" Motta (; born August 17, 1971) is a Brazilian MPB, rock, soul, funk and jazz musician. He is the nephew of late singer-songwriter Tim Maia. Career Son of Luzia Motta, sister of Tim Maia and Antonio Motta, from an early age listened ...

's ''Perpetual Gateways,'' and Steph Johnson's ''Music Is Art.'' In February 2017, Kenyatta won a Grammy for his co-production of ''Take Me to the Alley'' in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category. Production projects released in 2019 include a self-titled album for vocalist Daneen Wilburn and ''Intuition: Songs From The Minds Of Women'' for

Alicia Olatuja Alicia Olatuja is a mezzo-soprano and graduate of the Manhattan School of Music. She has made her professional debut as Sacagawea at the Opera Memphis and at Carnegie Hall, UVA, and The Kennedy Center. She has sung with the Brooklyn Tabernac ...

. In 2020, Kamau's productions of

Paulette McWilliams Paulette McWilliams is an American singer and songwriter. She began her career singing with the bands The American Breed and Rufus, and has appeared as a backing vocalist on recordings and on tour for numerous artists. She worked with Marvin Gaye ...

’ ''A Woman’s Story'' and Gregory Porter’s '' All Rise'' were released. His productions of

Allan Harris Allan Harris (28 December 1942 – 23 November 2017) was a footballer who played for Chelsea, Coventry City and Queens Park Rangers. His brother Ron was also a professional footballer. Harris was a full-back and began his career with Chelsea ...

’ ''Kate’s Soulfood'' and Gregory Porter's '' Still Rising'' were released in 2021. Kamau directed the recording of horns and background vocals for Ed Motta's 2023 release, ''Behind The Tea Chronicles''. As a film composer, Kenyatta worked with

Hubert Laws Hubert Laws (born November 10, 1939) is an American flutist and saxophonist with a career spanning over 40 years in jazz, classical, and other music genres. Laws is one of the few classical artists who has also mastered jazz, pop, and rhythm- ...

to create the score for ''Small Steps, Big Strides (1997),'' a Fox network documentary detailing the history of African-American film. Kenyatta also composed the soundtrack for Carroll Parrot Blue's ''The Dawn at My Back'', an interactive memoir that won the Online Film Festival Jury Award for Short Filmmaking New Forms at the 2004

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

. In 2015, Kenyatta scored the film ''Spirits of Rebellion'' by director

Zeinabu Irene Davis Zeinabu irene Davis (born April 13, 1961) is an American filmmaker and professor in the Department of Communication

. In 2016, after the international success of ''Liquid Spirit'', he scored the Gregory Porter biopic ''Don't Forget Your Music.'' The film was released in the UK in the fall of 2016. Kenyatta released the music from the film under his own name in a project called ''The Elegant Sadness''. As an educator, Kenyatta has worked from 1999 to the present at the

(UCSD).

Discography

* ''Destiny'' (2007) * ''The Elegant Sadness'' (2019)

Awards and Nominations

References

External links

* *
Kamau Kenyatta Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2018) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenyatta, Kamau 1955 births Living people African-American record producers American music arrangers American rhythm and blues musicians Grammy Award winners Record producers from Michigan Songwriters from Michigan University of California, San Diego faculty Musicians from Detroit 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people