Kenny Drew

Kenneth Sidney "Kenny" Drew (August 28, 1928 – August 4, 1993) was an American-Danish jazz pianist.

Biography

Drew was born in New York City, United States, and received piano lessons from the age of five. Feather, Leonard, & Ira Gitler (2007). ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', Oxford University Press. He attended the High School of Music & Art in Manhattan. Drew's first recording, in 1950, was with Howard McGhee, and over the next two years he worked in bands led by Buddy DeFranco, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Charlie Parker, among others. After a brief period with his own trio in California, Drew returned to New York, playing with Dinah Washington, Johnny Griffin, Buddy Rich, and several others over the following few years. He led many recording sessions throughout the 1950s, and in 1957 appeared on John Coltrane's album, '' Blue Train''.

Drew was one of the American jazz musicians who settled in Europe around this period: he moved to Paris in 1961 and to Copenhagen three years later. While he sacrificed much of the interest of the American jazz audience, he gained a wide following across Europe. Kenny Drew was a well-known figure on the Copenhagen jazz scene, recording many sessions with the Danish bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. "Living in Copenhagen, and travelling out from there," Drew remarked, "I have probably worked in more different contexts than if I had stayed in New York where I might have got musically locked in with a set-group of musicians. This way, I have been able to keep my musical antennas in shape, while at the same time I have had more time to study and also get deeper into my own endeavors."

Drew and Dexter Gordon appeared on screen in Ole Ege's theatrically released hardcore pornographic film, ''Pornografi – en musical'' (1971), for which they composed and performed the score.

Drew died in August 1993 in Copenhagen, Denmark (he had stomach cancer, but it was unclear if this was the cause of death) and was interred in the Assistens Cemetery in Nørrebro, Copenhagen. He has a street named after him in southern Copenhagen, "Kenny Drews Vej" (Eng., Kenny Drew Street).

His son, Kenny Drew Jr., was also a jazz pianist.

Playing style

His touch was described in ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'' as "precise", and his playing as being a combination of bebop-influenced melodic improvisation and block chords, including "refreshingly subtle harmonizations".

Discography

As leader

As sideman

With Gene Ammons
* '' Goodbye'' (Prestige, 1974)

With Svend Asmussen
* ''Prize/Winners'' (Baystate, 1978)

With Chet Baker
* '' (Chet Baker Sings) It Could Happen to You'' (Riverside, 1958)

With Art Blakey
* '' Originally'' (Columbia, 1982) – recorded in 1956

With Tina Brooks
* ''Back to the Tracks'' (Blue Note, 1998) – recorded in 1960
* '' The Waiting Game'' (Blue Note, 2002) – recorded in 1961

With Clifford Brown
* '' Best Coast Jazz'' (EmArcy, 1954)
* '' Clifford Brown All Stars'' (EmArcy, 1956) – recorded in 1954

With Benny Carter
* ''Summer Serenade