Kenny Dennis (born May 27, 1930) is a

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

-born American

jazz drummer Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion (predominantly the drum kit, which includes a variety of drums and cymbals) in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz fusion and 1980s-era Latin jazz. The techniques an ...

. He has played on albums for Nancy Wilson,

Sonny Stitt Edward Hammond Boatner Jr. (February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982), known professionally as Sonny Stitt, was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his ...

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a ...

Johnny Griffin John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...

Oscar Brown Jr. Oscar Brown Jr. (October 10, 1926May 29, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, playwright, poet, civil rights activist, and actor. Aside from his career, Brown ran unsuccessfully for office in both the Illinois state legislature and the U. ...

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...

Billy Taylor Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the ...

, and

Mal Waldron Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron (August 16, 1925 – December 2, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He started playing professionally in New York in 1950, after graduating from college. In the following dozen years or so Wa ...

Biography

Dennis began his musical career in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Band, playing drums in three bands from 1948-1952. After being discharged, he connected with junior high school mate, pianist

Ray Bryant Raphael Homer "Ray" Bryant (December 24, 1931 – June 2, 2011) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Early life Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 24, 1931. His mother was an ordained minister who had tau ...

and became part of The Ray Bryant Trio along with Jimmy Rowser on bass. They became the house trio at the North Philadelphia Jazz Club, Blue Note where they played for such jazz artists as

Kai Winding Kai Chresten Winding ( ; May 18, 1922 – May 6, 1983) was a Danish-born American trombonist and jazz composer. He is known for his collaborations with fellow trombonist J. J. Johnson. His version of "More", the theme from the movie ''Mondo Ca ...

Chris Connor Mary Jean Loutsenhizer, known professionally as Chris Connor (November 8, 1927 – August 29, 2009) was an American jazz singer. Biography Chris Connor was born Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri, to Clyde Loutsenhizer and Mabel Shir ...

and

. His career next took him to New York, where he worked with artists including

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

Phineas Newborn, Jr. Phineas Newborn Jr. (December 14, 1931 – May 26, 1989) was an American jazz pianist, whose principal influences were Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and Bud Powell. Biography Newborn was born in Whiteville, Tennessee, and came from a musical famil ...

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad "Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first rec ...

and

. In 1957, Dennis performed in Sonny Rollins's Trio with bassist

Wendell Marshall Wendell Marshall (October 24, 1920 – February 6, 2002) was an American jazz double-bassist. Marshall was Jimmy Blanton's cousin. He studied at Lincoln University, then served in the Army during World War II. Following his discharge, he perfor ...

at Carnegie Hall—a historic performance that was commemorated in 2007 with a 50th anniversary concert. Dennis moved to California, when Miles Davis recommended him to

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

. Recording credits include recordings with such artists as

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...

, Miles Davis, Charlie Mingus, Nancy Wilson,

Gerald Wilson Gerald Stanley Wilson (September 4, 1918 – September 8, 2014) was an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator. Born in Mississippi, he was based in Los Angeles from the early 1940s. In addition to being a ...

and poet

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

. Since 1997 he has been an assistant director of the Lab Band at the award winnin
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts
He and his wife Nancy Wilson were married from 1960 to 1970. Their son, Kacy (né Kenneth Dennis, Jr.) was born in 1963.Profile
musicians.allaboutjazz.com; accessed December 5, 2014.

Discography

As sideman

Roy Ayers Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and music producer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Pol ...

, ''West Coast Vibes'' (United Artists, 1963) *

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

, ''Blue Note Plays Burt Bacharach'' (Blue Note, 2004 ) *

, ''Facets'' (CBS, 1967) *

Dodo Greene Dodo Greene, (born Dorthea Hawkins; January 18, 1924 - July 21, 2006) was an American jazz vocalist who performed in clubs and venues in Buffalo, and along the East Coast and Chicago, before releasing two albums in the 1960s, and touring internati ...

, ''Ain't What You Do'' (Time, 1959) *

, '' The Congregation'' (Blue Note, 1957) *

Slide Hampton Locksley Wellington Hampton (April 21, 1932 – November 18, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. As his nickname implies, Hampton's main instrument was slide trombone, but he also occasionally played tuba and flugelho ...

, '' Slide Hampton and His Horn of Plenty'' (Strand, 1961) * Slide Hampton, ''Two Sides of Slide'' (Fresh Sound, 1994) *

, ''The Weary Blues with Langston Hughes'' (MGM, 1958) *

, ''Legrand Jazz'' (Columbia, 1958) * Michel Legrand, ''Michel Legrand Meets Miles Davis'' (Philips, 1970) *

, ''Plays'' (Period, 1956) *

, ''

37 Minutes and 48 Seconds with Sonny Stitt ''37 Minutes and 48 Seconds with Sonny Stitt'' is an album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt that was released by Roost.Edwards, D. & Callahan, MRoyal Roost/Roost Album Discography accessed January 3, 2013 Track listing Personnel * Sonny Stitt ...

'' (Roost, 1957) * Sonny Stitt, ''

Personal Appearance ''Personal Appearance'' (1934) is a stage comedy by the American playwright and screenwriter Lawrence Riley (1896–1974), which was a Broadway smash and the basis for the classic Mae West film ''Go West, Young Man'' ( 1936). ''Personal Ap ...

'' (Verve, 1959) * Sonny Stitt, ''Symphony Hall Swing'' (Savoy, 1986) *

, ''

One for Fun ''One for Fun'' is an album by American jazz pianist Billy Taylor released in 1959 on the Atlantic label.Mal Waldron Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron (August 16, 1925 – December 2, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He started playing professionally in New York in 1950, after graduating from college. In the following dozen years or so Wa ...

, '' Mal/4: Trio'' (New Jazz, 1958) * Nancy Wilson, ''Guess Who I Saw Today'' (Capitol, 2005)

References

1930 births Living people 20th-century American drummers 20th-century American male musicians American jazz drummers American male drummers American male jazz musicians Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania Musicians from Philadelphia {{US-drummer-stub