Steve Kirby (born May 23, 1956) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

bassist, composer and educator.

Biography

Kirby was born in Maumee Valley, Ohio, and his family moved to St. Louis when he was two. He began playing guitar and bass guitar while stationed at

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...

, and following this he attended

Webster University Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs ...

, receiving his degree in 1985. He worked in ensembles and then got his master's degree at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

, where he played with

Lester Bowie Lester Bowie (October 11, 1941 – November 8, 1999) was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Biography Born in t ...

. In 1988 he returned to Webster, where he taught until 1993. In January 2017, Kirby released ''All Over the Map'', his first orchestral recording featuring his compositions. Kirby appeared as a leader on the albums ''Wicked Grin (2008)'' and ''Stepchild'' (2013), featuring the University of Manitoba Jazz Faculty Ensemble. He spent 15 years heading the University of Manitoba Jazz Studies program. He has worked with

Wessell Anderson Wessell "Warmdaddy" Anderson (born 1966) is an American jazz alto and sopranino saxophonist. Anderson grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, and played jazz early on at the urging of his father, who was a drummer. He played in loca ...

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, James Carter,

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, Benny Green,

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, Eddie Henderson,

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, Claudio Roditi,

Wallace Roney Wallace Roney (May 25, 1960 – March 31, 2020) was an American jazz (hard bop and post-bop) trumpeter. He has won 1 Grammy award and has two nominations. Roney took lessons from Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie and studied with Miles Davis from ...

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, Warren Wolf, and

Miguel Zenon --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disam ...

Teaching

Kirby joined the faculty of music at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.

Harassment allegations

He retired on June 27, 2017, after his scheduled sabbatical, during which an internal investigation into alleged

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...

of students was conducted by the university. Six students approached school administration in February 2017 with complaints of sexual harassment by Kirby. Shortly after retiring from the University of Manitoba, Kirby was hired by

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

but was suspended from his position pending an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment at the University of Manitoba. Administration at Berklee put Kirby on leave after learning about the accusations. On May 9, 2018, after an investigation by Winnipeg police, Kirby was charged with sexual assault of a music student at the University of Manitoba, relating to multiple alleged incidents between 2014 and 2017. On March 7, 2019, Crown Prosecutor Mark Kantor announced that the case against Kirby would not proceed, and that the Crown was directing a stay of proceedings in this matter. Kirby was presumed by Canadian law to be innocent, a stay of proceedings confirms that innocence. Accordingly he has no criminal record as a result of the charge being stayed. Wolson statement pg 1

In 2020, Kirby moved to Maryland where he now performs under the name Obasi Akoto. In August 2020, Steve Kirby was awarded $286,000 after an arbitrator, Arne Peltz, determined the University of Manitoba breached the professor's privacy. How his privacy was breached was not disclosed. In his decision, Peltz wrote he was prepared to order the University of Manitoba to give Steve Kirby his job back, but refrained when Steve Kirby did not want to return. The public document outlining the arbitrator's decision can be found online. Both Kirby and the University are bound to confidentiality moving forward.

Discography

As leader

* ''All Over the Map'' (2017) * ''Wicked Grin'' (DIG!, 2008) * ''Stepchild'' (University Of Manitoba, Desautels Faculty Of Music, 2012) With James Carter * ''

In Carterian Fashion ''In Carterian Fashion'' is the 6th album led by saxophonist James Carter (musician), James Carter recorded in 1998 and released on the Atlantic Records, Atlantic label. Reception The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow had awarded the album 4 star ...

'' (Atlantic, 1998) * '' Chasin' the Gypsy'' (Atlantic, 2000) With

* ''Dark Before the Dawn'' (Atlantic, 1994) * ''Earth Stories'' (Atlantic, 1995)

References

Bibliography

Leonard Feather Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914 – 22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer, who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. Biography Feather was born in London, England, into an u ...

and Ira Gitler, ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz''. Oxford, 1999, p. 367. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirby, Steve 1956 births Living people Musicians from St. Louis Jazz musicians from Missouri Jazz musicians from Ohio 20th-century American bass guitarists American jazz bass guitarists Berklee College of Music faculty University of Manitoba faculty Webster University alumni