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Jazz Articles about Kenny Drew, Jr.
What the F**k Happened to Black Popular Music?
by Kenny Drew Jr.
I've decided to add this section to my website as a vehicle to express my views on various topics, musical and otherwise, that have been on my mind lately. You may wonder why I'm talking about popular music in this first installment, since I am generally thought of as a “jazz" musician. However, anyone who knows me knows that my tastes in music are very eclectic (as are those of most jazz musicians, quiet as it's kept). In fact when ...
read moreKenny Drew Jr. Trio: Remembrance
by Ben Ohmart
Let’s amble back to the simple but productive days of piano jazz before every niche of playing style created a new genre, before the words genius and nuance were overused to the point of covetousness. To hear Kenny at the head of tracks like ‘Song for Manfredo’ by Lili Fest renews my roving eye back to instrumental jazz. Experimental stuff is fine, but there’s a reason mainstream is called what it is. It speaks clearly, concisely, and it is never ...
read moreKenny Drew Jr.: This One's For Bill
by AAJ Staff
It is not difficult to measure how much influence the late Bill Evans has exerted over the young pianists of today. The impact of his playing can be heard, in varying degrees, in virtually every pianist that followed him. That's because he changed the way piano players approach the instrument, moving away from a strict bebop vocabulary, and bringing to fore the piano's inherent orchestral abilities through dense harmonies and sweeping melodic lines. Evans employed an introspective approach, gracefully caressing ...
read moreKenny Drew Jr. Sextet: Crystal River
by Glenn Astarita
On “Crystal River” the gifted Pianist Kenny Drew Jr. performs lavishly and shows maturity as a composer and stylist. Drew and his Sextet bridge the gap between West Coast cool and East Coast bravado while effectively performing in the vein of classic Jazz Messengers or early 1960’s Lee Morgan yet the feel is modern and fresh. On Drew Jr.’s “Confrontation” the Sextet display a big sound that is crisp, clean and spirited. This piece grabs you from the onset with ...
read moreKenny Drew Jr.: Passionata
by Jack Bowers
Beautiful music, beautifully recorded and played. Pianist Kenny Drew Jr.'s love for and debt to his late father are apparent with almost every note he plays on Passionata, the title selection of which was drawn from a sketchy outline that young Kenny found in his father's desk after Drew Sr. passed away in 1993. This is basically Kenny's trio augmented on four tracks ("Dark Beauty," “Serenity," “Evening in the Park," the reprise of “Passionata" that closes the session) by a ...
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