Jazz Articles about Roger Kellaway

Roger Kellaway: I Was There: Roger Kellaway Plays from the Bobby Darin Songbook

by Craig Jolley
January 21, 2005

In case there is any doubt, this is an authentic Roger Kellaway recording, which is to say it is a musical event. I Was There was produced to coincide with the recent Bobby Darin film biography Beyond the Sea, a project in which Kellaway served as vocal coach for its star, Kevin Spacey. Rather than somehow trying to imitate him, Kellaway creatively re-examines tunes from Darin's repertoire. Bypassing most of the singer's hits, Kellaway chooses music from Darin's late 1960s ...

Roger Kellaway: I Was There: Roger Kellaway Plays from the Bobby Darin Songbook

by Jim Santella
January 19, 2005

Coinciding with the release of Beyond the Sea, a film biography of singer Bobby Darin, I Was There features songs that the pianist and singer performed together when Kellaway was Bobby Darin's musical director in 1967-68.

Kellaway, who worked extensively with actor Kevin Spacey to prepare him for his role as Darin in the film, recreates the buoyant spirit that the singer espoused throughout his stellar, if brief career.

The album's song selection excludes the obvious. ...

Roger Kellaway: I Was There: Roger Kellaway Plays from the Bobby Darin Songbook

by J. Robert Bragonier
January 18, 2005

I must confess that I have never cultivated much knowledge about or particular interest in the singing of Bobby Darin. On the other hand, I am most interested in Roger Kellaway, the mention of whose name instantly pricks up my ears. Kellaway is a pianist and composer as phenomenally talented as he is under-recognized.

After playing piano and bass at the New England Conservatory in the late '50s, he worked with Kay Winding, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Clark Terry and ...