Kevin O'Connell

Born in 1957, Kevin started piano at age 4 in his home town of Grand Rapids, Michigan, taking lessons from his mother and beginning formal lessons at age 9 in classical music and theory until age 14. Both of his parents were amateur pianists and devoted listeners of classical music. He continued studying classical piano again at age 16, but was also playing guitar, bass, drums and trombone alternately in various rock bands during those years. He taught himself how to play jazz piano listening to recordings of greats Bill Evans, Art Tatum, Dave Brubeck, Wynton Kelly, Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea.

During college, he worked in trio and quartet formats in Ann Arbor and Detroit, including a one month jazz quartet tour of Germany with a local quartet. He subsequently performed in Michigan with Larry Coryell, Johnny Hartman and then moved to New York where he was asked to be in Clifford Jordan’s quartet. He worked and recorded with Clifford (“Live at Ethell’s” on MapleShade Records and “Royal Ballads” on Criss Cross) for 6 years and also worked and recorded with master drummer Vernel Fournier’s trio for 8 years (“Vernel Fournier Trio” on TCB records). While in New York, he also performed with such notables as Philly Joe Jones, Billy Hart, Junior Cook, Victor Sproles, Richard Davis, Mike Clark, Andy Bey, Joe Lee Wilson, Al Grey, Walter Booker and Charles Davis, at such clubs as the Blue Note, Birdland, Condon’s, the Star and Garter, and Barry Harris’ Cultural Theater.

Kevin did extensive engagements with Vernel’s trio in Tokyo’s Ginza, Switzerland and Paris. He also worked with many New York singers, accompanying Roseanna Vitro, Judy Niemack, Chris Calloway, her dad Cab Calloway at his wife’s birthday parties, Jody Sandhaus, Melissa Hamilton and others.

Since moving with his wife and two girls to Chicago in 1993 he has worked in many of Chicago’s jazz clubs such as Andy’s, the Jazz Showcase, Pops for Champagne , Lush Life, Pritzker Pavilion’ Millenium Park and Katerina’s, in trio and quartet formats with Chicago greats Howard Levy, Dee Alexander, Eric Schneider, Mark Colby, Larry Gray, Jim Cox, George Fludas, Mo Jennings, Ernie Adams, Joel Spencer, Rusty Jones, Robert Shy, Stew Miller, Greg Fishman and others. He has appeared on two Rob Parton Big Band albums (Christmas Time is Here and We’ll Be Together Again) plus his trio was featured on the James Sanders album Blue Violin. He also is featured on Monica Jinks’ CD “Feed a Musician” He currently has the piano chairs with the Latin jazz band Conjunto and Edgar Gabriel’s StringFusion. Recently he accompanied the great violinist Mark O’Connor at Old Town School and was invited to play gigs with the legendary Ira Sullivan and Metheny drummer Paul Wertico.

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