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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZDREW, Kenny Jr(b 14 June 1958, NYC; d 3 August 2014, St Petersburg FL) Jazz pianist, not much influenced by his famous father (see above), who was mostly absent, but studying classical music with his mother and his grandmother. Yet something must have run in the family: Kenny Jr's skill at sight-reading, memory, and playing any kind of music became legendary among those who worked with him. His first album was The Flame Within '87; two albums on Antilles '91-2 used sidemen Christian McBride, George Mraz, Ralph Moore, Joshua Redman and others; his solo disc At Maybeck '94 in Concord's recital series was instigated by Marian McPartland, as good a judge of keyboardists as there was. Portraits Of Mingus And Monk '95 on Claves Jazz included Lynn Seaton and Marvin 'Smitty' Smith. He last recorded on the Random Act label. Drew liked harmonically challenging pieces, playing good but lesser-known tunes by famous composers, or deconstructing chestnuts so we could hear them as new. He suffered from diabetes. |