HolgerFreimutSchrick Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 Philip Booth posted on twitter that Kenny Drew Jr has died on 4 August 2014, though yet unconfirmed. http://betweenthegrooves.wordpress.com/2014/08/04/r-i-p-kenny-drew-jr/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fer Urbina Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 It's been confirmed by Scott Elias of Random Act Records. Fellow pianist George Colligan has written this very insightful blog in his memory. F Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyril Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 He was only 56 years old. R.I.P. http://jazztruth.blogspot.se/2014/08/rip-kenny-drew-jr.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 Sorry to read this. Colligan's remarks are a great read ... R.I.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 Wow. So young. R.I.P. Kenny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 Hearing and seeing him in person playing solo piano was an unforgettable experience. RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 Young man...Rest in Peace. Shocking, I enjoyed his FB posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 (edited) Sorry to hear this, I remember how cool I thought it was that Kenny Drew had a son following in his footsteps. I learned pretty fast that I'd always prefer senior to junior but 56 is way too young. I did like his playing a lot on David "Bubba" Brooks' Smooth Sailing (TCB). Edited August 5, 2014 by Dan Gould Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 Yeah, this is really sad. I was lucky enough to catch him playing with Stanley Turrentine at Jazz Alley in Seattle back in the 90s, talked to him after the show and he was a very friendly and gracious guy. R.I.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etherbored Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 what a particularly brutal year it's been... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 (edited) Yeah, this is really sad. I was lucky enough to catch him playing with Stanley Turrentine at Jazz Alley in Seattle back in the 90s, talked to him after the show and he was a very friendly and gracious guy. R.I.P. That is interesting, Shawn. I remember seeing Stanley T. back then at Jazz Alley but never heard who was in the band so I might have seen him. What a great evening that was. Must have been around 1994/95. Very sorry to hear this news - I think I also saw Kenny Drew Jr. as part of the Mingus Big band here in the UK some years ago. He was very, very good. Truly a tragedy - RIP. Edited August 5, 2014 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 Philip Booth posted on twitter that Kenny Drew Jr has died on 4 August 2014, though yet unconfirmed. http://betweenthegrooves.wordpress.com/2014/08/04/r-i-p-kenny-drew-jr/ Exactly 21 years after his Father, to the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Schwartz Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 It's been confirmed by Scott Elias of Random Act Records. Fellow pianist George Colligan has written this very insightful blog in his memory. F Both of those are far from any sort of confirmation. That said Mr. Drew was reportedly physically ill and also depressed; a combination which probably adds to the news trickling out in this manor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 I saw Kenny in a band led by Jack Walrath. RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fer Urbina Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 (edited) It's been confirmed by Scott Elias of Random Act Records. Fellow pianist George Colligan has written this very insightful blog in his memory. F Both of those are far from any sort of confirmation. FWIW Scott Elias of Random Act was a good friend of Drew. Another friend and fellow pianist, Tom Becker, has also reported his passing. F Edited August 7, 2014 by Fer Urbina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted August 6, 2014 Report Share Posted August 6, 2014 I saw Kenny play just last week --a week ago Saturday. His playing was on fire and he was outstanding! If he was sick, he didn't show it that night. I was very fortunate to be able to catch him playing a lot around the Tampa Bay area here. He will be very sorely missed. A giant walked among us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted August 6, 2014 Report Share Posted August 6, 2014 I saw Kenny play just last week --a week ago Saturday. His playing was on fire and he was outstanding! If he was sick, he didn't show it that night. I was very fortunate to be able to catch him playing a lot around the Tampa Bay area here. He will be very sorely missed. A giant walked among us. I realize that jazz is pretty much under-appreciated across the board, but what is your sense of how the Tampa Bay region did or did not recognize that an artist of this calibre was their neighbor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted August 6, 2014 Report Share Posted August 6, 2014 That is too young. I have a bunch of his CDs when he was putting them out consistently 10-15 years ago. Really enjoy his playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted August 6, 2014 Report Share Posted August 6, 2014 I think the Tampa Bay area really embraced Kenny and I think he was appreciated here for the world class musician that he was. I think most knew we were very lucky to have him here. I didn't really know him but maybe that's why he stayed here because he felt that appreciation. However, IMHO, he really belonged much more on the world stage because he was such a great player. Again IMHO, with the state of today's under-appreciation of jazz, he never gained that higher level of appreciation as he should have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Shearn Posted August 6, 2014 Report Share Posted August 6, 2014 I never listened to him much but his piece on the state of black music years before the BAM thing, was very insightful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Schwartz Posted August 6, 2014 Report Share Posted August 6, 2014 http://jazztimes.com/articles/136046-pianist-kenny-drew-jr-dies-at-56 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted August 6, 2014 Report Share Posted August 6, 2014 I saw Drew perform several times over the years and he was always impressive. His fingers flew across those keys. So young. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted August 6, 2014 Report Share Posted August 6, 2014 Yeah, this is really sad. I was lucky enough to catch him playing with Stanley Turrentine at Jazz Alley in Seattle back in the 90s, talked to him after the show and he was a very friendly and gracious guy. R.I.P. That is interesting, Shawn. I remember seeing Stanley T. back then at Jazz Alley but never heard who was in the band so I might have seen him. What a great evening that was. Must have been around 1994/95. Very sorry to hear this news - I think I also saw Kenny Drew Jr. as part of the Mingus Big band here in the UK some years ago. He was very, very good. Truly a tragedy - RIP. It was later when I saw him, probably '99, I remember it being only about 6 months before Stanley passed away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted August 7, 2014 Report Share Posted August 7, 2014 I've not seen anything in the Tampa Bay Times. And it's not like they couldn't just run Philip Booth's piece. What gives? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted August 7, 2014 Report Share Posted August 7, 2014 (edited) It was later when I saw him, probably '99, I remember it being only about 6 months before Stanley passed away. Thinking about it, I'm pretty sure that the lineup in 94/95 had electric piano so it would have been a different group. There's a recording with Stanley and Kenny in performance on tour near Inverness, Scotland though in 1999 during that period and it's pretty good. Edited August 7, 2014 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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