KENNY KIRKLAND

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1955, Kenneth David Kirkland was only six when he first sat down at a piano keyboard. After years of Catholic schooling, Kirkland enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied classical piano performance, classical theory and composition. His first professional work came with Polish fusion violinist Michal Urbaniak, touring throughout Europe with his group in 1977 and recording the albums Urbaniak and Daybreak. Coincidentally, Kirkland's next high-profile gig was with another Eastern European jazz émigré, Miroslav Vitous. Kirkland is featured on Vitous' ECM recordings First Meeting and Miroslav Vitous Group. In his more than twenty-year career, Kirkland worked, performed or recorded with such artists as Don Alias, Bob Berg, Art Blakey, Carla Bley, Donald Byrd, Kenny Burrell, Terence Blanchard, Michael Brecker, Tony Bunn, Gary Burton, Ron Carter, Lonnie Cavers, Stanley Clarke, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Urszula Dudziak, George Duke, Cornell Dupree, Kevin read more...