Kenny Werner Trio

Kenny Werner was born on November 19, 1951 in Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.A. At the age of eleven, he recorded a single with a fifteen-piece orchestra and appeared on television playing stride piano. He attended the Manhattan School of Music as a concert piano major. In 1970, he transferred to the Berklee School of Music. In 1977, recorded first LP that featured of the music of Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson and George Gershwin and later that year with Charles Mingus on "Something Like A Bird" In 1981, Werner recorded his own solo album of original compositions entitled Beyond the Forest of Mirkwood . The following year, Werner recorded the sounds heard coming from his Brooklyn-based studio - a hotbed of late-night jam sessions -- and titled the record after his address, 298 Bridge Street. In the early 80s he toured extensively and recorded with Archie Shepp. In 1984 he joined the Mel Lewis Orchestra. He was beginning to perform more and more in Europe and New York City as a leader and in duos with such notables as Rufus Reid, Ray Drummond and Jaki Byard. He received performance grants from the National Endowment for the Arts in both 1985 and 1987, and was c... more...