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 commissioned to compose and conduct a memorial piece for Duke Ellington at St. John of the Divine Church in New York performed by the Manhattan School of Music’s Stage Band and the New York City Choir. Has also written compositions for the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, now known as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. He has since written big band charts for groups such as the Cologne Radio Jazz Orchestra (WDR), the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra, The Metropole Orchestra (Holland) and the Umo Jazz Orchestra (Finland).

In 1981, he formed his first trio with bassist Ratzo Harris and drummer Tom Rainey. Their first trio CD for Sunnyside records was entitled, Ken Werner - Introducing The Trio. He would do another trio album for Sunnyside called Press Enter and a beautiful quintet album featuring Randy Brecker , Joe Lovano, and Eddie Gomez entitled, Uncovered heart. The trio with Harris and Rainey was an association that would last 14 years and record two more albums, Guru (TCB) and Live at Visiones (Concorde) That trio was generally acknowledged as being the most creative, intense and innovative heard in a long time.

Performed or Recorded with:
Toots Thielemans Lee Konitz, Joe Henderson, Archie Shepp, Sonny Fortune, Dave Liebman, Chico Freeman, Jim Pepper, Bob Brookmeyer, Tom Harrell, Kenny Wheeler, Eddie Henderson, Dave Douglas, Tim Hagans, Mark Feldman, Bobby Hutcherson, Ron Carter, Eddie Gomez, Dave Holland, Charlie Haden, Marc Johnson, Ray Drummond, Rufus Reid, Mel Lewis, Jack DeJohnette, Billy Hart, Ed Blackwell, Paul Motian, Peter Erskine, Steve Gadd, Joey Baron, Idris Mohamad, Bob Moses, Victor Lewis, John Abercrombie, Bill Frisell, John Scofield, Joe Williams, Bobby McFerrin, Jackie Paris, Anne Marie Moss, Roseanna Vitro, Janus Seigel, Marian McPartland, Gunther Schuller, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Elvin Jones, Lou Rawls and shares a long and creative relationship with good friend Joe Lovano.
Since 1989-served as pianist, arranger and musical director for the noted film, television and Broadway star, Betty Buckley.

Awards:
1985 & 87- National Endowment For the Arts performance grants.
1993- National Endowment for the Arts grant to present a concert in tribute to Mel Lewis.

1995 - NEA awarded Werner another grant to compose a piano concerto dedicated to Duke Ellington, performed in February 1996 by the Cologne Radio Orchestra.

He also won the Distinguished Artist Award for Composition from the New Jersey Council of the Arts for a piece entitled "Kandinsky" from his CD, Paintings.

Work in Education
1987 - taught intermediate and advanced (his own) theory at The New School. Since then he has given clinics at many universities in the United States and abroad.
Artist-in-residence at New York University

Artist-in-residence at Berkeley School Of Music

Artistic director for the Banff Center Jazz Program.

Published Works
"Effortless Mastery" - Book published in 1996 by Jamey Aebersold Jazz, Inc.
“Channeling Music” - Organica, Spring 1988

“Play for the Right Reasons” - Organica, Winter 1990

“Hostile Triads” - The Piano Stylist & Jazz Workshop, April-May 1991