Kenny Drew, Jr. - Piano
Selected Jazz works mixed with classical selections
KENNY DREW, JR.
Piano
 Kenny Drew Jr. was born in New York City in 1958. He started music lessons at the age of four. After studying classical piano with his Aunt Marjorie, he branched out into the area of jazz music.Kenny Jr. has performed worldwide with a comprehensive variety of musicians, including Stanley Jordan, Out of the Blue (OTB), Stanley Turrentine, Slide Hampton and the Jazz Masters, the Mingus Big Band, Steve Grossman, Yoshiaki Masuo, Sadao Watanabe, Smokey Robinson, Frank Morgan, Daniel Schnyder, and many others.
Kenny Drew Jr. was the winner of the 1990 Great American jazz Piano Competition in Jacksonville FL. He has appeared as a leader at many major festivals, including the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, Kyoto Jazz Festival, Savannah on Stage Festival, Clearwater Jazz Festival, and the Newark Jazz Festival. Kenny has also performed as leader at many major jazz clubs around the country, such as Bradley's (NY), Visiones (NY), The Blue Note (NY), Blues Alley (DC), Fat Tuesday's (NY), The VIllage Gate (NY), Trumpets (NJ), The Jazz Showcase (Chicago), Twins Lounge (DC), One Step Down (DC), and the Montreal Bistro (Toronto). He has recorded nine albums as a leader and has also made numerous recordings as a sideman. Kenny has performed at concerts & in clubs with The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, the Faddis/Hampton/Heath Sextet, Steve Turre, Jack Walrath, David Sanchez, Jack Wilkins, Michael Mossman, Ronnie Cuber, Steve Slagle, and Marlena Shaw. Other performances included appearances with Jon Faddis, Slide Hampton, and Jimmy Heath at the Montreal North Sea, and Lugano festivals and with the Mingus Big Band at the Chicago & Detroit festivals.
Kenny has also begun to gain a reputation as a performer of classical music. He has performed both jazz & classical music at the Barossa Music Festival in Australia. The classical repertoire included Bach concertos and music by African-American composers. These concerts consisted of solo piano recitals and appearances with renowned classical musicians such as violinist Jane Peters and pianist Peter Waters. Kenny participated in a performance of Charles Mingus' large-scale composition "Epitaph" at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam under the direction of Gunther Schuller. He performed a Mozart concerto with the Milwaukee Symphony conducted by Andreas Delfs, and appeared at the International Bach Festival in Leipzig, playing Bach's music with Daniel Schnyder and David Taylor. Further appearances as a classical performer include,the Luzern Piano Festival and in Key West.
In addition to his work as a soloist and jazz side man, Kenny has been playing with a classical/chamber-jazz trio led by composer/saxophonist/flautist Daniel Schnyder, with David Taylor on bass trombone. In addition to appearances at the Barossa Festival in 1997, the group has performed concerts in Switzerland and New York.
Among Kenny's recordings with Daniel Schnyder are, the "Sonata for Soprano Saxophone & Piano" and the "Sonata for Bass Trombone & Piano" (with David Taylor). Kenny also participated in the recording of Schnyder's Third Symphony with the Basel Radio Orchestra under the direction of Hans Drewanz.
Other groups and artists Kenny has performed with are: The Absolute Ensemble, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Shirley Horn,Teddy Edwards and Henry Johnson. Kenny also played a solo piano tribute to Duke Ellington on Ellington's 100th birthday at the Tonhalle in Zurich. He has recently appeared with his own trio at the Village Vanguard in New York,the Jazz Showcase in Chicago and on the Queen Elizabeth 2 Jazz Cruise.
Kenny has recorded over twenty albums as a leader, amongst them, in 2001, "Autumn" for the Japanese label Pony Canyon. The CD features George Mraz on bass and Tony Jefferson on drums. Drew recorded a CD of two-piano jazz arrangements of music by Ravel with pianist Peter Waters. This CD, which was recorded in Switzerland, also features the Winterthur Chamber Orchestra. Kenny Drew Jr. taught at the Engadin International Summer Piano Academy in Switzerland, giving master classes and private lessons. He was one of the featured artists at the West Coast Jazz Party in California. He has touredSwitzerland with Daniel Schnyder, including a concert with members of the Zurich Opera Orchestra. Kenny played two concerts at the Umea Jazz Festival in Sweden, including a performance of Daniel Schnyder's Piano Concerto with the Norrlands Opera Orchestra under the direction of Krystian Jarvi. This concert was recorded for release as a CD.
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Matt Herskowitz - Piano, Lyric Artist and Composer-in-Residence
Selected works composed or arranged by Matt Herskowitz
MATT HERSKOWITZ
Artist and Composer-in-Residence
 Hailed as “extraordinary high-octane keyboard virtuosity”, pianist Matt Herskowitz is a unique voice from within the nexus of classical and jazz traditions. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, Mr. Herskowitz’s performances have led to both Grammy and Oscar Award nominations. His performance with Absolute Ensemble, a New York-based crossover contemporary chamber band, helped earn a Grammy nomination for their first album, Absolution, which features Matt as both composer and soloist (2001, Enja Records). His jazz arrangement of a Bach prelude for the soundtrack of The Triplets of Belleville helped earn the animated film two Oscar nominations and a French César award for best soundtrack in 2003. His first solo recording, Gabriel's Message (2000, CCnC Records), features his original arrangements and compositions based on Christmas themes, and has received world-wide critical acclaim resulting in international invitations. In 2004, Mr. Herskowitz recorded a solo recital for BRAVO Arts Channel which features classical, jazz, and original work.
Mr. Herskowitz tours extensively throughout Europe, Canada, and the U.S. He is a founding member of MaD Fusion - a progressive fusion ensemble. Their first CD, Forget Me Not (2005, Disques Tout Crin), received critical acclaim from European, U.S. and Canadian Jazz critics. After hearing the album, jazz-legend Dave Brubeck wrote: “Hearing such technique almost ruined my day. I said to myself, ‘I’d better quit now’.” MaD Fusion has performed at the Hamburg and Bremen International Music Festivals in Germany, at the Rhino Jazz Festival in France, at the Lyric Chamber Music Society in New York City, at the Luzerne Music Center Jazz Series in New York, and with the Philadelphia Piano Quartet on the Classic Chamber Concerts Series in Naples, Florida.
In addition to The Triplets of Belleville, Mr. Herskowitz's other film contributions also include a solo piano improvisation on the soundtrack of Robert Lepage’s La Face Cachée de la Lune. In 2001, Mr. Herskowitz scored a short avant-garde French film, one of six new scores written for 1930’s era silent French films. The music was performed live with the films at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater by Parabola, an ensemble specializing in new film and theater music. Other contributing composers included Carter Burwell and Stephen Endelman.
Mr. Herskowitz later worked with Mr. Burwell on a live theater project of plays by the Coen brothers and Charlie Kaufman, which received performances in New York, London, and Los Angeles. As a songwriter, Mr. Herskowitz has collaborated with many artists and producers, including pop diva Lara Fabian, and French pop-rock singer Sylvie Cobo. His songs have appeared on best-selling albums in France and Canada.
Other notable accomplishments include the 1998 Canadian premiere of Mr. Herskowitz’s Chorale and Variations on a Theme of Dave Brubeck - an original piece for piano and chamber orchestra performed by the Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal. Mr. Herskowitz is also the Grand Prize Winner of the 1997 Orford Festival International Piano Competition. As a result of the award, he was invited to record Glazunov's Piano Concerto no. 2 with I Musici de Montreal (1998, Chandos Records). The recording was hailed as “by far the best performance on CD” by Strad magazine.
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