Recently dubbed “the Superman of the Bay Area jazz scene” by the San
Francisco Chronicle, Kenny Washington is a jazz virtuoso who thrills
audiences with his soulful interpretations, seemingly limitless range, and
rapid-fire scatting. Ravi Coltrane has declared Kenny his favorite male
vocalist, and Mark Murphy said in a Jazz Times interview that Kenny was
the only contemporary male vocalist carrying on the tradition. This year,
Kenny has thrilled audiences in NYC performing with Wynton Marsalis as a
featured guest at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s celebration of Ella...
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Recently dubbed “the Superman of the Bay Area jazz scene” by the San
Francisco Chronicle, Kenny Washington is a jazz virtuoso who thrills
audiences with his soulful interpretations, seemingly limitless range, and
rapid-fire scatting. Ravi Coltrane has declared Kenny his favorite male
vocalist, and Mark Murphy said in a Jazz Times interview that Kenny was
the only contemporary male vocalist carrying on the tradition. This year,
Kenny has thrilled audiences in NYC performing with Wynton Marsalis as a
featured guest at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s celebration of Ella
Fitzgerald’s 100th Birthday.
Kenny will be joined by the Dan Miller - Lew Del Gatto Quintet. NYC jazz
trumpeter Dan Miller built his reputation touring and recording with Harry
Connick Jr., Wynton Marsalis, Maynard Ferguson and Woody Herman. He brings
together a tremendous group of musicians for an evening of hard swinging
acoustic jazz music including legendary tenor saxophonist Lew Del Gatto
(Saturday Night Live Band 1975-2006 & Frank Sinatra), the pianist Richard
Drexler, bassist Paul Shewchuk and drummer Mike Harvey.
Kenny Washington, a native of New Orleans developed a deep love for music
at a very young age. Kenny grew up singing and performing gospel in
church. He began performing with the school band, playing saxophone and
singing. After graduating from high school Kenny continued his studies in
music at Xavier University. While at Xavier, he studied various styles of
music ranging from traditional and contemporary jazz, to classical, rhythm
and blues and pop.
Joining the honorary U.S. Navy Band in 1986, Kenny performed and toured
nationally and internationally throughout the U.S., Asia, Russia, and
Australia. After nine years as a musician in the U.S. Navy, Kenny made his
home in the San Francisco Bay Area.
If you have never heard this New Orleans native sing before, get ready for
a jaw dropping experience. Kenny is a jazz vocalist virtuoso. Emulating
the classic styles of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan and infusing
colors of Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway, Kenny's free, playful
approach, with over a four-octave range is awe inspiring. His tone on
ballads is liquid, his scat is so rapid-fire, passionate, melodious and
inventive that subsequent saxophone solos often pale, and his intonation
is so precise that it becomes noticeable if the piano wasn’t tuned that
day. His range seems limitless. With a childhood background singing in
gospel, Kenny is at home with the Blues as well as Jazz. This man is a
must-see.
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