Dave McKenna

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Dave McKenna

David Jr. "Dave" McKenna (born May 30, 1930 in Woonsocket , Rhode Island , † October 18, 2008 in State College , Pennsylvania ) was an American jazz pianist.

Live and act

McKenna learned the piano at the age of 7. He is self-taught in the field of jazz and gained his first experience as a musician under Boots Mussulli (1947), Charlie Ventura (1949) and Woody Herman (1950–51). After a two-year military service from 1953 to 1954, which he spent in Korea , he was again a member of Ventura's band. In the following years he worked with musicians such as Gene Krupa (1956), Stan Getz , Zoot Sims , Al Cohn , Eddie Condon and Bobby Hackett (from 1959), with whose quartet he recorded critically acclaimed records such as Blues With a Kick .

In the 1970s he returned to the international scene with Bob Wilber and Pug Horton . In addition, he also appeared repeatedly as a soloist in the piano bars of Massachusetts , and also in New York's Michael's Pub . In the 1980s he toured with the superband , which included Warren Vaché and Scott Hamilton . McKenna died on October 18, 2008 at the age of 78 from complications from lung cancer .

Dave McKenna made numerous albums both as a leader and as a sideman and was to be admired as a pianist in outstanding small ensembles and as a soloist. He was one of the few important jazz musicians who could hardly be heard in Europe - mainly because he didn't want to miss the baseball broadcasts that were omnipresent on US television.

His style of "three-handed swing" was defining the style, in which he counterpointed a rhythmically strong bass line of chords with the left thumb, thumb and forefinger of the right hand, which was played around by a melody line of the remaining fingers of the right hand.

Discographic notes

  • The Piano Scene of Dave McKenna with Johnny Drew , Osie Johnson , 1958
  • The Dave McKenna Quartet ( Chiaroscuro , 1974) with Zoot Sims , Major Holley , Ray Mosca dm
  • One Bass Hit (Concord, 1979) with Scott Hamilton , Jake Hanna
  • Left Handed Compliment (Concord, 1979)
  • Giant Strides (Concord, 1979)
  • Solo piano (Chiaroscuro, 1979)
  • Dancing in the Dark (Concord, 1985)
  • Major League (Concord 1986) with Scott Hamilton and Jake Hanna
  • Live at Maybeck Recital Hall, Vol. 2 (Concord, 1989)
  • A Handful of Stars (Concord, 1992)
  • An Intimate Evening With Dave McKenna (Arbors, 2002)
  • In Madison (Arbors, ed. 2018)

Lexigraphic entry

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The New York Times : Dave McKenna, Pianist Known for Solo Jazz Work, Dies at 78 , October 20, 2008.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME McKenna, Dave
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McKenna, David junior (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz pianist
DATE OF BIRTH May 30, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Woonsocket (Rhode Island)
DATE OF DEATH October 18, 2008
Place of death State College , Pennsylvania