Kenny Drew

Kenneth Sidney "Kenny" Drew (August 28, 1928 – August 4, 1993) was an American-Danish jazz pianist.

Biography
Drew was born on August 28, 1928, in New York City, United States, and he received piano lessons from the age of five. He attended the High School of Music & Art in Manhattan. His first recording, in 1950, was with Howard McGhee, and over the next two years Drew worked in bands led by Buddy DeFranco, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Charlie Parker, among others.

After a brief period with his own trio in California, Drew returned to New York, playing with Dinah Washington, Johnny Griffin, Buddy Rich, and several others over the following few years. He led many recording sessions throughout the 1950s, and in 1957 appeared on John Coltrane's album Blue Train.

Drew was one of the American jazz musicians who settled in Europe around this period: he moved to Paris, France, in 1961 and to Copenhagen, Denmark, three years later. While he sacrificed much of the interest of the American jazz audience, he gained a wide following across Europe. Drew was a well-known figure on the Copenhagen jazz scene, recording many sessions with the Danish bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. "Living in Copenhagen, and travelling out from there," Drew remarked, "I have probably worked in more different contexts than if I had stayed in New York where I might have got musically locked in with a set-group of musicians. This way, I have been able to keep my musical antennas in shape, while at the same time I have had more time to study and also get deeper into my own endeavors."

Drew and Dexter Gordon appeared on screen in Ole Ege's theatrically released hardcore pornographic film Pornografi – en musical (1971), for which they composed and performed the score.

Drew died in August 1993 in Copenhagen, Denmark (he had stomach cancer, but it was unclear if this was the cause of death) and he was interred in the Assistens Cemetery in Nørrebro, Copenhagen. A street is named after him in southern Copenhagen, "Kenny Drews Vej" (Eng., Kenny Drew Street).

His son, Kenny Drew Jr., was also a jazz pianist.

Playing style
Drew's touch was described in The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz as "precise", and his playing as being a combination of bebop-influenced melodic improvisation and block chords, including "refreshingly subtle harmonizations".

As leader
Compilation
 * Solo-Duo (Storyville, 1996) – rec. 1966–83

As sideman
With Tina Brooks
 * Back to the Tracks (Blue Note, 1998) – rec. 1960
 * The Waiting Game (Blue Note, 2002) – rec. 1961

With Clifford Brown
 * Best Coast Jazz (EmArcy, 1954)
 * Clifford Brown All Stars (EmArcy, 1956) – rec. 1954

With John Coltrane
 * High Step (Blue Note, 1975) – rec. 1956
 * Blue Train (Blue Note, 1958) – rec. 1957

With Kenny Dorham
 * Showboat (Time, 1960)
 * Whistle Stop (Blue Note, 1961) – rec. 1960

With Art Farmer
 * Farmer's Market (New Jazz, 1956)
 * Manhattan (Soul Note, 1981)

With Dizzy Gillespie
 * The Giant (America, 1973)
 * The Source (America, 1973)

With Dexter Gordon
 * Daddy Plays the Horn (Bethlehem, 1955)
 * Dexter Calling... (Blue Note, 1962) – rec. 1961
 * One Flight Up (Blue Note, 1965) – rec. 1964
 * A Day in Copenhagen (MPS, 1969) also with Slide Hampton
 * Some Other Spring (Sonet, 1970) also with Karin Krog
 * The Apartment (SteepleChase, 1975)
 * Swiss Nights Vol. 1 (SteepleChase, 1976) – rec. 1975
 * Swiss Nights Vol. 2 (SteepleChase, 1978) – rec. 1975
 * Swiss Nights Vol. 3 (SteepleChase, 1979) – rec. 1975
 * Landslide (Blue Note, 1980) – rec. 1961-62
 * Both Sides of Midnight (Black Lion, 1981) – rec. 1967
 * Body and Soul (Black Lion, 1981) – rec. 1967
 * Take the "A" Train (Black Lion, 1988) – rec. 1967
 * The Squirrel (Blue Note, 1997) – rec. 1967
 * Loose Walk (SteepleChase, 2003) – rec. 1965
 * Misty (SteepleChase, 2004) – rec. 1965
 * Heartaches (SteepleChase, 2004) – rec. 1965
 * Ladybird (SteepleChase, 2005) – rec. 1965
 * Stella by Starlight (SteepleChase, 2005) – rec. 1966
 * Live In Tokyo 1975 (Elemental Music, 2018) – rec. 1975

With Ken McIntyre
 * Hindsight (SteepleChase, 1974)
 * Open Horizon (SteepleChase, 1976) – rec. 1965

With Jackie McLean
 * Jackie's Bag (Blue Note, 1960) – rec. 1959-60
 * Bluesnik (Blue Note, 1962) – rec. 1961
 * Live at Montmartre (SteepleChase, 1972)
 * A Ghetto Lullaby (SteepleChase, 1974) – rec. 1973
 * The Meeting (SteepleChase, 1974) also with Dexter Gordon – rec. 1973
 * The Source (SteepleChase, 1974) also with Dexter Gordon – rec. 1973

With Sonny Rollins
 * Sonny Rollins with the Modern Jazz Quartet (Prestige, 1951)
 * Tour de Force (Prestige, 1956)
 * Sonny Boy (Prestige, 1961) – rec. 1956

With Sonny Stitt
 * Kaleidoscope (Prestige, 1957) – rec. 1950
 * Stitt's Bits (Prestige, 1958) – rec. 1950

With Ben Webster
 * First Concert In Denmark – rec. 1965
 * Saturday Night At The Montmartre (Black Lion, 1970) – rec. 1965. reissued as Stormy Weather
 * Sunday Morning At The Montmartre (Black Lion, 1977) – rec. 1965. reissued as Gone with the Wind.

Wíth others
 * Gene Ammons, Goodbye (Prestige, 1974)
 * Svend Asmussen, Prize/Winners (Baystate, 1978)
 * Chet Baker, (Chet Baker Sings) It Could Happen to You (Riverside, 1958)
 * Art Blakey, Originally (Columbia, 1982) – rec. 1956
 * Benny Carter, Summer Serenade (Storyville, 1982) – rec. 1980
 * Paul Chambers, Chambers' Music (Jazz:West, 1956)
 * Ted Curson, Plenty of Horn (Old Town, 1961)
 * Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, All of Me (SteepleChase, 1983)
 * Teddy Edwards, Out of This World (SteepleChase, 1980)
 * Grant Green, Sunday Mornin' (Blue Note, 1962) – rec. 1961
 * Johnny Griffin, Blues for Harvey (SteepleChase, 1973)
 * Ernie Henry, Presenting Ernie Henry (Riverside, 1956)
 * Joe Maini, Embers Glow (Jazz: West, 1956)
 * Ray Nance, Huffin'n'Puffin' (MPS 1972) – rec. 1971
 * Kim Parker, Havin' Myself a Time (Soul Note, 1982) – rec. 1981
 * Rita Reys, The Cool Voice of Rita Reys (Columbia, 1956) – rec. 1955-56
 * Sahib Shihab, Sentiments (Storyville, 1972) – rec. 1971
 * Toots Thielemans, Man Bites Harmonica! (Riverside, 1957)
 * Tiziana Ghiglioni, Sounds Of Love (Soul Note, 1983)