Nigel Kennedy
Encyclopedia
Nigel Kennedy is a British born violin
ist and violist
. He made his early career in the classical field, and he has performed and recorded most of the major violin concerti
. He later included jazz
, klezmer
and other genres in his repertoire.
, a British-born musician and principal cellist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra
, who played with Fritz Kreisler
, Jascha Heifetz
, Arthur Rubinstein
and others. His grandmother was Dorothy Kennedy, a pianist, who accompanied John McCormack and taught Enrico Caruso's children. Lauri and Dorothy settled in Australia
, where their son, the cellist John Kennedy
, was born. At the age of 24, John moved to England and joined the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, later becoming the principal cellist of Sir Thomas Beecham
's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
. While in England, John developed a relationship with an English pianist, Scylla Stoner, with whom he eventually toured in 1952 as part of the Llewellyn-Kennedy Piano Trio (with the violinist Ernest Llewellyn
; Stoner was billed as "Scylla Kennedy" although she and John never married). However, John ultimately left Stoner and returned to Australia, unaware she was pregnant by him. John remained unaware of the existence of his son, Nigel Kennedy, until they met for the first time when Nigel was 11. Nigel Kennedy has about 30 close relatives in Australia, whom he visits whenever he tours there.
, East Sussex
. A boy prodigy, as a 10-year-old he would pick out Fats Waller
tunes on the piano after hearing his stepfather's jazz records. He was a pupil at the Yehudi Menuhin School
of Music, and later studied at the Juilliard School
in New York
with Dorothy DeLay
.
to appear with him at New York's Carnegie Hall
, under the threat from his teachers at the Juilliard that it would ruin his classical career. He made his recording debut in 1984 with Elgar's
Violin Concerto
. Kennedy's recording of Vivaldi
's The Four Seasons
with the English Chamber Orchestra
in 1989 sold over 2 million copies and earned a place as one of the best-selling classical works ever. The album remained top of the UK classical charts for over a year with sales equivalent to one copy sold every 30 seconds.
He gave numerous performances for The Prince's Trust
, the Royal Variety Performance
and private performances at St. James's Palace
and Buckingham Palace
. He released his biography Always Playing in 1991. He then took the controversial and highly publicised decision to withdraw completely from public performance, at which point he made the album Music In Color with Stephen Duffy
. He made a triumphant return to the international concert platform to critical acclaim five years later. In 1997, Kennedy received an award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music at the BRIT Awards
, and in 2001 received the 'Male Artist of the Year' award.
Kennedy recorded a cover of Jimi Hendrix
's "Fire" for the 1993 album Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix
. In 1999 Sony Classical released The Kennedy Experience
, which featured improvisational recordings
of Hendrix compositions
. According to a BBC
interview with Kennedy, the violinist stated that the recording is "an album of music inspired by Jimi Hendrix. It is an extended instrumental work in six movements
, each movement a classical
interpretation of a Hendrix song". On the recording, Kennedy is accompanied by seven other musicians, and the lineup includes two cellos, an oboe
, two guitars, a Dobro
, flute
, and double bass
. With cellist Lynn Harrell
, he has recorded an album of duets.
In 2000, he has recorded Riders on the Storm: The Doors Concerto (with Jaz Coleman
), a violin based orchestral version of many Doors
songs, including "Strange Days
", "LA Woman", "The End
", and "Riders On The Storm
". And, on the 27th of November, Kennedy joined rock group The Who
at the Royal Albert Hall
to play the violin solo on the song "Baba O'Riley
", released three years later on the album Live at the Royal Albert Hall
. Kennedy has played on several tracks by British singer/songwriter Kate Bush
, who was a guest on Kennedy's episode of This Is Your Life
. He was featured on two of Sarah Brightman
's songs for her 2003 album Harem
.
He has been exploring Klezmer
music with the Polish jazz band Kroke
. The band consists of musicians "who have been knocking around with Kennedy for five years. ... [Kennedy explains], 'I met them all separately at jam sessions in the jazz club near where I live in Cracow
, ... I thought: that’s the drummer I want, that’s the bass player, and so on. They’ve all got their own projects.'"
In late 2005, Kennedy went to New York to record his first album for the jazz label Blue Note Records
. Other musicians on the album were Ron Carter
on double bass
, Jack DeJohnette
on drums; and saxophonist Joe Lovano
. Kennedy has since stated that "from now on, at least 50 per cent of my endeavour is going to be in the jazz field".
Kennedy appointed a new manager, Terri Robson, and returned to the Proms after an absence of 21 years, performing Elgar's
Violin Concerto
and a late-night Prom with the Nigel Kennedy Quintet.
He also plays the viola, and has recorded Sir William Walton
's Viola Concerto
.
' accent instead of the Received Pronunciation
he had when he was interviewed as a child in 1964 on the BBC's Town and Around.
Kennedy was attacked for his approach to classical music by John Drummond
in 1991, who called him "a Liberace
for the Nineties" and criticised his "ludicrous clothes and grotesque, self-invented accent."
Until 2006 he had expressed his intention of not appearing on the classical London concert scene with a London orchestra, seen by some as arrogance and stated by Kennedy in terms of frustrated perfectionism: "It all comes down to the amount of rehearsal you get, or don't get, in this country. I insist on three or four sessions prior to a concert, and orchestral administrators won't accommodate that. If I didn't care about getting it right I could do three concerts in the same amount of time and earn three times the money. But you can't do something properly in less time than it takes."
Kennedy expresses a preference for the immediate appeal of live performance, and often records entire works or movements in single 'takes' to preserve this sense in his recordings. He also introduces improvisatory elements in his performances, as in his Jimi Hendrix
-inspired cadenza
to the Beethoven Violin Concerto
and his jazz
and fusion recordings.
(where his ex-partner and son Sark live); and London and Kraków
where he lives with his Polish second wife, Agnieszka.
In the late 80s, Kennedy was romantically involved with singer/guitarist Brix Smith
.
Kennedy is a well-known Aston Villa F.C.
supporter. At Przystanek Woodstock
2010, he had his orchestra wear Aston Villa shirts, while directing the crown in the team's chants
. Whilst living and recording in Poland he also took an active interest in Cracovia, in whose 100th anniversary club replica kit he appeared.
On 24 October 2006, Kennedy broke his arm in a cycling
accident, confirmed in an interview on BBC Radio 3 on 20 April 2007.
Kennedy has acknowledged regularly smoking cannabis
in order to aid his creativity.
's campaign when he quit his shadow home secretary post to force a by election in protest over proposals to allow terrorist suspects to be locked up for 42 days without charge.
The musician is a vocal opponent of Israel
's policies in the West Bank
, and, in the summer of 2007, he told a Ha'aretz reporter:
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist and violist
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
. He made his early career in the classical field, and he has performed and recorded most of the major violin concerti
Violin concerto
A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin and instrumental ensemble, customarily orchestra. Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day...
. He later included jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
and other genres in his repertoire.
Musical lineage
Nigel Kennedy's grandfather was Lauri KennedyLauri Kennedy
-Biography:Irvine Robert Laurie Kennedy was born in Randwick, a suburb of Sydney, to an English-born father and native-born mother. He studied with Herbert Walenn at the Royal College of Music, London, and Paul Brummer in Vienna. Dame Nellie Melba noticed him and encouraged him to undertake...
, a British-born musician and principal cellist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
, who played with Fritz Kreisler
Fritz Kreisler
Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately...
, Jascha Heifetz
Jascha Heifetz
Jascha Heifetz was a violinist, born in Vilnius, then Russian Empire, now Lithuania. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time.- Early life :...
, Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein KBE was a Polish-American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers...
and others. His grandmother was Dorothy Kennedy, a pianist, who accompanied John McCormack and taught Enrico Caruso's children. Lauri and Dorothy settled in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, where their son, the cellist John Kennedy
John Kennedy (cellist)
John Kennedy was a noted British cellist who had significant associations with Australia, where he worked in the latter part of his life and where he died. He was the natural father of the violinist Nigel Kennedy....
, was born. At the age of 24, John moved to England and joined the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, later becoming the principal cellist of Sir Thomas Beecham
Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras...
's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
. While in England, John developed a relationship with an English pianist, Scylla Stoner, with whom he eventually toured in 1952 as part of the Llewellyn-Kennedy Piano Trio (with the violinist Ernest Llewellyn
Ernest Llewellyn
Ernest Victor Llewellyn CBE was an Australian violinist, concertmaster, violist, conductor and musical administrator. He was the founding director of the Canberra School of Music and he is commemorated in the concert venue there, Llewellyn Hall.-Early career:Ernest Llewellyn was born in Kurri...
; Stoner was billed as "Scylla Kennedy" although she and John never married). However, John ultimately left Stoner and returned to Australia, unaware she was pregnant by him. John remained unaware of the existence of his son, Nigel Kennedy, until they met for the first time when Nigel was 11. Nigel Kennedy has about 30 close relatives in Australia, whom he visits whenever he tours there.
Early life
Nigel Kennedy was born in BrightonBrighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
. A boy prodigy, as a 10-year-old he would pick out Fats Waller
Fats Waller
Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...
tunes on the piano after hearing his stepfather's jazz records. He was a pupil at the Yehudi Menuhin School
Yehudi Menuhin School
The Yehudi Menuhin School is a specialist music school in Surrey, England. It was founded in 1963 by the violinist Yehudi Menuhin.The School also gives pupils the best musical education any specialist schools can with a number of internationally main teachers, Simon Fischer , Natalya Boyarskaya ,...
of Music, and later studied at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with Dorothy DeLay
Dorothy DeLay
Dorothy DeLay was an American violin instructor, primarily at the Juilliard School.She was born in Medicine Lodge, Kansas.-Career and education:...
.
Career
At the age of 16, Kennedy was invited by Stéphane GrappelliStéphane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli was a French jazz violinist who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands....
to appear with him at New York's Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, under the threat from his teachers at the Juilliard that it would ruin his classical career. He made his recording debut in 1984 with Elgar's
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
Violin Concerto
Violin Concerto (Elgar)
Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61, is one of his longest orchestral compositions, and the last of his works to gain immediate popular success....
. Kennedy's recording of Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
's The Four Seasons
The Four Seasons (Vivaldi)
The Four Seasons is a set of four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. Composed in 1723, The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music. The texture of each concerto is varied, each resembling its respective season...
with the English Chamber Orchestra
English Chamber Orchestra
The English Chamber Orchestra is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and the ECO Ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall...
in 1989 sold over 2 million copies and earned a place as one of the best-selling classical works ever. The album remained top of the UK classical charts for over a year with sales equivalent to one copy sold every 30 seconds.
He gave numerous performances for The Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by Charles, Prince of Wales to help young people. They run a range of training programmes, provide mentoring support and offer financial grants to build the confidence and motivation of disadvantaged young people...
, the Royal Variety Performance
Royal Variety Performance
The Royal Variety Performance is a gala evening held annually in the United Kingdom, which is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family, usually the reigning monarch. In more recent years Queen Elizabeth II and The Prince of Wales have alternately attended the performance...
and private performances at St. James's Palace
St. James's Palace
St. James's Palace is one of London's oldest palaces. It is situated in Pall Mall, just north of St. James's Park. Although no sovereign has resided there for almost two centuries, it has remained the official residence of the Sovereign and the most senior royal palace in the UK...
and Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
. He released his biography Always Playing in 1991. He then took the controversial and highly publicised decision to withdraw completely from public performance, at which point he made the album Music In Color with Stephen Duffy
Stephen Duffy
Stephen Anthony James Duffy is an English singer/songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He was a founding member and vocalist/bassist of Duran Duran. He went on to record as a solo performer under several different names, and is the singer and songwriter for The Lilac Time with his older brother...
. He made a triumphant return to the international concert platform to critical acclaim five years later. In 1997, Kennedy received an award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music at the BRIT Awards
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
, and in 2001 received the 'Male Artist of the Year' award.
Kennedy recorded a cover of Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
's "Fire" for the 1993 album Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix
Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix
Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix is a 1993 album recorded by various artists in tribute to Jimi Hendrix. The artists were drawn from many genres of popular music. Contributors include his classic rock contemporaries Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, blues man Buddy Guy, classical violinist Nigel...
. In 1999 Sony Classical released The Kennedy Experience
The Kennedy Experience
The Kennedy Experience is a music group and eponymous album conceived and produced by violinist Nigel Kennedy. The album is largely derived from the music of rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix.-Track listing:# Third Stone From the Sun – 14:02...
, which featured improvisational recordings
Musical improvisation
Musical improvisation is the creative activity of immediate musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians...
of Hendrix compositions
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
. According to a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
interview with Kennedy, the violinist stated that the recording is "an album of music inspired by Jimi Hendrix. It is an extended instrumental work in six movements
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
, each movement a classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
interpretation of a Hendrix song". On the recording, Kennedy is accompanied by seven other musicians, and the lineup includes two cellos, an oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
, two guitars, a Dobro
Dobro
Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, and double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
. With cellist Lynn Harrell
Lynn Harrell
Lynn Harrell is an American classical cellist.-Biography:Harrell was born in New York City of musician parents; his father was the baritone Mack Harrell and his mother, Marjorie Fulton, was a violinist. At the age of eight he decided to learn to play the cello. When Lynn was 12, his family moved...
, he has recorded an album of duets.
In 2000, he has recorded Riders on the Storm: The Doors Concerto (with Jaz Coleman
Jaz Coleman
Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman is a musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is notable for his vocal contributions to rock band Killing Joke...
), a violin based orchestral version of many Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
songs, including "Strange Days
Strange Days (The Doors song)
"Strange Days" is a song by The Doors. It was released in 1967 and is the first track on the album of the same name. According to a review at Allmusic by Tom Maginnis, the song seems to find lead singer Jim Morrison "pondering the state of the then emerging hippie youth culture and how they are...
", "LA Woman", "The End
The End (The Doors song)
"The End" is a song by The Doors. Originally written by Jim Morrison as a song about breaking up with girlfriend Mary Werbelow, it evolved through months of performances at Los Angeles' Whisky a Go Go into a nearly 12-minute opus on their self-titled album. The band would perform the song to close...
", and "Riders On The Storm
Riders on the Storm
"Riders on the Storm" is a song by The Doors from their 1971 album, L.A. Woman. It reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, number 22 on the UK singles charts and number 7 in the Netherlands.-Overview:...
". And, on the 27th of November, Kennedy joined rock group The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
to play the violin solo on the song "Baba O'Riley
Baba O'Riley
"Baba O'Riley" is a song written by Pete Townshend for the English rock band The Who. Roger Daltrey sings most of the song, with Pete Townshend singing the middle eight: "Don't cry/don't raise your eye/it's only teenaged wasteland"...
", released three years later on the album Live at the Royal Albert Hall
Live at the Royal Albert Hall (The Who album)
Live at the Royal Albert Hall is a three-CD live album set by The Who, released in 2003.Discs one and two were recorded on 27 November 2000 and consist of John Entwistle, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, Zak Starkey, and John "Rabbit" Bundrick performing a concert at the Royal Albert Hall for the...
. Kennedy has played on several tracks by British singer/songwriter Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
, who was a guest on Kennedy's episode of This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life (UK TV series)
This Is Your Life is a British biographical television documentary, based on the 1952 American show of the same name. It was hosted by Eamonn Andrews from 1955 until 1964, and then from 1969 until his death in 1987 aged 64...
. He was featured on two of Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register...
's songs for her 2003 album Harem
Harem (album)
Harem is a 2003 album by English singer Sarah Brightman. It mixes her operatic voice with Middle-Eastern and Indian rhythms and vocals. Thanks to an idea of Frank Peterson, the producer of this album, in the song "Mysterious Days", they included the vocals of the late singer Ofra Haza, who worked...
.
He has been exploring Klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
music with the Polish jazz band Kroke
Kroke
KROKE – A Kraków instrumental ensemble of the world music genre. The band's name in Yiddish means Kraków.The band was founded in 1992 by three friends and graduates of the Academy of Music in Kraków. Initially, they were associated with klezmer music with strong Balkan influences...
. The band consists of musicians "who have been knocking around with Kennedy for five years. ... [Kennedy explains], 'I met them all separately at jam sessions in the jazz club near where I live in Cracow
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, ... I thought: that’s the drummer I want, that’s the bass player, and so on. They’ve all got their own projects.'"
In late 2005, Kennedy went to New York to record his first album for the jazz label Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
. Other musicians on the album were Ron Carter
Ron Carter
Ron Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
on double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. He is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, due to extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians like Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Sonny...
on drums; and saxophonist Joe Lovano
Joe Lovano
Joseph Salvatore "Joe" Lovano is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls...
. Kennedy has since stated that "from now on, at least 50 per cent of my endeavour is going to be in the jazz field".
Kennedy appointed a new manager, Terri Robson, and returned to the Proms after an absence of 21 years, performing Elgar's
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
Violin Concerto
Violin Concerto (Elgar)
Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61, is one of his longest orchestral compositions, and the last of his works to gain immediate popular success....
and a late-night Prom with the Nigel Kennedy Quintet.
He also plays the viola, and has recorded Sir William Walton
William Walton
Sir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
's Viola Concerto
Viola Concerto (Walton)
The Viola Concerto by William Walton was written in 1929 for the violist Lionel Tertis at the suggestion of Sir Thomas Beecham. The concerto carries the dedication "To Christabel" ....
.
Image
Kennedy's persona is seen by some as abrasive and limiting to his career, citing as an example his use of a 'MockneyMockney
Mockney is an affected accent and form of speech in imitation of Cockney or working class London speech, or a person with such an accent...
' accent instead of the Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation , also called the Queen's English, Oxford English or BBC English, is the accent of Standard English in England, with a relationship to regional accents similar to the relationship in other European languages between their standard varieties and their regional forms...
he had when he was interviewed as a child in 1964 on the BBC's Town and Around.
Kennedy was attacked for his approach to classical music by John Drummond
John Drummond (arts administrator)
Sir John Richard Gray Drummond CBE was an English arts administrator who spent most of his career at the BBC. He was the son of a master mariner in the British India line and an Australian lieder singer....
in 1991, who called him "a Liberace
Liberace
Wladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...
for the Nineties" and criticised his "ludicrous clothes and grotesque, self-invented accent."
Until 2006 he had expressed his intention of not appearing on the classical London concert scene with a London orchestra, seen by some as arrogance and stated by Kennedy in terms of frustrated perfectionism: "It all comes down to the amount of rehearsal you get, or don't get, in this country. I insist on three or four sessions prior to a concert, and orchestral administrators won't accommodate that. If I didn't care about getting it right I could do three concerts in the same amount of time and earn three times the money. But you can't do something properly in less time than it takes."
Kennedy expresses a preference for the immediate appeal of live performance, and often records entire works or movements in single 'takes' to preserve this sense in his recordings. He also introduces improvisatory elements in his performances, as in his Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
-inspired cadenza
Cadenza
In music, a cadenza is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing for virtuosic display....
to the Beethoven Violin Concerto
Violin Concerto (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, was written in 1806.The work was premiered on 23 December 1806 in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. Beethoven wrote the concerto for his colleague Franz Clement, a leading violinist of the day, who had earlier given him helpful advice on...
and his jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and fusion recordings.
Personal life
When not touring, Kennedy divides his time between residences in Malvern, WorcestershireMalvern, Worcestershire
Malvern is a town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, governed by Malvern Town Council. As of the 2001 census it has a population of 28,749, and includes the historical settlement and commercial centre of Great Malvern on the steep eastern flank of the Malvern Hills, and the former...
(where his ex-partner and son Sark live); and London and Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
where he lives with his Polish second wife, Agnieszka.
In the late 80s, Kennedy was romantically involved with singer/guitarist Brix Smith
Brix Smith
Brix Smith-Start is an American singer, guitarist and television presenter, best known for being a member of post-punk band The Fall, and as lead singer and songwriter with The Adult Net.-Biography:Brix grew up in Los Angeles and Chicago...
.
Kennedy is a well-known Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
supporter. At Przystanek Woodstock
Przystanek Woodstock
Przystanek Woodstock is an annual free rock music festival in Poland, inspired by and named for the Woodstock Festival, that has taken place since 1995...
2010, he had his orchestra wear Aston Villa shirts, while directing the crown in the team's chants
Football chant
A football chant or terrace chant, is a song or chant sung at association football matches. They can be historic, dating back to the formation of the club, adaptations of popular songs, or spontaneous reactions to events on the pitch. They are one of the last remaining sources of an oral folk song...
. Whilst living and recording in Poland he also took an active interest in Cracovia, in whose 100th anniversary club replica kit he appeared.
On 24 October 2006, Kennedy broke his arm in a cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
accident, confirmed in an interview on BBC Radio 3 on 20 April 2007.
Kennedy has acknowledged regularly smoking cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
in order to aid his creativity.
Politics
Kennedy is a socialist. He supported David DavisDavid Davis (British politician)
David Michael Davis is a British Conservative Party politician who is the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Haltemprice and Howden...
's campaign when he quit his shadow home secretary post to force a by election in protest over proposals to allow terrorist suspects to be locked up for 42 days without charge.
The musician is a vocal opponent of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's policies in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, and, in the summer of 2007, he told a Ha'aretz reporter:
"I was shocked to see these walls, it's a new apartheid, barbaric behaviour: How can you impose such a collective punishment and separate people? After all, we are all living on the same planet. It seems to me the world should have already learned from what happened in South Africa. And a country that hasn't learned should be boycotted, so that's why I don't perform in your country."
Discography
| Year | Album | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | The Very Best of Nigel Kennedy (EMI) | with various artists |
| 2008 | A Very Nice Album (EMI) | Nigel Kennedy Quintet (Nigel Kennedy, electric violin; Adam Kowalewski, bass; Paweł Dobrowolski, drums; Tomasz Grzegorski, tenor sax; Piotr Wyleżoł, piano) with vocals by Xantoné Blacq & Chris Lung; Sylwia Wójcik, cello; Suzy Willison-Kawalec, harp; |
| Beethoven: Violin Concerto / Mozart: Violin Concerto No.4 / Horace Silver Horace Silver Horace Silver , born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer.... : Creepin In (EMI) |
Polish Chamber Orchestra | |
| 2007 | Polish Spirit (EMI) | Polish Chamber Orchestra, Jacek Kaspszyk |
| The Platinum Collection (EMI) | with various artists | |
| 2006 | The Bluenote Sessions (EMI) | |
| Kennedy, Live at La Citadelle (DVD) (EMI) | Polish Chamber Orchestra | |
| Inner Thoughts (EMI) | ||
| Nigel Kennedy Plays Bach (DVD) (EMI) | Irish Chamber Orchestra Irish Chamber Orchestra The Irish Chamber Orchestra is a Irish classical music ensemble, administratively based at the University of Limerick. The ICO primarily gives concerts at the University Concert Hall, Limerick and at the RDS Concert Hall, Dublin... |
|
| 2005 | Legend: Beethoven and Bruch (CD+DVD) (EMI) | NDR Symphony Orchestra, Klaus Tennstedt Klaus Tennstedt Klaus Tennstedt was a German conductor from Merseburg; he conducted such orchestras as the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Kiel Opera in Northern Germany; North German Radio Orchestra, in Hamburg; the Minnesota Orchestra; and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.-Life and career:He studied violin and... / English Chamber Orchestra English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and the ECO Ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall... , Jeffrey Tate Jeffrey Tate Dr Jeffrey Tate CBE is an English conductor.Tate was born with spina bifida, and also has kyphosis. His family moved to Farnham, Surrey when he was young and he attended Farnham Grammar School between 1954 and 1961 gaining a State Scholarship to Cambridge University, where he directed theatre... |
| 2004 | Vivaldi II (EMI) | Berliner Philharmoniker |
| 2003 | East Meets East East Meets East East Meets East is a collaborative studio album released through EMI Classics in 2003 by violinist Nigel Kennedy and the Kroke band , surrounded by several guest artists of international reputation such as Natacha Atlas, Mo Foster, and the Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra.The album revisits some... (EMI) |
with Kroke Kroke KROKE – A Kraków instrumental ensemble of the world music genre. The band's name in Yiddish means Kraków.The band was founded in 1992 by three friends and graduates of the Academy of Music in Kraków. Initially, they were associated with klezmer music with strong Balkan influences... |
| Vivaldi | Berliner Philharmoniker | |
| 2002 | Greatest Hits (EMI) | with various artists |
| 2000 | Kennedy Plays Bach (EMI) | (as Kennedy) |
| Riders on the Storm: The Doors Concerto (Decca) | as Kennedy with Jaz Coleman Jaz Coleman Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman is a musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is notable for his vocal contributions to rock band Killing Joke... |
|
| Duos for Violin & Cello (EMI) | as Kennedy with Lynn Harrell Lynn Harrell Lynn Harrell is an American classical cellist.-Biography:Harrell was born in New York City of musician parents; his father was the baritone Mack Harrell and his mother, Marjorie Fulton, was a violinist. At the age of eight he decided to learn to play the cello. When Lynn was 12, his family moved... |
|
| 1999 | Classic Kennedy (EMI) | (as Kennedy) |
| 1999 | The Kennedy Experience (Sony) | (as Kennedy) |
| 1998 | Kreisler (EMI) | (as Kennedy) |
| 1997 | Elgar: Violin Concerto / Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending (EMI) | (as Kennedy), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. The Orchestra's current chief executive, appointed in 1999, is Stephen Maddock... , Sir Simon Rattle Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE is an English conductor. He rose to international prominence as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and since 2002 has been principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic .... |
| 1996 | Kafka (EMI) | |
| 1993 | Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto (EMI) | London Philharmonic Orchestra London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera... , Okko Kamu Okko Kamu Okko Kamu is a Finnish orchestral conductor.Kamu was born into a family of musicians. His father played double bass in the Helsinki Philharmonic. He began violin studies at age two and entered the Sibelius Academy at age six. He formed his own string quartet, the Suhonen, in 1964 where he played... |
| 1992 | Beethoven: Violin Concerto | NDR Symphony Orchestra, Klaus Tennstedt Klaus Tennstedt Klaus Tennstedt was a German conductor from Merseburg; he conducted such orchestras as the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Kiel Opera in Northern Germany; North German Radio Orchestra, in Hamburg; the Minnesota Orchestra; and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.-Life and career:He studied violin and... |
| Just Listen: Sibelius: Violin Concerto / Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto (EMI) | City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. The Orchestra's current chief executive, appointed in 1999, is Stephen Maddock... , Sir Simon Rattle Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE is an English conductor. He rose to international prominence as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and since 2002 has been principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic .... / London Philharmonic Orchestra London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera... , Okko Kamu Okko Kamu Okko Kamu is a Finnish orchestral conductor.Kamu was born into a family of musicians. His father played double bass in the Helsinki Philharmonic. He began violin studies at age two and entered the Sibelius Academy at age six. He formed his own string quartet, the Suhonen, in 1964 where he played... |
|
| 1991 | Brahms: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 77 (EMI) | London Philharmonic Orchestra London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera... , Klaus Tennstedt Klaus Tennstedt Klaus Tennstedt was a German conductor from Merseburg; he conducted such orchestras as the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Kiel Opera in Northern Germany; North German Radio Orchestra, in Hamburg; the Minnesota Orchestra; and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.-Life and career:He studied violin and... |
| 1989 | Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (EMI) | English Chamber Orchestra English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and the ECO Ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall... |
| 1988 | Sibelius: Violin Concerto (EMI) | City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. The Orchestra's current chief executive, appointed in 1999, is Stephen Maddock... , Sir Simon Rattle Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE is an English conductor. He rose to international prominence as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and since 2002 has been principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic .... |
| Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor / Bruch: Violin Concerto No.1 / Schubert: Rondo in A (EMI) | English Chamber Orchestra English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and the ECO Ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall... , Jeffrey Tate Jeffrey Tate Dr Jeffrey Tate CBE is an English conductor.Tate was born with spina bifida, and also has kyphosis. His family moved to Farnham, Surrey when he was young and he attended Farnham Grammar School between 1954 and 1961 gaining a State Scholarship to Cambridge University, where he directed theatre... |
|
| 1987 | Let Loose | |
| Walton: Violin Concerto / Viola Concerto (EMI) | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"... , André Previn André Previn André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in... |
|
| 1986 | Bartók: Mainly Black / Ellington: Sonata for Solo Violin (EMI) | with Alec Dankworth Alec Dankworth Alec Dankworth is an English jazz bassist and composer.Dankworth was born in London, the son of John Dankworth and Cleo Laine. He grew up in the villages of Aspley Guise and Wavendon, living at the Old Rectory, Wavendon, where his parents established the Wavendon All-Music Plan which includes the... (double bass) |
| Tchaikovsky; Violin Concerto / Chausson: Poeme (EMI) | London Philharmonic Orchestra London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera... , Okko Kamu Okko Kamu Okko Kamu is a Finnish orchestral conductor.Kamu was born into a family of musicians. His father played double bass in the Helsinki Philharmonic. He began violin studies at age two and entered the Sibelius Academy at age six. He formed his own string quartet, the Suhonen, in 1964 where he played... |
|
| 1984 | Elgar: Violin Concerto in B minor, Op.61 (EMI) | London Philharmonic Orchestra London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera... , Vernon Handley Vernon Handley Vernon George "Tod" Handley CBE was a British conductor, known in particular for his support of British composers. He was born of a Welsh father and an Irish mother into a musical family in Enfield, London. He acquired the nickname "Tod" because his feet were turned in at his birth, which his... |
| Salut d'Amour & Other Elgar Favourites (Chandos) | ||
| Nigel Kennedy Plays Jazz (Chandos) |
Instruments
Nigel Kennedy has owned or used violins by:- GuarneriGuarneriThe Guarneri is the family name of a group of distinguished luthiers from Cremona in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, whose standing is considered comparable to those of the Amati and Stradivari families...
del Gesu, 'La Fonte' c.1735; - Stradivari, 'La Cathédrale' 1707;
- Scott CaoScott CaoScott Cao is a violin maker , who is originally from China but now works in Campbell, California, USA.-Biography:In the mid-1970s, amidst Mao's cultural revolution, Cao was a farm worker. A violin-making teacher who visited the area offered him the opportunity of an apprenticeship...
; - Torbjörn Zethelius, 1991
- Anselmo Bellosio, 1792 viola
- Johannes FinkelJohannes FinkelJohannes Finkel is a Swiss maker of bows of violins, violas, cellos, and basses.The Finkel workshop is located in Brienz, Switzerland. Finkel is a fourth generation bow maker. His great-grandfather Ewald Weidhaas was a craftsman from the workshop of famous bow maker Victor Fetique...
bow - ViolectraViolectraViolectra is the trade name of an electric violin produced by Barcus-Berry with the pitch equivalent of an acoustic tenor violin, sometimes called baritone violin. It is tuned an octave below normal violin; i.e. between viola and cello. It was developed in USA by Barcus-Berry in the early 1960s but...
electric violin
External links
- Kennedy's discography at EMI ClassicsEMI ClassicsEMI Classics is a record label of EMI, formed in 1990 in order to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogs for internationally distributed classical music releases....
- The Kennedy Experience at Sony ClassicalSony Classical RecordsSony Classical Records was started in 1927 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of the American Columbia Records. In 1948, it issued the first commercially successful long-playing 12" record...
- Television Interview with Nigel Kennedy from C Music TV