Rodney Kendrick
Encyclopedia
Rodney Kendrick is an American
jazz
pianist
, bandleader
, composer
, and producer
. He has been described as a "hard swinging player and composer with a delightful Monk
ish wit and drive."
, but raised in Miami, Florida
, where his parents moved soon after his birth. Kendrick grew up in a musical, and Pentecostal church-going family. His father James “Jimmy Kay” Kendrick, a pianist who worked with saxophonist Illinois Jacquet
for seven years, played with saxophonist Sonny Stitt
and Sam Rivers
, and his mother gospel singer named Juet. The time Rodney was eighteen, he had already turned professional, touring and playing keyboards with R&B
and funk
acts, traveled the world with Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
, James Brown
and George Clinton
. At twenty-one, he delved more deeply into jazz, moving to New York
in 1981, began a career where he worked steadily, supporting Freddie Hubbard
, Terence Blanchard
, Stanley Turrentine
, Clark Terry
, J. J. Johnson, and others. He studied with pianist Barry Harris
, who remained his teacher and mentor for over 20 years. Kendrick cites Randy Weston
and Sun Ra
as influences. In the early 1990s he served as Abbey Lincoln
’s musical leader for seven years.
In 1994, Kendrick secured a deal with Verve Records
, who issued his debut, The Secrets of Rodney Kendrick, and a year later the follow-up, Dance World Dance (1995), recording showcases Kendrick's arranging skills as well as his compositions. Both these albums features a range of musicians, from the smooth soul jazz saxophonist Houston Person
to post-bop cornetist Graham Haynes
, and alto-saxophonist Arthur Blythe
, and South African tenorist Bheki Mseleku
among its guests.
Kendrick married Diana Ross
's oldest daughter Rhonda
in 1996. His next album We Don't Die, We Multiply (1997), mainly Kendrick's compositions, is a fine album, one composition "Led Astray" is from his wife Rhonda, and on saxophone Dewey Redman
, and several others — is inventive and invigorating, making the album well worth a listen.
Rodney has produced several albums, including a solo piece titled Thank You (2002), a duo-piano piece with his mentor Randy Weston
, an album with his wife titled Rhonda Ross Live: Featuring Rodney Kendrick (2002), as well as a project with his father, Jimmy Kay, entitled Black is Back (2006).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, and producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. He has been described as a "hard swinging player and composer with a delightful Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
ish wit and drive."
Biography
Rodney Kendrick was born in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, but raised in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, where his parents moved soon after his birth. Kendrick grew up in a musical, and Pentecostal church-going family. His father James “Jimmy Kay” Kendrick, a pianist who worked with saxophonist Illinois Jacquet
Illinois Jacquet
Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo....
for seven years, played with saxophonist Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt
Edward "Sonny" Stitt was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. He was also one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums in his lifetime...
and Sam Rivers
Sam Rivers
Samuel Carthorne Rivers , is an American jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, harmonica and piano....
, and his mother gospel singer named Juet. The time Rodney was eighteen, he had already turned professional, touring and playing keyboards with R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
acts, traveled the world with Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American singing group, one of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. The group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco...
, James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
and George Clinton
George Clinton (funk musician)
George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...
. At twenty-one, he delved more deeply into jazz, moving to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1981, began a career where he worked steadily, supporting Freddie Hubbard
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
, Terence Blanchard
Terence Blanchard
Terence Oliver Blanchard is an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, arranger, and film score composer. Since he emerged on the scene in 1980 with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and then shortly thereafter with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Blanchard has been a leading artist in jazz...
, Stanley Turrentine
Stanley Turrentine
Stanley William Turrentine, also known as "Mr. T" or "The Sugar Man", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.-Biography:Turrentine was born in Pittsburgh's Hill District into a musical family...
, Clark Terry
Clark Terry
Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
, J. J. Johnson, and others. He studied with pianist Barry Harris
Barry Harris
Barry Doyle Harris is an American bebop jazz pianist and educator.-Biography:Harris left Detroit for New York City in 1960...
, who remained his teacher and mentor for over 20 years. Kendrick cites Randy Weston
Randy Weston
Randy Weston , is an American jazz pianist and composer, of Jamaican parentage.-Biography:Weston studied classical piano as a child. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he ran a restaurant that was frequented by many of the leading bebop musicians...
and Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
as influences. In the early 1990s he served as Abbey Lincoln
Abbey Lincoln
Anna Marie Wooldridge , better known by her stage name Abbey Lincoln, was a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. Lincoln was unusual in that she wrote and performed her own compositions, expanding the expectations of jazz audiences.-Biography:Born in Chicago, Illinois, she was one of many...
’s musical leader for seven years.
In 1994, Kendrick secured a deal with Verve Records
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
, who issued his debut, The Secrets of Rodney Kendrick, and a year later the follow-up, Dance World Dance (1995), recording showcases Kendrick's arranging skills as well as his compositions. Both these albums features a range of musicians, from the smooth soul jazz saxophonist Houston Person
Houston Person
Houston Person is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and record producer. Although he has performed in the hard bop and swing genres, he is most experienced in and best known for his work in soul jazz. Person is also known for his distinctive sassy sound and his expressive style of playing...
to post-bop cornetist Graham Haynes
Graham Haynes
Graham Haynes is an American cornetist, trumpeter and composer, the son of jazz drummer Roy Haynes....
, and alto-saxophonist Arthur Blythe
Arthur Blythe
Arthur Blythe is an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. His stylistic voice has a distinct vibrato and he plays within the post-bop subgenre of jazz.- Biography :...
, and South African tenorist Bheki Mseleku
Bheki Mseleku
Bhekumuzi Hyacinth Mseleku, generally known as Bheki Mseleku was a jazz musician from South Africa. He was a pianist, saxophonist, guitarist, composer and arranger who was entirely self taught....
among its guests.
Kendrick married Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
's oldest daughter Rhonda
Rhonda Ross Kendrick
Rhonda Ross Kendrick is an American actress. Her mother is singer and actress Diana Ross, and her biological father is Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. At the time of her birth, Ross was married to her first husband, Robert Ellis Silberstein...
in 1996. His next album We Don't Die, We Multiply (1997), mainly Kendrick's compositions, is a fine album, one composition "Led Astray" is from his wife Rhonda, and on saxophone Dewey Redman
Dewey Redman
Dewey Redman was an American jazz saxophonist, known for performing free jazz as a bandleader, and with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett....
, and several others — is inventive and invigorating, making the album well worth a listen.
Rodney has produced several albums, including a solo piece titled Thank You (2002), a duo-piano piece with his mentor Randy Weston
Randy Weston
Randy Weston , is an American jazz pianist and composer, of Jamaican parentage.-Biography:Weston studied classical piano as a child. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he ran a restaurant that was frequented by many of the leading bebop musicians...
, an album with his wife titled Rhonda Ross Live: Featuring Rodney Kendrick (2002), as well as a project with his father, Jimmy Kay, entitled Black is Back (2006).
Selective discography
| Year | Title | Genre | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The Secrets of Rodney Kendrick | Jazz | Verve |
| 1995 | Dance, World, Dance | Jazz | Verve |
| 1996 | Last Chance for Common Sense | Jazz | Polygram |
| 1997 | Bop w/Frank Morgan & The Rodney Kendrick Trio | Jazz | Telarc |
| 1997 | We Don't Die, We Multiply | Jazz | Polygram |
| 1998 | No Dress Code | Jazz | Polydor (France) |
| 2004 | Thank You | Jazz | Rodney Kendrick |
External links
- Jazz Duo-Piano Series with Randy Weston and Rodney Kendrick
- Miami New Times: James L. "Jimmy Kay" Kendrick (Published: July 12, 2007)