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David Kikoski

At a time when jazz has been to the reaches of the musical universe and back, some would say that it's all been played before and we're currently at a point in the cyclical nature of this artform when those lesser talents are merely rewriting the past. This is why innovation and individualism are so rare these days and why David Kikoski stands apart from the scores of pianists/keyboardists as well as composers.

Born in 1961 in Milltown,N.J. ,Dave was part of a musical family and given his first piano lessons at the age of six by his father.In his early teens he began working with jazz and rock groups and won "The New Jersey Allstate Jazz Competition". After high school, Kikoski would head to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston where he earned a bachelor's degree in piano. While in Boston he had a steady trio gig and met Pat Matheny who sat in with Dave's trio. Later( in 1994) they would meet up again and record together on Roy Haynes' cd "Te-Vou" which also featured Christian McBride and Donald Harrison.

In 1984 , the pianist decided to try his hand in New York where it didn't take long for him to establish himself. Roy Haynes would be the first to give Kikoski a break, leading to a productive association that lasts to this day. Dave's first professional recording session in 1986 was Randy Brecker's "In the Idiom" and featured him in great company with Joe Henderson,Ron Carter, and Al Foster. During his first few years on the New York scene the pianist networked with other musicians leading to a wealth or recording opportunities and touring the world with Roy Haynes, Randy Brecker, Bob Berg ,Red Rodney and many others.

In 1989 Dave recorded his first record as a leader. "Presage" featured a high-octane trio with Eddie Gomez and Al Foster. His second outing "Persistant Dreams" was produced by Walter Becker of Steely Dan fame featured a larger ensemble including Randy Brecker and Billy Hart.

During the 90s Dave kept busy recording and touring as a leader as well as a sideman with an enviable cast of jazz luminaries including John Scofield, Ravi Coltrane,Chris Potter, Dave Holland, Mike Stern, Chick Corea, Bill Stewart,Toots Thielemans, Tom Harrell, Gary Thomas, Marcus Miller, Michael Brecker, Pat Martino , Jack Dejohnette,Toninho Horta and many others.

In 1994, a contract with the short lived Sony Epicure label produced the self titled "Dave Kikoski", atrio set that found the pianist in the company of bassist Essiet Essiet and Al Foster. Since !997, Kikoski has had a chance to further document his artistic growth in a series of releases for the Dutch" Criss Cross" label. The 1998 release "The Maze " featured Jeff "Tain" Watts ,Seamus Blake and Scott Colley. "A technical and compositional tour tour de force,this album is one of the undicovered gems of the 1990s," accoring to writer David R. Adler.His release "Almost Twilight " was recorded after a week of trio gigs at "Sweet Basil" with John Patitucci and Jeff "Tain Watts.

In 2001 Roy Haynes invited Dave to join his all-star lineup including Dave Holland,Roy Hardgrove, and Kenny Garrett to record and tour.The band "Birds of a Feather" toured extensively with Christian McBride and Nicholas Payton and the cd received a grammy nomination. Another project produced and arranged by David and percussionist Brian Melvin entitled "Beatlejazz" has released 4 cds so far. They have toured in Korea, Japan ,Europe as well as the United States and all 4 cds have reached the top ten on the Gavin radio charts. Some special guests with Beatlejazz included Michael & Randy Brecker, Joe Lavano, John Scofield, Mike Stern, Larry Grenadier and others.

In 2002 David toured with his own Quintet in Japan and Russia and recorded two cds for the DIW label as well as touring with "The Brecker Brothers Acoustic Band". The next few years have been very busy with many different projects such as the Randy Brecker/ Bill Evans Soul Bop Band playing summer festivals in Europe resulting in a live cd. In 2009 Dave played in Europe with Roy Haynes Quartet and in trio With Roy and John Patitucci . 2011 started out with performances at the "Jazz Standard" with Jeff "Tain"Watts performing music from Jeff's upcoming cd. In January Dave Performed on "the Jazz Cruize" with The Randy Brecker Band.

Dave's newest CrissCross release is a collective band called Opus Five featuring new originals by bandmates Seamus Blake, Donald Edwards, Alex Sipiagen and Boris Kozlov. Kikoski played on the Mingus Big Band cd "Live at the Jazz Standard" It won the 2011 Grammy Award , Best Large Jazz Ensemble. He has played on over 100 cds including 14 under his name.

David Kikoski continues to foster his individualistic voice while exploring a wide variety of opportunities both as a leader and sideman.He especially wants to emphasize his compositions, further develop opportunities to perform with his own groups, and write for films. An affecting modernist, Kikoski distills the best in jazz and popular music and infuses every song with attention-getting brilliance.
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Gianmarco Ferri: On The Scene

Read "On The Scene" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
May 23, 2024

It is an interesting idea to pair a young, gifted guitarist just starting their career with a well-known jazz pianist. The guitarist in question is Italian Gianmarco Ferri. Following auditions, he won consecutive scholarships to attend Berklee College of Music, where he graduated with honours in 2022. Pianist David Kikoski is another graduate of Berklee. He is a Grammy Award winner and has played with the Mingus Big Band, Roy Haynes, Randy Brecker, Billy Hart and many other prominent musicians. ...

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Richard Baratta: Off The Charts

Read "Off The Charts" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
October 18, 2023

Drummer Richard Baratta's third album, Off the Charts, is a play on words, as he and his bandmates have taken lesser- known themes from a number of jazz masters that flew under the radar--in other words, were “off the charts"--and given them a fresh coat of paint, so to speak, to help redeem them from what Baratta considers an undeserved obscurity. The composers in question are Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Farrell, McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, Charles ...

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Richard Baratta: Off The Charts

Read "Off The Charts" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
September 19, 2023

The premise for Richard Baratta's Off The Charts is to give new life to some of the lesser-known works by boldface composers such as Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson and Chick Corea, among others. Assisting in this voyage of rediscovery are several top-notch jazz luminaries such as tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi, pianist David Kikoski, bassist John Patitucci and percussionist Paul Rossman. All of the arrangements are by Baratta, save one, and that is the opening Hutcherson number “Herzog," which ...

Album Review

Richard Baratta: Off The Charts

Read "Off The Charts" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
September 18, 2023

After more than three decades as a Hollywood film producer, drummer Richard Baratta seemed ideally placed to bring together the worlds of film and jazz, releasing two albums focusing on songs from the movies. The first of these, Music In Film: The Reel Deal (Savant Records, 2020) gained a Grammy nomination for pianist Bill O'Connell's arrangement of the Euphemia Allen composition, “Chopsticks." Baratta followed this up with Music in Film: The Sequel. His third album, Off The Charts, changes focus ...

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Alexander Claffy: Music From Big Orange

Read "Music From Big Orange" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
August 31, 2023

Alexander Claffy has released an impressive album entitled “Music From Big Orange" which showcases his skills as a bassist and composer, and captures the essence of contemporary jazz while paying homage to the rich traditions of the genre. Switching seamlessly from acoustic bass to electric, depending on the sonic flow of any given tune, it is clear that Claffy's bass playing is the foundation upon which the entire album is built. On this orange-coloured vinyl LP, ...

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Wayne Escoffery: Like Minds

by Dave Linn
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Wayne Escoffery was born in London and raised in New Haven, Connecticut. He began playing the saxophone at the age of 11, later studying at the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. In the late 1990s, Escoffery started gaining recognition on the jazz scene with his tenure in the Eric Reed Septet and later joining the Mingus Big Band. After completing his studies, Escoffery moved to New ...

Liner Notes

David Kikoski: Surf's Up

by C. Andrew Hovan
June 17, 2023

It seems that the show tunes of the '30s, '40s, and '50s have served as fodder for several generations of jazz musicians, either providing their own melodies for subsequent development or lending their harmonic framework for the jazz writer to use as a basis for an original tune. Most recently, we've seen attention begin to shift to popular material of the current set with some interesting results. Pianist Kenny Barron has recorded a delicate version of Sting's “Fragile," Bob Belden ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: David Kikoski

Source: Michael Ricci
September 29, 2014

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: David Kikoski

Source: Michael Ricci
September 29, 2013

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: David Kikoski

Source: Michael Ricci
September 29, 2012

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: David Kikoski

Source:
September 29, 2011

All About Jazz is celebrating David Kikoski's birthday today!

At a time when jazz has been to the far reaches of the musical universe and back, some would say that its all been played before and we\'re currently at a point in the cyclical nature of this art form when those with lesser talents are merely rewriting the past...At a time when jazz has been to the far reaches of the musical universe and back, some would say that its ...
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Contest

Announcing the Winners of the "Smalls Live - Winners' Choice" Giveaway

Source: All About Jazz
December 3, 2010

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Contest

Enter the Smalls Live "Winners' Choice" Giveaway

Source: All About Jazz
October 24, 2010

All About Jazz members are invited to enter the “Smalls Live—Winners' Choice" giveaway contest starting today. We'll select FIVE winners at the conclusion of the contest on November 22nd. Click here to enter the contest

(Following David Kikoski at AAJ automatically enters you in the contest.)

Good luck! Your Friends at Smalls Live

Each winner may choose one of the following albums:

David Kikoski Trio—Live at Smalls For David Kikoski's ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: David Kikoski

Source:
September 29, 2010

173

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: David Kikoski

Source: Michael Ricci
September 29, 2009

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Performance / Tour

Bendy-Pastorius Group (Mon) David Kikoski (Tue) Titus Ribas (Wed) Alex Sipiagin (Thu) Manuel Valera (Fri-Sat) This Week at Cachaca

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
August 14, 2007

Cachaa 35 West 8th St (bet. 5th & 6th Aves.) NYC * tel 212-388-9099 sets at 9,11 & 1am * $10 cover, $15 min. Menus from selected restaurants available New York City's Newest Jazz Hang In The Heart of Greenwich Village This Week At Cachaca Mon. 13 Bendy-Pastorius Group Featuring Julius and Felix Pastorius and the two Bendy brothers Julius on drums, ...
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