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Kerry Politzer

Kerry Politzer is a Portland-based jazz pianist, composer, and educator. She is on the music faculty of Portland State University and previously taught at the University of Portland and the University of Manitoba. Kerry received a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Piano from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied improvisation and composition with the late jazz guru Charlie Banacos, and a Master of Music in Jazz in Studies from Rowan University.

Prior to moving to Portland, Kerry lived in New York for many years, where she studied Brazilian music and performed original compositions at clubs including Smalls. She also toured with DIVA No Man’s Band, playing with Diane Schuur, Slide Hampton, and Larry Coryell. In 1996, Kerry was one of six finalists in the American Pianists Association’s 3rd Biennial Jazz Piano Competition. Her composition Rhodes Rage won Third Prize, Jazz Category in the 2005 International Songwriting Competition.

Kerry has released seven jazz CDs as a leader, including Blue in Blue, which featured saxophonist Donny McCaslin and was termed a “first-rate jazz outing” by AllAboutJazz.com. She has also been a featured sideman on albums of George Colligan, Laura Dreyer, and the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble and was featured on Sax And The City: Musical Contributions From New York’s Best Women Jazz Instrumentalists (Apria Records, 2004). Her latest CD is “In a Heartbeat” (PJCE Records, 2022).

In 2019, Kerry was awarded a Regional Arts and Culture Council Artistic Focus grant to explore the music of Brazilian composer Durval Ferreira. The project culminated in the August 2019 release of Diagonal: The Music of Durval Ferreira. In 2020, she received another RACC grant to produce the first edition of Music of Brazilian Piano Masters, which can be accessed at the Music of Brazilian Piano Masters YouTube page. In 2021, Kerry received grants from MusicPortland and the RACC for her Driveway Jazz Series project, which provides an outdoor venue for musicians during the summer.

One of Kerry’s newest projects is Bossa PDX, a samba-jazz and bossa nova group for which she has transcribed dozens of classic arrangements from the original recordings. With this music, she has performed around the country at venues such as Jazz Forum Arts, the Black Dolphin, the Oregon Coast Jazz Party, Ellenburg’s Jazz in the Valley, and the Florence Wine & Jazz Festival, among other venues.

Kerry was a featured soloist in the 25th Annual Gene Harris Festival at Boise State University, and she headlined at the 2022 Montavilla Jazz Festival. She has also performed with the Chuck Israels Jazz Orchestra and the 1905 Orchestra.

Kerry Politzer: Diagonal

Read "Diagonal" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
August 28, 2019

Portland, Oregon-based pianist Kerry Politzer has a thing for bossa nova. Her immersion into sounds from Brazil comes into full blossom with her sixth album, Diagonal. Brazil's bossa nova sound came to world wide attention initially via the music from saxophonist Stan Getz on Jazz Samba (Verve, 1962), followed by early 1960s recordings from Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Gilberto, and guitarist Charlie Byrd. The popularity of the sound remains strong nearly seventy years beyond its initial introduction, due ...

Album Review

Kerry Politzer: Below the Surface

Read "Below the Surface" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
August 15, 2014

Pianist Kerry Politzer's relocation to Portland, Oregon seems to have given her music a boost. Always a fine mainstream artist, whether working the trio or quartet modes on Blue in Blue (Piloo Records, 2010) or Labyrinth (Palisonic Records, 2005), now her first “Portland disc," Below the Surface, finds her in a common quintet setting--trumpet/saxophone and rhythm section--making uncommonly modern sounds. Politzer has crafted a sound that goes much more into the groove than her previous outings did. The ...

Interview

Kerry Politzer: Voice And Voicings

by George Colligan
September 9, 2013

The following interview is reprinted from George Colligan's blog, Jazztruth. Kerry Politzer is one of my favorite musicians, period. (Yeah, she's my wife, you gotta problem wit dat? No, I see the potential conflict of interest, but hey, it's all about who you know, right?) Seriously, Politzer is one of the most underrated musicians around. She has five amazing CDs to her name. She is a truly gifted jazz pianist and composer; however, a few years ...

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Album Review

Kerry Politzer Quartet: Blue in Blue

Read "Blue in Blue" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
August 15, 2010

Two of the most enduring and popular ensemble set-ups in jazz are the piano trio--piano/bass/drums--and the piano trio, with a saxophone joining in. Pianist Kerry Politzer combines formats on Blue in Blue, with six tunes featuring her trio and four more with guest saxophonist Donny McCaslin.While You Took Me In (Polisonic Records, 2007) featured Politzer in a more pop-leaning mood, Blue in Blue finds her back in mainstream jazz land, sculpting a sound that mixes up piano influences ...

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Take Five With...

Take Five With Kerry Politzer

by AAJ Staff
July 15, 2010

Meet Kerry Politzer: I started out as a classical pianist, went over to jazz and Brazilian music, and am now exploring the world of vocals and lyrics. I've released three jazz albums: Yearning, Watercolor and Labyrinth; and one jazz-pop album, You Took Me In. Labyrinth was a finalist in the 6th Annual Independent Music Awards, and its first track, “Rhodes Rage," won Best Jazz Category, Third Prize in the 2005 International Songwriting Competition. Instruments: Piano, vocals. ...

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Album Review

Kerry Politzer: You Took Me

Read "You Took Me" reviewed by Virginia A. Schaefer

by Virginia A. Schaefer
February 19, 2008

Following her three releases as a jazz pianist who composes much of her material, Kerry Politzer steps out as a singer-songwriter with You Took Me In. As well as performing all the vocals, she plays piano with the band, which consists entirely of jazz musicians. Although the turn from jazz piano to pop-oriented song may seem surprising, Politzer has actually been active as a singer-songwriter for several years, and has received awards in songwriting competitions. On the ...

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Album Review

Kerry Politzer Quartet: Labyrinth

Read "Labyrinth" reviewed by Ken Franckling

by Ken Franckling
December 1, 2005

Over the past few years, New England Conservatory graduate Kerry Politzer has emerged as one of the more interesting younger composers on the New York jazz scene. She leads a modern jazz trio and a Brazilian repertoire quartet to showcase her compositions. Labyrinth is her third release since 1999 and it draws from the best of those intersecting worlds: modern jazz with a Brazilian undercurrent. It's all original, often multi-layered material. Politzer is joined on this session by ...

Recording

Pianist/Composer Kerry Politzer Offers Post-Pandemic Creative Resurgence With 'In A Heartbeat,' Set For October 21 Release On PJCE Records

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity
August 24, 2022

Kerry Politzer reaffirms her high regard as both a pianist and a composer on In a Heartbeat, to be released October 21 on Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble (PJCE) Records. In particular, it puts Portland, Oregon-based Politzer’s writing back in the spotlight. The quintet album (featuring Portland trumpeter Thomas Barber, saxophonist/flutist Joe Manis, bassist Garrett Baxter, and drummer George Colligan) is her first in eight years to exclusively feature her own compositions and arrangements. Not to say that Politzer hasn’t kept ...
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Recording

Recent Listening: Kerry Politzer’s Diagonal

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
September 22, 2019

Kerry Politzer, Diagonal: A Tribute To Durval Ferreira The pianist recruits several of her talented Pacific Northwest colleagues for this album of pieces by a Brazilian composer whose works were central to the rise of the music that became known as bossa nova. Ferreira’s “O Gato,” “E Nada Mais” and other compositions not only entered the mainstream in his country but were also embraced by American performers, among them Cannonball Adderley, Sarah Vaughan, Herbie Mann and Stan Getz. Politzer’s colleagues ...
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Recording

Recent Listening In Brief…

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
December 21, 2014

Frank Zappa (1940-1993), a gifted musician who dipped his toe into jazz, never demonstrated more than a smidgeon of what he knew about the genre. But he left us with the memorable observation, “Jazz isn’t dead. It just smells funny.” A web search shows that lesser wits have adapted Zappa’s line to all kinds of topics from politics to marketing management and, of all things, science journalism. None of those endeavors seems to be dying, either. For years, people have ...
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Contest

Enter the "Kerry Politzer - Below the Surface" Giveaway!

Source: All About Jazz
May 24, 2014

All About Jazz members are invited to enter the PJCE Records “Kerry Politzer - Below the Surface“ giveaway contest starting today. We'll select FIVE winners at the conclusion of the contest on June 23rd. Click here to enter the contest (Tracking Kerry Politzer at AAJ automatically enters you in the contest.) Good luck! Your Friends at PJCE Records About Below the Surface Pianist and composer Kerry Politzer presents her sixth album as a leader, Below the Surface. Featuring ...
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Recording

Download Three Free MP3 Tracks from Mike Mainieri, Torben Waldorff, George Kahn and Kerry Politzer

Source: Michael Ricci
July 26, 2010

An AAJ exclusive! Download THREE FREE tracks from these outstanding artists. If you enjoy what you hear, support the artists and purchase their music.

Mike Mainieri

Like Someone in Love Crescent 6:00 The Brat 2.0 5:42 Don't Break Step Twelve Pieces 5:49

Torben Waldorff

American Rock Beauty American Rock Beauty 5:00 Choro Dancado Afterburn 05:50 Alice Brilliance, Live at the 55 Bar NYC 08:38 ...
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Recording

Kerry Politzer - Blue in Blue (2010)

Source: Something Else!
July 12, 2010

By PicoLast May 7, Piloo Records issued the 5th album by pianist, composer and vocalist Kerry Politzer, called Blue In Blue. Playing the piano since the age of four, Politzer studied classical piano for 14 years before falling under the spell of jazz, and she has committed herself to playing and composing in that idiom ever since. While working toward a bachelor degree in Music In Jazz Piano Performance at the New England Conservatory of Music, she got ...
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Performance / Tour

Kerry Politzer Kerry Politzer Appearing at Googie's Lounge Saturday, January 5th at 7:30PM

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
January 2, 2008

Kerry Politzer Appearing at Googie's Lounge above The Living Room 154 Ludlow New York, NY 10002 212-533-7235 Saturday, January 5th at 7:30PM no cover Pianist/songwriter Kerry Politzer will be playing a set of original, jazz-influenced from her new CD, “You Took Me In." She will be accompanied by guitarist James Adamo. “I hope Politzer continues her career in jazz music, but the contemporary music world needs her the most. This ...
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Recording

Pianist Kerry Politzer Expands into the Singer-Songwriter Realm with 4th Album, "You Took Me In"

Source: Cyber PR
October 9, 2007

For years, pianist Kerry Politzer's soothing voice has been hidden behind ivory keys. Previously, she released several instrumental jazz albums, but it wasn't until she participated in a Songwriter's Hall of Fame songwriting workshop that she discovered a new level of creative release from her music. In the workshop environment criticism is easy to come by, but Kerry's talent as a songsmith quickly turned a circle of aspiring musicians into encouraging fans. Now, her latest album, You Took Me In, ...
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Performance / Tour