Join us for the Musician's Show this evening 6-9 pm ET, where Frank Kimbrough will share his music and experiences as a musician.
Jazz pianist, composer and educator Frank Kimbrough has been active on the New York jazz scene for over 35 years. He has recorded as a leader for Pirouet, Newvelle, Palmetto, OmniTone, Soul Note, Igmod, and Mapleshade. Frank was a founding member and composer-in-residence of the Jazz Composers Collective (1992 - 2005), and played in nearly twenty of its associated groups. He continues to perform solo concerts and with his trio, and is otherwise in demand as a sideman. Frank’s playing has been recognized by his inclusion in the Downbeat Critics Poll each year since 2001, and his recordings are often included in jazz critics' year's-end top-ten lists.
Growing up in Roxboro, NC in a musical family, Kimbrough has been playing piano since before he can remember and received influential piano instruction from an early age. His foundation in classical music studies grounded him in strong technique and profoundly influenced his open musical tastes. After leaving college, he formed his first trio and set out in pursuit of real world musical opportunities, first in Chapel Hill, and then in Washington, D.C. In Washington he met Shirley Horn, who became an enthusiastic supporter and mentor. He worked there with his trio and as a sideman with Maurice Robertson, Buck Hill, Paul Horn, Anthony Braxton and Webster Young. Arriving in New York in the fall of 1981, he sought out pianists Paul Bley and Andrew Hill, both unique artists who helped him hone his artistic identity. In 1985, he won the Great American Jazz Piano Competition at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival. The next year, on Shirley Horn's recommendation, he made his first recordings and since then has recorded twenty albums as a leader or co-leader.