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Pat Kelly
I am an eclecticly-minded Composer/Arranger/Pianist, who has practiced his art in the Cincinnati area and beyond for nearly 30 years. Primarily self- taught as a youth, I listened to rock music, played in a pretty good band starting at age 14 where I wrote many songs, and I learned jazz by frequenting jazz clubs and playing gigs with experienced musicians. I later attended the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where I graduated in 1984 with a Bachelor of Music degree. At CCM, I was awarded the Bertha Langhorst Werner Scholarship in composition.
I was the original house pianist of the Cincinnati’s Blue Wisp Jazz Club upon its opening in 1979 and a member of the Jimmy McGary Quartet. Shortly thereafter I began my experiments in composing and arranging, utilizing the influences of
the music of Charles Mingus, Frank Zappa, James Brown, Sun Ra and John Coltrane, among countless others. After returning from a 4 year sojourn to Northern Florida in 1987, my newly-formed 13-piece PsychoAcoustic Orchestra hit the region like a storm in the early ‘90s and gave aficionados a fresh look at big band music, successfully blending jazz, rock, funk, Latin, European art music and avant garde. I was joined by many of the area’s best players, actively performing locally and regionally and releasing two memorable CDs - SUPREME THING (1994) and REACTIVATION (1996).
While continuing my work as a freelance musician, I have served as house producer for Cincinnati’s J Curve Records, producing all 3 volumes of J Curve Cincinnati Jazz Collection (1998-2000), ¿Donde Estas? by Latin X-posure, both Triple Stop (2001) and Classic Scotty (2003) by internationally acclaimed country/jazz guitarist Scotty Anderson and Killer Love (2004) by R&B vocalist P. Ann Everson-Price. I also produced two special projects: Skyline Golden Sampler (1999) for Skyline Chili’s 50th Anniversary and Hidden Treasures- King Records Tribute (2002) for the Inclusion Network. Both CDs were compilations featuring dozens of bands including Blessid Union of Souls, Peter Frampton, Latin X-posure, Eugene Goss, The Goshorn Brothers, the Mistics and more. I composed the musical score for the feature film Artworks which was released in 2004. I am currently the Music Director of New Thought Unity Center in Cincinnati and an Adjunct Proffessor of jazz piano at Xavier University.
During the course of my career I have performed with Jimmy McGary, Cal Collins, Teri Thornton, Louis Hayes, Buddy DeFranco, Toots Thielmans, Pete Petersen, Howard Johnson, Chuck Wayne, Ira Sullivan, Red Rodney, Barney Kessel, Rusty Bryant, The Cohesion Jazz Ensemble, The Blue Wisp Big Band and The Dee Felice Big Band.
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Keyboardist Pat Kelly Has Been Named Keyboard Specialist and Special Projects Producer
Source:
Carolyn McClair Public Relations
DHR Music Names Pat Kelly Keyboard Specialist and Special Projects Producer CINCINNATI, March 6, 2009 - Keyboardist Pat Kelly has been named Keyboard Specialist and Special Projects Producer of DHR Music, a premier dealer for Benedetto, Breedlove and Hamer Guitars and Henriksen JazzAmps. Pat is a dynamic composer and producer whom I've known and respected for years as a musician and as a producer of some of J Curve Records' finest releases," said Dale Rabiner, DHR's President. Pat Kelly has ...
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Neil Tesser-Chicago Reader, August 30, 1996
“This powerhouse aggregation swings and surprises with a combination of
dynamics and improvisation. Keyboardist-leader Pat Kelly writes eclectic
arrangements for his roaring Cincinnati-based 13-piece band.”
Patricia Myers-JazzTimes, March, 1997
“Reactivation...stands out as the top local release of 1995...a sublime mix of
sophistication and experimentation...If Reactivation doesn’t attract a national
spotlight to Kelly and the local Jazz community, then nothing will.”
Mike Breen-CityBeat, December 14, 1995