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Kevin Bales

Kevin’s initial career move was to the University of North Florida and a budding if little-known jazz program. There he met and performed with, and went on to record and tour with, a number of monumental artists who had settled into that burgeoning North Florida jazz scene. Giants like Wynton Marsalis, Louie Bellson, Eddie Daniels, James Moody, Ben Tucker, Ira Sullivan, Sam Rivers, and Nat Adderley. He counts among his mentors bassist Ben Tucker, multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan, guitar legends Nathen Page and Jack Petersen, and the fiercely individual saxophonist Bunky Green. His meeting with Bunky Green led to five years of tours. His encounter with guitarist Nathen Page blossomed into 15 years of spot tours and four albums. And his work with trumpeter extraordinaire Marcus Printup has become a lifetime association that has included recordings on Blue Note/Capital records. Ten years touring and recording with vocal iconoclast Rene Marie culminated in the a Grammy Nominated album.

Few artists have the patience for teaching – as are few teachers accomplished players. But Kevin has amassed a reputation for his prowess in both professions. While still a senior at North Florida he was drafted into a full teaching load, and continued to be an integral part of the school’s jazz program for upwards of a decade. Today, Kevin manages his own jazz program, overseeing an ambitious schedule of ambitious jazz students.

Kevin has amassed a long list of awards and a reputation as one of the finest jazz pianists performing anywhere. In 1994, less than a decade into jazz, he won the American Pianist Association’s Jazz Piano Competition. In addition to nearly every important jazz venue in the South, he has performed in some of the most acclaimed clubs and festivals in America and around the world: the JVC Jazz Festival in New York, The Bakery in Los Angeles, The Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center jazz series, the Toronto and Edinburgh jazz festivals, and the Moscow Center for the Performing Arts.

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Live Review

John Brackett Quartet at Redfish Restaurant

Read "John Brackett Quartet at Redfish Restaurant" reviewed by Martin McFie


John Brackett Quartet Redfish Restaurant Hilton Head IslandNovember 2017 Smoky-voiced singer John Brackett led a quartet at Redfish restaurant on Hilton Head, Wednesdays in November. John played piano together with Howard Paul, CEO of Benedetto Guitars, playing a guitar hand-built by his luthiers. On bass was singer Maggie Evans and on percussion, Fozzy Davis. They played a selection of Latin jazz, featuring the bossa nova music of Antonio Carlos Jobim including a beautiful “Girl ...

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Event

Jazz Star Kevin Bales to Perform in Daytona Beach

Jazz Star Kevin Bales to Perform in Daytona Beach

Source: Phred, Inc.

JAZZ STAR KEVIN BALES TO PERFORM IN DAYTONA BEACH

PALM COAST, FL (February 12, 2007)--The North East Florida Jazz Association (NEFJA) is pleased to announce that the Kevin Bales Quartet will perform at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach on Sunday, March 18 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. as part of the Northeast Florida Jazz Association's (NEFJA) 2006 - 2007 concert series. The public is invited to hear some great jazz in an intimate setting.

Bales, ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Battle Cry

Airborne Ecstasy, LLC
2020

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Beyond the...

Self Produced
2018

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Videos

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