Jazz pianist Kenny Kirkland, the Brooklyn-born musician who went from jamming with Sting to a steady gig in Branford Marsalis' "Tonight Show" band, was found dead of an apparent drug overdose in his Queens home, police said yesterday. He was 43. Kirkland's decomposed body was found in a home he rented in Springfield Gardens, Queens, late Thursday night, police said. Drug paraphernalia was found nearby.
Police broke down the door to the house at 181-03 144th Ave. after receiving a complaint of a bad odor coming from the first floor. An autopsy was being performed.
The 43-year-old pianist was considered a towering figure in jazz, doing European classical, Afro-Cuban, rock and rhythm and blues but preferring to be in the background as a sideman to other performers.
"How horrible," said Jason Koransky, associate editor of Down Beat, the jazz magazine. "He was a fabulous piano player. We're losing all the good ones."
Born and raised in Brooklyn, the third of four children, Kenneth David Kirkland went from Brooklyn's Catholic schools to the Manhattan School of Music. A brother is a professor of history and philosophy at Hunter College.
His career was almost cut short when he broke both legs, his jaw, wrist and hip in a car accident a month before he was due to graduate. When he recovered, he plunged into jazz on electric keyboards and acoustic piano.
He met jazz great Wynton Marsalis at jam sessions in New York and joined Sting's band in 1985. He performed world tours with Sting and did several albums, including Sting's 1990 "The Soul Cages."
He joined Marsalis' brother Branford when he was named musical director on Jay Leno's "Tonight Show." Kirkland was not enamored of the West Coast, and he returned to New York to play in jazz clubs when Branford Marsalis left the show.
In recent years, Kirkland became increasingly involved with African-American music.
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