Brooklyn-born Kenny Kirkland, the outstanding jazz pianist who made his mark playing with Winton Marsalis and his brother Branford Marsalis, and also toured and recorded with Crosby, Stills & Nash, Sting and others, was found dead in his Queens, New York home on November 13th. He was 43.
Kirkland had been playing piano from the age of six, and later received his primary musical training at the Manhattan School of Music.
His abilities started getting wider notice when he joined the quartet of trumpeter Winton Marsalis in 1981. He remained with Winton until 1985, at which point he joined Branford Marsalis, bass player Daryl Jones and drummer Omar Hakim on The Dream Of The Blue Turtles , the solo-debut album from former Police frontman Sting. Kirkland appears in the Sting documentary Bring on The Night as well.
Kirkland also played on albums by Branford Marsalis, and accompanied Branford when the younger Marsalis brother took over as band leader of the Tonight Show after Jay Leno succeeded Johnny Carson as host of the program. Kirlkland resigned the position when Marsalis did. After the news of Kirkland's death, Branford released a statement referring to his friend and colleague as "a musical genius."
Kirkland released a critically-praised solo album in 1991. He also recorded with such jazz artists as Elvin Jones, Michal Urbaniak and Miroslav Vitous, and worked with jazz singer Carmen Lundy. As of press time, the cause of death has not been determined.
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