Wynton Kelly

Wynton Kelly (December 2, 1931 in Jamaica — April 12, 1971, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) was a jazz pianist who spent his career in the United States.^[1] He is perhaps best known for working with trumpeter Miles Davis in the '50s.^[1]

Biography

Kelly started his professional career as a teenager, initially as a member of R&B groups. After working with Lee Abrams, Cecil Payne, Dinah Washington and Dizzy Gillespie^[2], he was a member of Miles Davis's Quintet from 1959 to 1963. He appears on Davis's seminal 1959 album Kind of Blue, replacing Bill Evans on the track "Freddie Freeloader" (with Davis asking Kelly to sound more like Ahmad Jamal). He likewise appears on a single track from John Coltrane's Giant Steps, replacing Tommy Flanagan on "Naima". ^[1]

A superb accompanist, Wynton Kelly was also a distinctive soloist. He recorded 14 titles for Blue Note in a trio (1951), and worked with Dinah Washington, Dizzy Gillespie, and Lester Young during 1951-1952. After serving in the military, he worked with Dinah Washington (1955-1957), Charles Mingus (1956-1957), and the Dizzy Gillespie big band (1957), but he would be most famous for his stint with Miles Davis (1959-1963), recording such albums with Miles as Kind of Blue, At the Blackhawk, and Someday My Prince Will Come. When he left Davis, Kelly took the rest of the rhythm section (bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb) with him to form his trio.

Before his early death of an epileptic seizure, Kelly recorded as a leader for Blue Note, Riverside Records, Vee-Jay, Verve, and Milestone.^{[citation needed]} Kelly had a daughter, Tracy, in 1963, with partner Anne. The track, "Little Tracy", from the LP Coming In the Back Door, is named after Kelly's daughter. Tracy Matisak is a now a Philadelphia television personality.

Kelly's second cousin, bassist Marcus Miller, also performed with Miles Davis in the eighties and nineties.^[1]

Discography

This section requires expansion.

As leader

• Piano Interpretations (1951; Blue Note) with Franklin Skeete, Oscar Pettiford, Lee Abrams
• New Faces, New Sounds (1951; Blue Note)
• Cruisin' the Rhythm Sections (1957)
• Blues On Purpose (1965; Xanadu Records)
• Kelly Blue (1959; Riverside/OJC)
• Kelly Great (1959) with Philly Joe Jones, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Paul Chambers,
• Piano (1958; OJC) with Kenny Burrell, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones
• Wynton Kelly! (1961; Vee-Jay)
• Comin' In The Back Door (1963; Verve)
• It's All Right (1964; Verve Records) with Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, Kenny Burrell, Candido Camero
• Undiluted (1965; Verve)
• Smokin' at the Half Note (1965; Verve) with Wes Montgomery
• Blues on Purpose (1965; Xanadu) with Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb
• Full View (1967; Milestone) with Ron McClure, Jimmy Cobb
• Last Trio Session (1968; Delmark) with Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb

As sideman

WIth Betty Carter

• Out There (1958)
• I Can't Help It (1992)

With Paul Chambers

• Go... (1959)

With John Coltrane

• Coltrane Jazz (1961)
• Cannonball and Coltrane (1959)

With Miles Davis

• Kind of Blue (1959)
• Someday My Prince Will Come (1961)

With Paul Gonsalves

• Gettin' Together (1960)

With Johnny Griffin

• A Blowin' Session (1957)

With Steve Lacy

• Soprano Sax (1957)

With Blue Mitchell

• Blue's Moods (1960)

With Hank Mobley

• Soul Station (1960)

With Wes Montgomery

• Full House (1962)
• Smokin' at the Half Note (1965)

With Sonny Rollins

• Volume One (1956)

References