Jazz pianist Kenny Drew was born in New York, New York on August 28, 1928. He started receiving piano lessons at the age of five, later attending the High School of Music & Art in Manhattan. He made his first recorded appearance in 1950 on a session with Howard McGhee and spent the next few years working with jazz icons like Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and others. He put together a trio featuring Curly Russell on bass and Art Blakey on drums and released the debut Kenny Drew Trio album New Faces, New Sounds in 1953. Three years later, he returned to the trio format - with Paul Chambers (bass) and Philly Joe Jones (drums) - and released the album Kenny Drew Trio (1956). The following year, Wilbur Ware replaced Paul Chambers on bass and the trio released the album Pal Joey (1957). Kenny Drew relocated to Europe in 1961 and finally settled in Copenhagen, Denmark. He returned to the trio format in 1974 with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bass) and Albert Heath (drums) on board. They released the two albums in 1974: Dark Beauty and If You Could See Me Now. Kenny Drew mixed things up for the next two trio albums, replacing drummer Albert Heath with guitarist Phillip Catherine for the albums Morning (1975) and In Concert (1977). Over the next few years, the Kenny Drew Trio had a revolving cast of members, but by 1982, Kenny Drew and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen were joined by drummer Ed Thigpen for the album The Lullaby. This line-up recorded together for another seven years before Alvin Queen took over on the drums. The Kenny Drew Trio’s final album was At the Brewhouse (1993). Kenny Drew died on August 4, 1993.
