Kenny Graham
There were many sad things about the death of Kenny Graham in 1997, one of the minor tragedies being that it ended his reports, previously issued at a clip of one per decade, on what "the millionaire Beatles" were up to. Graham's caustic, alternately amusing and reactionary short essays were just one facet of his creativity, expressed on a selection of woodwind instruments until health issues forced him to concentrate on composing and arranging. Graham was also a progressive jazz bandleader on the British jazz scene, introducing his own take on Afro-Cuban jazz as early as 1950 with Kenny Graham's Afro-Cubists. The latter outfit's stylistic experiments were eventually too much for the public at large, whose abandonment of jazz as a popular music was one of Graham's pet peeves. He came up on the dance band scene, working with popular bandleaders such as Ambrose, but had no patience for the self-contained electric rock & roll combos who would lure the dancers away.
Graham's first instrument was banjo, supposedly putty in his hands at the tender age of five. From there he went to a combination of tenor saxophone, clarinet, and flute, while also doing some choir singing. As a player, his main period of activity was the '50s. After his hospitalization in 1958, he began working on charts for bandleaders such as Ted Heath and was also involved as music director for sessions by famed blues performers Big Bill Broonzy and Josh White. The British MGM label released an LP of Graham's own music entitled Moondog and Suncat Suites, sometimes mistaken for a Cat Stevens effort. Many of Graham's essays are available on a website under his name.
© Eugene Chadbourne /TiVo
Discography
17 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
-
Kpm Brownsleeves: Kpmlpb 20
Laurie Johnson, Ralph Dollimore, Kenny Graham
Jazz - Released by KPM Brownsleeves Series on Jan. 1, 1962
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Small World of Sammy Lee (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Trunk Records on Jan. 1, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kpm Brownsleeves: Kpmlpb 26
Kenny Graham, Caesar Giovannini, Wayne Robinson
Jazz - Released by KPM Brownsleeves Series on Jan. 1, 1963
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Joe Meek Sessions
Jazz - Released by Master Classics Records on Jan. 1, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mango Walk - Kenny Graham's Afro-Cubists Volume One
Kenny Graham, Kenny Graham's Afro Cubists
Jazz - Released by Esquire Records on Dec. 14, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kpm Brownsleeves: Kpmlpb 16
Peter Knight, Ralph Dollimore, Kenny Graham
Jazz - Released by KPM Brownsleeves Series on Jan. 1, 1961
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Blue Vibrations
Bill Le Sage, Kenny Graham, Michael Collins
Jazz - Released by FDH Mood Music on Jan. 1, 1960
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Kpm Brownsleeves: Kpmlpb 7
Jazz - Released by KPM Brownsleeves Series on Jan. 1, 1960
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ronnie Scott Studio Recordings, Vol. 2 - Battle Royal (Remastered 2016)
Ronnie Scott, Kenny Graham, Kenny Graham's Afro Cubists
Jazz - Released by Esquire Records on Dec. 1, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Small World Of Sammy Lee (Original Soundtrack) (Remastered)
Jazz - Released by RevOla on Jan. 18, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beautiful Tonight (Beautiful Saxophone Music)
Bobby Sax, Kenny Graham, The Romantic Sax Club
Jazz - Released by ambientx on May 14, 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Romatic Sax Night
Kenny Graham, The Romantic Sax Club
Jazz - Released by ambientx on May 3, 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Jazz Collection
Jazz - Released by Marmot Music on Aug. 18, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Experiment In Time
Jazz - Released by SINETONE AMR on Feb. 9, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
Presenting - Kenny Graham
Jazz - Released by SINETONE AMR on Apr. 18, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo