Kenny MacKenzie Trio - Players


The Bassment

Ray Parker

A native of Ohio, Ray is well known in NYC as one of the most proficient and distinctive bass players the scene has to offer, and his jazz resume reflects this. Dizzy Gillespie, Diego Urcola, Eric Lewis, Bobby McFerrin, Jimmy Cobb, Nick Brignola, Tom Harrell, Makoto Ozone, Ira Sullivan, Danilo Perez, Kurt Rosenwinkel, & Maynard Ferguson have all enjoyed Ray's company on stage or on tour. On top of all that - he's a great guy. Ray is a featured bassist on "There You Are". You can visit his website here.

 

Mike Savino

Mike is an original member of the trio; he's on many releases including KMT I & II as well as the latest cd "There You Are". He's a graduate of the New School. A very talented and creative multi-instrumentalist, Mike's played with The Nation Beat, Najee, Gina Gershon and Ljova; and he's currently the bassist for Kate Havnevik. His own current band is Tall Tall Trees. Here is Mike's website!

 

Zaid Shukri

Zaid is featured on "There You Are". He was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1984, moving to the U.S. in the early 1990's. Zaid's become one of the most sought-after young bass players in NYC, performing at numerous prestigious venues, including Lincoln Center, The Blue Note, Birdland, Carnegie Hall, the Kitano, Lenox Lounge, and Smoke.  He currently performs with Wycliffe Gordon's group, and has been a member of the Bill Saxton Quartet since 2006. He's also performed with Billy Pierce, Winard Harper, Clark Terry, Bobby Watson, Ron Blake, Frank Lacy, Charli Persip, Billy Drummond, and Yoron Israel. Here is a link to Zaid's myspace.

Nathan Peck

Nathan is on the "Closer to the Day" cd. Born in Ohio, he comes from a family of jazz musicians with whom he continues to play and record. At age 16 he won the Milt Hinton award, Scholarship for Students of the Double Bass and also won an Honorable mention from the National Endowment for the Arts. Nathan is the bassist in the Alex Skolnick Trio. He's toured the world with both Shahin Novrasli and the Kelley Johnson Quartet. He's an incredible musician, an accomplished composer with several bands of his own. Here is Nathan's myspace.
 

Jerry McDonald

Jerry is a featured bassist on "Closer to the Day". We've have been playing together since the 2 of us started professionally playing jazz. He is hands down the most easy going cat in NY - and in my opinion one of the best "walkers" as well. He's also highly creative and tastefully experimental. Jerry's up for anything musically - (a real plus in my book) - making every gig fun, unique and satisfying for everyone playing and listening. He currently resides in Queens. He's a member of the Swingset Quartet, the Matt Wynne Trio and Jack's Waterfall. You can peruse his own site here.
     

The Drumline

 

Yoni Halevy

Yoni is the featured drummer on cds "There You Are" and "Closer to the Day". He was born in Haifa, Israel. Later moving to London and currently living in NYC - Yoni pretty much plays all over the world, showing virtousity and eloquence in many genres including jazz, funk, rap and live electronica. He spent five years as the drummer for Arnie Lawrence. Yoni is the drummer for Spokinn Movement, The Apples, and his own quartet. His playing is multi-faceted: fiery and driven; funky with deep, deep grooves; articulate and refined. Always appropriate, always sheer pleasure.
pic soon!

Chris Higginbottom

Chris is the drummer on "KMT II" as well as being featured on "There You Are". He was born in London and graduated the Royal Academy of Music with honours. He's the musical director and drummer for singer/songwriter Brendon James as well as leading his own band. Visit Chris's website here.
 

Paul Micca

Paul is on the latest cd "There You Are". He's a very laid back cat and a fellow Long Islander, now also in Queens. Paul lays down an insistent and undeniable groove that's seriously deep. He plays live frequently in KMT. He's one half of writing/producing team Rugged and Prez; who've worked with artists such as Gyptian, Fanton Mojah and Norris Man. Here is a link to their myspace.

 

Ben Bynum

Ben is on 2 tracks of "Closer to the Day" and
plays frequently on KMT gigs. He was born in New Hampshire and grew up on Long Island. He attended Julliard preparatory division, following up with the New England Conservatory of Music studying classical percussion. Finishing at SUNY Stony Brook he also studied piano and conducting. He's played with some heavy cats including Ray Anderson and Teddy Charles. As one might guess with such a background, he's a very thoughtful player: refined and precise, with a delightful feel and swing. You can visit his website here.

The Gravy

 

Shenole Latimer

Tierra Records recording artist Shenole Latimer is from Long Island. He attended SUNY at Stony Brook and studied under Todd Coolman and Dan Faulk. Shenole leads his own quartet of which I frequently am a part. His alto and soprano playing is profound and melodic, with a unique ability to reveal the deeper places and meanings of a composition to the listener. He's featured on "Closer to the Day". I'm honored to play with him and call him friend. You can visit his own site here.
Photo by Frank Cooper.

 

Kenny MacKenzie

Born and from Long Island. Currently residing in Palm Coast, FL.

All the musical abilities I have, great or small, were given me by God the Father. I didn't aquire them or create them myself. They were created and given to me freely as a gift by the great Creator. They were always there as far back as I can remember.

So ultimately, although I do love to be appreciated; appreciation for these peculiar and beautiful gifts and sounds that come forth from me belongs to the Man who looked on me before I was, and gave me such a luxurious thing to have in my being. I'm thankful, I can hardly begin to understand it; but I'm glad to be able to share it with you.

I've been a Christian since I'm 20, and pretty much every note I write is a reflection of that existance.

I would be remiss to also not mention the level of participation and support on the part of the astounding and wonderful musicians who play with me that make kmt recordings so unique. They play with such exuberence and dedication, and on each song have poured out themselves - for these things and for their friendship I'll always be grateful.
Photo by Frank Cooper.

I also have been blessed to frequently play with:
Chris Benham, Steve Kaell, Matt Kane, Jeremy Carlstedt, Josiah Wolf, Emanuele Coluccia, Greta Panettieri, Stefanie Cardinali, Allison Paris, Chris Sbrolini, Nick Russo, Tomoaki Kanno, Brian Kantor, Danny Zanker, Ian Petillo, Joni Paladin, Luca Santaniello, Scott Kettner, Michael Bates, Mark Portugal, Al Cardillo, Kyle Strove and Nameer Shukri.

 

copyright 2009 Kenny MacKenzie