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CALVIN KEYS
Master Jazz Guitarist
To be or not to be…
“CALVIN KEYS “IS” the real deal!” says Pat Metheny, who grew up in the
Midwest hearing tales about the Nebraska-raised guitarist. While Keys
had moved on to California by the time Metheny appeared on the circuit
in the early 1970s, stories about Keys’ bandstand prowess continued to
reverberate around the region, stoking the young guitarist’s creative
ambition. When he started checking out Keys’ recordings, Metheny
immediately recognized his original voice, an elegant, blues-drenched
approach he pays tribute to with “Calvin’s Keys,” one of the
highlights of his acclaimed 2007 trio CD “Day Trip.”
The Oakland-based Keys has been inspiring fellow fret masters for five
decades, and he’s sounding better than ever. With his lean, single-note
style, Keys is a subtle but forceful improviser. He credits his long
tenure in Ahmad Jamal’s quartet with honing his pianistic approach to
the guitar. “Working with Ahmad I developed a certain emotional
drive,” Keys says. “Ahmad is a master of time. I felt it deep inside my
bones the first time I heard him, just like the first time I heard
Monk play. It was that powerful, or I wouldn’t have bothered with it.”
Jamal first hired Keys in 1974 when the guitarist came off the road
with Ray Charles. The guitarist spent the next six years touring the
world as part of Jamal’s quartet with bassist Jamil Nasser and drummer
Frank Gant. He left Jamal in 1980 to freelance, but he remains part of
the pianist’s extended musical family. “Calvin is one of my favorite
players,” says Jamal. “He’s been one of my mainstays for years. He has
a tremendous warmth and technical facility in his work, and he’s very
serious about what he does.”
Born and raised in Omaha, Neb., Keys started secretly teaching himself
guitar on his uncle’s Gibson, even though he’d been warned away from
the instrument with the threat of a whipping. When his uncle caught him
one day, he was so impressed that the youngster had learned some chords
by watching him play Delta blues that he gave his nephew his prized
instrument. “For the next six months I was up all night with that
guitar,” Keys says.
The guitarist spent most of the ‘60s on the road playing with various
organ combos, including brief stints with Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff,
and longer runs with Jackie Ivory, Jackie Davis, and Frank Edwards.
Since coming off the road with Jamal, Keys has led various groups of his own, and recorded a number of celebrated albums for local labels like Black Jazz and Life Force.
The magazine “Guitar Player” declares that his latest album, 2006’s “A Handmade Portrait” on Silverado, “showcases his Wes Montgomery-inspired octaves lines and rich chording, his fast and percussive Tal Farlow-esque runs, and his Grant Green-like ability to move seamlessly between blues, ballads, and standards. Throughout all of this variegated work, however, the blues remains the one constant in his playing.”
Calvin Keys was also invited by the great Bluesman Taj Mahal to join him in several occasions.
For more information please visit : www.calvinkeys.com
Management and Booking: Beto de Leon / Corazon Concerts
P.O Box 537
Santa Barbara, CA 93102
Tel: (805) 448-6428
e-mail: beto_de_leon@yahoo.com or beto@corazonconcerts.com
www.corazonconcerts.com |