Steve Kuhn

Steve Kuhn (born March 24, 1938, Brooklyn, New York City) is an American jazz pianist, composer and trio leader.

Biography
He began studying piano at the age of five and studied under Boston piano teacher Margaret Chaloff, mother of jazz baritone saxophonist Serge Chaloff, who taught him the "Russian style" of piano playing. At an early age he began improvising classical music. As a teenager he appeared in jazz clubs in the Boston area, gigging with the likes of Coleman Hawkins, Vic Dickerson, Chet Baker, and Serge Chaloff. He graduated from Harvard and attended the Lenox School of Music where he was associated with such other future jazz masters as Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, and Gary McFarland, with a supportive faculty that included George Russell, Gunther Schuller, the Modern Jazz Quartet members, and Bill Evans. This allowed Kuhn to play, study, and create with some of the most forward-thinking innovators of jazz improvisation and composition, culminating with his joining trumpeter Kenny Dorham's group for an extended time and (briefly) John Coltrane's quartet at New York's Jazz Gallery club.

He also has appeared with Stan Getz, Art Farmer, Oliver Nelson, Gary McFarland, Ron Carter, Scott LaFaro, Harvie Swartz, vocalist Shelia Jordan, Billy Drummond, David Finck, and Miroslav Vitous. From 1967 to 1971 Kuhn moved to Stockholm, Sweden where he worked with his own trio throughout Europe. In 1971 Kuhn moved back to New York and formed a quartet but continued doing European gigs, and appearing at the Newport Jazz Festival. In his early years, Kuhn was known as an 'avant-garde' pianist (but not "New Thing"). Kuhn was associated with bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Pete La Roca (Sims) during the 1960s for several notable recordings: Three Waves under Kuhn's leadership, Basra under La Roca's leadership which also featured Joe Henderson, and Sing Me Softly Of The Blues under the leadership of flugelhornist Art Farmer. Also notable was Kuhn's inclusion in the quartet on the landmark recording Sound PIeces led by saxophonist, composer, and arranger Oliver Nelson and including Ron Carter on bass and Grady Tate on drums. Among other notable recordings which were also critically acclaimed was The October Suite composed by Gary McFarland for Kuhn and an ensemble which included strings, woodwinds, and reeds. The Promises Kept CD features Kuhn's compositions, piano, and strings. For decades, Steve Kuhn has led all-star trios that have included such players as bassists Ron Carter and David Finck, and drummers Al Foster, Jack DeJohnette, and Joey Baron. He has had several live recordings made in some of New York's leading jazz clubs. Kuhn is also the composer of the jazz standard "The Saga of Harrison Crabfeathers."

As leader

 * 1963 - The Country and Western Sound of Jazz Pianos with Toshiko Akiyoshi (Dauntless)
 * 1966 - Three Waves (Contact)
 * 1966 - The October Suite with Gary McFarland (Impulse!)
 * 1968 - Watch What Happens (MPS) also released as Steve Kuhn in Europe (Prestige)
 * 1969 - Childhood Is Forever (Charly/BYG)
 * 1972 - Chicken Feathers (With Monica Zetterlund)
 * 1972 - Raindrops (Steve Kuhn Live in New York)
 * 1972 - Steve Kuhn
 * 1974 - Ecstasy (ECM)
 * 1974 - Trance (ECM)
 * 1977 - Motility (ECM)
 * 1978 - Non-Fiction (ECM)
 * 1979 - Playground (ECM) with Sheila Jordan
 * 1981 - Last Year's Waltz (ECM)
 * 1984 Mostly Ballads (New World Records) with Harvie Swartz
 * 1986 The Vanguard Time (Owl Time Line)
 * 1986 Life's Magic (Black Hawk)
 * 1988 Porgy (Jazz City)
 * 1988 Porgy (Evidence) with Eddie Gomez, Buster Williams, Al Foster
 * 1990 Oceans In The Sky (Owl)
 * 1990 Looking Back (Concord)
 * 1990 Live At Maybeck Recital Hall. Volume 13 (Concord)
 * 1992 Years Later (Concord) with David Finck, Lewis Nash
 * 1995 Remembering Tomorrow (ECM) with David Finck, Joey Baron
 * 1995 Seasons Of Romance (Postcards Records) with Tom Harrell, Bob Mintzer, George Mraz, Al Foster
 * 1998 Dedication (Reservoir) with David Finck, Billy Drummond
 * 1998 Love Walked In (Venus) with Buster Williams and Bill Stewart
 * 1999 Countdown (Reservoir)
 * 2000 The Best Things (Reservoir)
 * 2004 Promises Kept (ECM) with Carlos Franzetti
 * 2007 Live at Birdland (Blue Note) with Ron Carter and Al Foster
 * 2009 Mostly Coltrane (ECM) with David Finck, Joey Baron, and guest Joe Lovano
 * 2012 Wisteria (ECM) with Steve Swallow and Joey Baron
 * 2013 The Vanguard Date (Owl) with Ron Carter and Al Foster

Compilations

 * 2009 Life's Backward Glances (ECM): Solo Piano, Trios, and Quartets with Steve Slagle or Sheila Jordan.

As sideman

 * 1960 Kenny Dorham: Jazz Contemporary (Time)
 * 1961 Stan Getz: Recorded Fall 1961 (Verve) mit Bob Brookmeyer, Roy Haynes
 * 1965 Art Farmer: Sing Me Softly of the Blues (Atlantic)
 * 1965 Pete La Roca: Basra (Blue Note)
 * 1966 Oliver Nelson: Sound Pieces (Impulse!)
 * 1966 Pee Wee Russell and Henry "Red" Allen: The College Concert (Impulse!)
 * 1967 Don Heckman and Ed Summerlin: The Don Heckman-Ed Summerlin Improvisational Jazz Workshop (Ictus)
 * 1979 Steve Swallow: Home (ECM)
 * 1981 David Darling: Cycles (ECM)
 * 1991 Steve Swallow: Swallow (XtraWATT) with Carla Bley and John Scofield
 * 1997 Sheila Jordan: Jazz Child (High Note)