Kenny MacKenzie
Vital Stats
Age: 44.
Instruments Piano/keyboards, bass guitar, alto sax. I've been known to croon now and then.
Bands you perform with on a regular basis: Kenny MacKenzie Trio, Seven Octaves, Shenole Latimer Quartet.
Day job: Full-time musician.
Hometown: Selden, N.Y.
Current residence: Palm Coast.
Type of music you perform: Straight-ahead jazz, fusion, funk, electro, techno, house, IDM (intelligent dance music), minimal.
Repertoire sampler: Originals -- "Always Leaving," "Sarabande," "Good Manners," "Face to Shine." Covers -- "Cast Your Fate to the Wind," "Captain Marvel," "But Not For Me," "Heart and Soul."
Upcoming area gigs: Jazz with the Kenny MacKenzie Trio, 7:30-10:30 p.m. July 30, Angell & Phelps Café, 156 S. Beach St., Daytona Beach. No cover. Information from the venue: 386-257-2677.
CDs: Kenny MacKenzie Trio -- "There You Are," "Closer to the Day," "KMT II."
Seven Octaves -- "Simple Work," "Snow Frogs" (EP).
All are available at iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon and all the major online vendors, except for "KMT II," which is available at ReverbNation or Tradebit, 79 cents a track.
Web site: kmtrio.com.
Taking Notes
Who or what inspired you to take up music? I assume you had different influences for your jazz and electronic sides?
Anybody who makes the absolute most of their lives. I've been inspired by the lives of classical composers (Bach, Schubert, Antheil and especially Gottschalk) and also by great Americans like John Adams and Teddy Roosevelt.
A few years back I found inspiration to create by watching "Project Runway" -- LOL. Bassist Mike Savino was instrumental in getting me to pursue a jazz career. Ultimately, however, I believe you need to know yourself. Once you know yourself, you make the right choices of what to throw yourself into wholeheartedly.
As far as playing goes, I've been influenced by Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Michel Camilo, Bill Evans, Red Garland, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. I don't really listen to much electronic music.
Is the electronic music you do with Seven Octaves your dirty little secret, something you keep hidden from your jazz bandmates and jazz fans? After all, people seem to think of the jazz world as composed of finicky elitists.
Ha-ha. Yes -- until very recently. It really comes down to age and taste. Having an open mind musically and playing jazz tend to go hand in hand. Most of the younger musicians I play with have a keen interest in it. Radio station music directors, deejays, critics and the more purist jazz fans are the ones I've been careful about revealing my "dark side" to.
What was the most unusual or memorable gig you've ever played?
Well, I was a Long Island wedding musician in the '80s, so I've seen some things -- ha-ha. The most memorable performance for me so far would be a gig at Louis Bar in the East Village NYC, with Mike Savino and Jeremy Carlstedt on drums -- just one of those nights when everything and every person there was electric.
What musician/celebrity/historical person would you most like to have dinner with?
Charles Wesley. Rimsky-Korsakov. Gillian Anderson. I can think of people I'm much more in awe of -- but that very fact is likely to make me get too quiet!
What was the last book you read?
"Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds" by Bernd Heinrich.
What CD/tape/music is in your car/home stereo/iPod right now?
"The Steeple on the Common," various artists.
What is your favorite movie?
"The Matrix."
What was the best concert you ever attended?
Jazz -- Roy Haynes Trio with Danilo Perez and John Patitucci, Birdland, New York City, 2001. I've never before or since seen a jazz audience rise to its feet in the middle of a song from sheer excitement. Haynes played like a 20-year-old, and Perez's enthusiasm is contagious. Amazing.
Rock -- Yes, 35th anniversary, Madison Square Garden. Words cannot describe. You had to be there.
"If I didn't play music, I would . . . ":
Teach school. I've done it and love it. Kids really are amazing. I fancy myself a film director as well, but it seems like a lot of work.
"I'd sell my soul for . . .":
Not an option -- Jesus already paid for it.
