American drummer (1927–1994)
Connie Kay
Kay in 1961
Birth name Conrad Henry Kirnon Born (1927-04-27 ) April 27, 1927Tuckahoe, New York , U.S.Died November 30, 1994(1994-11-30) (aged 67) Genres Jazz Occupation Musician Instrument Drums Years active 1940s–1990s Formerly of The Modern Jazz Quartet
Musical artist
Conrad Henry Kirnon (April 27, 1927 – November 30, 1994) known professionally as Connie Kay , was an American jazz and R&B drummer,[ 1] Modern Jazz Quartet .[ 2]
Biography
Self-taught on drums, Kay began performing in Los Angeles in the mid-1940s. His drumming is recorded in The Hunt Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray on July 6, 1947. He recorded with Lester Young 's quintet from 1949 to 1955 and with Stan Getz , Coleman Hawkins , Charlie Parker , and Miles Davis .
Kay did R&B sessions for Atlantic Records in the early to mid-1950s, and he was featured on hit records such as "Shake, Rattle and Roll " by Big Joe Turner and Ruth Brown 's "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean ".[ 3]
Kay joined the Modern Jazz Quartet in 1955, replacing original drummer Kenny Clarke .[ 1] cool jazz altoist Paul Desmond through the first half of the 1960s. He played drums on several of Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison 's albums: Astral Weeks [ 1] Saint Dominic's Preview Tupelo Honey [ 4]
Kay was known for incorporating percussion instruments alongside his drum kit, such as timpani , small cymbals, triangle, bell tree , and darbukas , the latter referred to as "exotic-looking" drums in a 2006 article.[ 5] [ 6]
In 1989, Kay received an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music .[ 7]
Kay had a stroke in 1992, but recovered enough to resume performing. He died of cardiac arrest in Manhattan in 1994 at the age of 67.[ 6] [ 8]
Discography
The Modern Jazz Quartet at the Music Inn Volume 1 (3D, 1956)One Never Knows (Atlantic , 1957)Patterns (United Artists , 1960)The Modern Jazz Quartet Plays for Lovers (Prestige , 1965)Concorde Fontessa The Modern Jazz Quartet Plays No Sun in Venice The Modern Jazz Quartet The Modern Jazz Quartet and the Oscar Peterson Trio at the Opera House Verve , 1957)The Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn Volume 2 Music from Odds Against Tomorrow Pyramid European Concert Dedicated to Connie The Modern Jazz Quartet & Orchestra Third Stream Music (Atlantic, 1960)The Comedy Lonely Woman A Quartet is a Quartet is a Quartet (Atlantic, 1963)Collaboration Laurindo Almeida The Modern Jazz Quartet Plays George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess Jazz Dialogue Concert in Japan '66 (Atlantic [Japan], 1966)Blues at Carnegie Hall Place Vendôme The Swingle Singers Under the Jasmin Tree Apple , 1968)Space Plastic Dreams The Only Recorded Performance of Paul Desmond With The Modern Jazz Quartet (Finesse/Columbia, 1971 [1981]) – with Paul Desmond The Legendary Profile In Memoriam Little David , 1973)Blues on Bach The Last Concert Reunion at Budokan 1981 Together Again: Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival '82 Pablo , 1982)Echoes Topsy: This One's for Basie Three Windows For Ellington Rose of the Rio Grande (Capitol, 1989)MJQ & Friends: A 40th Anniversary Celebration A Night at the Opera (Jazz Anthology, 1994)Live at the Theatre Royal, Bath (BBC, 2001)[ 9]
As sideman
With Cannonball Adderley
With Chet Baker
With Ruth Brown
With Miles Davis
With Paul Desmond
With Bill Evans & Bob Brookmeyer
With Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray
With Coleman Hawkins
With Jimmy Heath
With Scott Hamilton
With Milt Jackson
Milt Jackson Quartet Plenty, Plenty Soul Bean Bags Coleman Hawkins (Atlantic, 1958)Bags' Opus The Ballad Artistry of Milt Jackson Bags & Trane Vibrations Big Bags Invitation Statements Impulse! , 1962)For Someone I Love Jazz 'n' Samba In a New Setting I/We Had a Ball With John Lewis
With Jay McShann
With James Moody
With Van Morrison
With Joe Newman
With Sonny Rollins
With Michel Sardaby
Night Cap (Sound Hills, 1970)With Lucky Thompson
With Bobby Timmons
With Randy Weston
References
^ a b c Colin Larkin , ed. (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music Virgin Books . p. 225. ISBN 1-85227-937-0 ^ Yanow, Scott. "Connie Kay" . AllMusic . Retrieved July 25, 2017 . ^ "What Do You Know About...Connie Kay" . Moderndrummer.com . Retrieved January 17, 2019 .^ Tupelo Honey, Van Morrison LP (Warner WS-1950, 1971)
^ Mariani, Rob (December 27, 2006). "Connie Kay Plays the Drums Impeccably" . All About Jazz . Retrieved July 25, 2017 . ^ a b Watrous, Peter (December 3, 1994). "Connie Kay, 67, Drummer, Dies; A Specialist of Sounds and Styles" . The New York Times . Retrieved July 25, 2017 . ^ "Luther Hughes and friends tribute to the modern jazz quartet" . Pete Carlson's Golf & Tennis . Retrieved April 15, 2020 .^ "Connie Kay; Longtime Drummer With Modern Jazz Quartet" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved September 30, 2018 .^ "The Modern Jazz Quartet | Album Discography | AllMusic" . AllMusic . Retrieved July 25, 2017 .
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