Connie Kay
Encyclopedia
Connie Kay was an American jazz
drummer
.
Kay was a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet
from 1955 (replacing original drummer Kenny Clarke
) until the group's dissolution in 1974. He was self-taught, and prior to the MJQ he had played in the Lester Young
quintet from 1949 to 1955, and also with Stan Getz
, Coleman Hawkins
, Charlie Parker
, Miles Davis
and others. He also played drums on Van Morrison
's seminal LP Astral Weeks
and on three tracks on Tupelo Honey
.
& Bob Brookmeyer
With Cannonball Adderley
With Milt Jackson
With Bobby Timmons
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
.
Kay was a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet
Modern Jazz Quartet
The Modern Jazz Quartet was established in 1952 by Milt Jackson , John Lewis , Percy Heath , and Kenny Clarke . Connie Kay replaced Clarke in 1955...
from 1955 (replacing original drummer Kenny Clarke
Kenny Clarke
Kenny Clarke , born Kenneth Spearman Clarke, nicknamed "Klook" and later known as Liaqat Ali Salaam, was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming...
) until the group's dissolution in 1974. He was self-taught, and prior to the MJQ he had played in the Lester Young
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young , nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums....
quintet from 1949 to 1955, and also with Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
, Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
, Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
, Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
and others. He also played drums on Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
's seminal LP Astral Weeks
Astral Weeks
Astral Weeks is the second solo album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in November 1968 on Warner Bros. Records. It was Morrison's first album after Warner Bros. had been able to free him from his contract with Bang Records...
and on three tracks on Tupelo Honey
Tupelo Honey
Tupelo Honey is the fifth solo album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in October 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. Morrison had written all of the songs on the album in Woodstock, New York before his move to Marin County, California, except for "You're My Woman", which...
.
With the Modern Jazz Quartet
- 1955: ConcordeConcorde (album)Concorde is an album by The Modern Jazz Quartet. First released in 1955 as an LP. Recorded in New York, New York on July 2, 1955. Originally released on Prestige . Includes liner notes by Ira Gitler. The album was reissued in 2008 as part of the Rudy Van Gelder Remasters collection.This Album is...
- 1956: FontessaFontessaFontessa is a 1956 album by the Modern Jazz Quartet released on Atlantic Records. It was the first of their albums released on Atlantic.-Track listing:#"Versailles" - 3:22#"Angel Eyes" - 3:48...
, first album on Atlantic RecordsAtlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz... - 1957: No Sun in Venice
- 1957: Modern Jazz Quartet: 1957
- 1957: Third Stream Music
- 1958: The Modern Jazz Quartet Live
- 1959: Odds Against TomorrowOdds Against TomorrowOdds Against Tomorrow is a 1959 film noir produced and directed by Robert Wise for HarBel Productions, a company founded by the film's star, Harry Belafonte. Belafonte selected Abraham Polonsky to write the script, which is based on a novel by William P. McGivern. As a blacklisted writer Polonsky...
- 1959: Longing For The Continent
- 1959: Pyramid
- 1960: European Concert
- 1960: Modern Jazz Quartet in Concert, recorded in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, May 27, 1960
- 1960: Modern Jazz Quartet live and at its best
- 1961: Compact Jazz
- 1961: The Modern Jazz Quartet & Orchestra
- 1962: Lonely Woman
- 1962: The Comedy
- 1963: In a Crowd [Live]
- 1964: Collaboration with Almeida
- 1964: Plays George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess
- 1964: The Sheriff, Atlantic RecordsAtlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
- 1966: Place Vendôme The Modern Jazz Quartet and The Swingle Singers
- 1966: Blues At Carnegie Hall
- 1969: Under The Jasmin Tree (Apple RecordsApple RecordsApple Records is a record label founded by The Beatles in 1968, as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger, and Billy Preston...
) - 1969: Space (Apple RecordsApple RecordsApple Records is a record label founded by The Beatles in 1968, as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger, and Billy Preston...
) - 1971: Plastic Dreams
- 1971: Paul Desmond with the Modern Jazz Quartet, Live in New York
- 1972: The Legendary Profile (Atlantic RecordsAtlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
) - 1973: The Art of The Modern Jazz Quartet/The Atlantic Years, 2-LP Anthology (Atlantic RecordsAtlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
) - 1974: Blues on Bach
- 1974: The Complete Last Concert
- 1981: Reunion at Budokan
- 1982: Together Again! Modern Jazz Quartet Live At The Montreux Jazz Festival 1982 (Pablo RecordsPablo RecordsPablo Records was a record label founded by Norman Granz in 1972, some ten years after he had sold his jazz labels to MGM Records....
) - 1984: Echoes
- 1987: Three Windows - The Modern Jazz Quartet with The New York Chamber Symphony (Atlantic Jazz)
- 1988: For Ellington (EastWest)
- 1988: The Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn - Volume 2 - Guest Artist: Sonny Rollins (Atlantic Jazz)
- 1988: The Best of The Modern Jazz Quartet
- 1994: MJQ & Friends - A 40th Anniversary Celebration (Atlantic Jazz)
- 1995: Dedicated to Connie, released 1995, recorded live in Slovenia in 1960
- 2001: A Night at the Opera (Jazz DoorJazz DoorJazz Door was a record label that released live and studio recordings from prominent names in jazz, including Miles Davis and Joe Henderson....
) - 2006: La Ronde: A Proper Introduction to the Modern Jazz Quartet
As sideman
With Bill EvansBill Evans
William John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...
& Bob Brookmeyer
Bob Brookmeyer
Robert Brookmeyer is an American jazz valve trombonist, pianist, arranger, and composer.-Biography:Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public attention as a member of Gerry Mulligan's quartet from 1954 to 1957. He later worked with Jimmy Giuffre...
- The Ivory HuntersThe Ivory Hunters-Track listing:# "Honeysuckle Rose" - 5:55# "As Time Goes By" - 6:58# "The Way You Look Tonight" - 7:41# "It Could Happen to You" - 7:28...
(United ArtistsUnited Artists RecordsUnited Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...
, 1959)
With Cannonball Adderley
- Know What I Mean (Riverside, 1961)
With Milt Jackson
Milt Jackson
Milton "Bags" Jackson was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms...
- StatementsStatements (album)Statements is an album by jazz vibraphonist Milt Jackson, released in 1962 on Impulse! Records.The CD reissue features a composition originally on an Impulse sampler as well as quintet recordings from 1964.-Track listing:...
(Impulse!, 1962) - Jazz 'n' SambaJazz 'n' SambaJazz 'n' Samba is an album by American jazz vibraponist Milt Jackson featuring performances recorded in 1964 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow stated "This is an odd LP. The first session is a conventional one.....
(Impulse!, 1964)
With Bobby Timmons
Bobby Timmons
Robert Henry "Bobby" Timmons was an African American jazz pianist and composer.He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is best known for his role as sideman in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and the composition of "Moanin'", "Dat Dere", and "This Here", each of which are typical of his...
- Born to Be Blue!Born to Be Blue! (Bobby Timmons album)Born to Be Blue! is an album by American jazz pianist Bobby Timmons recorded in 1963 and released on the Riverside label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4 stars stating "This is excellent music but unfortunately Timmons would not grow much musically after this...
(Riverside, 1963)