Kevin Toney 3 – New American Suite
Biography
In recent years America has seen a paradigm shift toward the manifestation of real, forward thinking change – especially in the minds of people of faith. Keyboard master and composer Kevin Toney was already in the midst of a personal metamorphosis when these positive changes began to take shape. The fruits of Kevin’s and his country’s evolution are both in beautiful, vibrant evidence on his latest recording, New American Suite. This dynamic music also marks the debut of his new band The Kevin Toney 3: Kevin Toney on piano, Michael Bradford on bass and Chris Coleman on drums.
How sweet the sound…pushing and advancing musical boundaries around.
“When the men’s group at our church had a barbecue at Michael’s house,” Kevin recalls of their origin, “I peeked inside his studio and saw platinum plaques proving he’d worked with everybody from Anita Baker to Deep Purple. We did a few church gigs and secular gigs together, and genuinely clicked. Then when I needed a new drummer, bass great ‘Ready’ Freddie Washington referred Chris who was working with Prince, Stanley Clarke and others. The chemistry was clear between all three of us the very first night. I couldn’t wait for us to work on new music – embracing tradition but with fresh new-found energy. This is a group of brothers that loves God – we play and pray together. To be around musicians that share the same values is extremely important to me. Out of that spiritual evolution came musical reinvention, resulting in ‘KT3’ – a group where each member brings something of equal value to the table.”
It wasn’t until after the group’s songs were composed (primarily by co-producers Toney and Bradford) and recorded that the concept of New American Suite took shape. Simply put, it was the music that told Toney what it was all about. “The first song was a suite in four sections each representing specific aspects of America’s traditions of music,” Kevin explains. “It begins with classical piano flourishes, moves into a swinging jazz section that mirrors the way we began moving away from our European counterparts, then an Afro-Cuban section in 12/8 which builds to a powerful climax, followed by a tranquil return to the theme in closing. The music had a patriotic feel – uplifting, propelling and encouraging. From my vantage point, this represented America. I did some studying and learned that classical composer Antonin Dvorak titled one of his 19th century works ‘American Suite.’ we decided to call our piece ‘New American Suite,’ claiming that groundwork of music and culture through the looking glass of right now.”
Music industry veteran Don Mizell – Kevin’s close friend, colorful confidante and natural born conceptualist – was instrumental in shaping the individual song titles as well as the over-arcing theme for the project. This earned him the illustrious credit of Executive Creative Producer. And as the Grammy-winning co-producer of the great Ray Charles’ final recording, Genius Loves Company, Mizell clearly understands a thing or two about America! Kevin explains, “In our effort to paint a consistent thematic picture, we came up with all of the song titles in one night.”
Highlights of New American Suite include the brilliant and briskly driving “E Pluribus Unum.” Taking its title from the Latin term meaning “out of many, one” that has appeared on American currency, the piece finds the trio swingin’ hard yet in unity just as America’s founding fathers intended in maintaining a strong union. The feel-good number “A Soulful Union” continues this theme in a stew of gospel, rock and soulful jazz that reflects the reawakening of collective spirits to the truth that all men and women are created equal. “Spacious Skies” is a tranquil meditation of appreciation on the freedoms that Americans too often take for granted, featuring the lyrical bass playing of Bradford. Coleman sets up a tasty reggae swing hybrid on “Love is All We Need” over which Toney unconsciously recalls the breezy melodicism of the great Vince Guaraldi.
The cleverly titled “Cyberia” is another suite-like composition, this one reflecting the lightning-fast world of the internet age via the twists and turns of Toney’s and Bradford’s composition and the ensemble’s psychically intertwined playing. Meanwhile, “Family Time – Getting Happy” rolls with a New Orleans swagger – the one song co-composed by drummer Coleman with Kevin. Conversely, the South American flavored “In God We Trust” closes the CD on a billowy cloud of hope and peace reflecting our country’s core beliefs.
The one non-original piece of New American Suite is a most original arrangement of Ragtime king Scott Joplin’s familiar 1902 classic “The Entertainer” (which enjoyed a renaissance in popularity in 1973 as used in the movie “The Sting”). “Our goal was to bring the composition into 2011 with ‘reharmonization’ and a relaxed forward motion groove,” Toney states. No stranger to contemporizing standards, Toney produced a whole album of the Duke’s work on 2001’s Satin Doll: Smooth Jazz Plays Ellington. What he does with “The Entertainer” is far more impressive, capturing Kevin at his absolute improvisational peak – a peak he is still climbing from a long and fruitful journey.
A seasoned veteran, Kevin Toney first started playing piano at age five in his city of birth, Detroit, Michigan. His first teacher was his sister Helen. At eight, he added cello and alto saxophone to his skill set. He later attended the prestigious Cass Technical High School and performed with many of his city’s top musicians. Kevin graduated to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C. where he earned his B.A. in composition and jazz studies. During his tenure, he became the leader of the The Blackbyrds, the innovative jazz-r&b fusion sextet founded by jazz trumpet legend Donald Byrd. Kevin wrote and co-penned many of the band’s most memorable music including the funk hit “Rock Creek Park”, the lovely harmonica-laced instrumental ballad “All I Ask,” and the brassy Grammy-nominated scorcher “Unfinished Business.” After six `70s Soul classics, Kevin left the group and recorded his first solo LP, Special K in 1982.
Kevin Toney truly came into his own with his 1994 release Lovescape, featuring his composition “Kings” which became a staple of then burgeoning smooth jazz radio. Over the next decade-plus, Kevin’s sound evolved over five more meticulously crafted CDs that found him experimenting in nearly every contemporary music palette. Among the honors he earned was having his 2001 album Strut selected by the 2002 Winter Olympics Committee as “official music” alongside that of Paul McCartney and Alicia Keys. He also became a fan favorite presence on the American jazz festival circuit.
Beyond his own music, Kevin Toney has performed with an impressive survey of major artists that includes Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Shania Twain, Isaac Hayes, Carl Anderson, Shirley Caesar, Oscar Brown Jr., Edwin Hawkins, Pink, Kenny Burrell, Whitney Houston, Norman Brown and Peter White. He also scored two films: the period drama “Kings of the Evening” (starring Lynn Whitfield and Tyson Beckford) and the documentary “The Kinsey Collection” (about a married couple that assembled the largest collection of African and African American artifacts in the United States). In fact, it is a work from their collection – “Fugue 2000” (oil on canvas) by renowned painter Richard Mayhew – that graces the cover of The Kevin Toney 3’s New American Suite, courtesy of his dear friends Bernard and Shirley Kinsey.
In line with Kevin’s personal spiritual evolution he wanted his music to make thematic statements as well. Thoughts of a trilogy emerged within conversations with Don Mizell. The first chapter was the 2008 solo piano recording Heart of Gratitude (a.k.a. A Grateful Heart). This CD takes the listener on a spiritual journey through music in hopes of encouraging a deeper connection with God. Mirroring the message of that music, Kevin is a mentor for the ‘Manformation Project,’ a Los Angeles-based rites of passage setting that brings boys of 10-18 years of age into contact with Godly minded men to cultivate positive growth. Kevin and his wife – renowned costuming designer Phyllis Toney – also started The Toney Family Foundation, focusing on arts and music related philanthropy.
The second chapter of Toney’s trilogy is the work at hand – New American Suite – which represents new musical landscapes of jazz and improvised music in a contemporary expressing while maintaining ties to earlier musical roots. For Kevin, whose first studies were of classical music and jazz piano greats Art Tatum, Fats Waller, Ahmad Jamal, and McCoy Tyner, this was nothing new – more a revisiting to his roots. The upcoming third chapter of his trilogy is a large-scale work he foreshadowed on his 110 Degrees and Rising CD with the rapturous symphonic piece “Touched By You (Suite 2005).”
“This cycle of creatively brings to bear everything I’ve done up to this point in my evolution,” Kevin concludes. “I look forward to expanding my palette by writing for symphony orchestra and larger musical forms as well.” Don Mizell surmises, “As Kevin stretches into new creative directions, he continues to do what he’s always done – make records that are accessible and appealing, all the while digging to pull out deeper levels of expression – keeping him gracefully engaged in artful invention…and the very American tradition of ingenuity.
- A. Scott Galloway
(March 2011)
