Rodney Kendrick
The Secrets of Rodney Kendrick
By Ralph Burnett Mainstream jazz has typically been very slow to embrace its new arrivals -- not so with Rodney Kendrick. Almost from the moment The Secrets of Rodney Kendrick.(Verve/Gitanes Jazz) was released, Rodney has received thunderous applause from music critics and a growing pool of fans that dictate jazz radio charts. We have been introduced to a number of good mainstream pianists over the past few years, but none that play with quite the amount of fire and harmonic depth Kendrick can summons. Anyone who has seen an Abby Lincoln concert these last few years knows who Rodney Kendrick is, but none quite as well as Abby, herself: "Rodney Kendrick is a true lover of music. He's an expert pianist and technician who interprets through feeling and emotion. He is one of the new wonders on the musical scene to whom we always look for the continuation and further development of the music we call jazz. Rodney looks to his elders and follows a musical tradition of dedication and excellence." |