Closely associated at times with
Wynton and
Branford Marsalis,
Kenny Kirkland surprisingly only led one CD of his own prior to his premature death. He started playing piano at age six and later studied at the Manhattan School of Music. Among his early jobs were playing with
Michal Urbaniak (on electric keyboards) during 1977,
Miroslav Vitous (1979),
Terumasa Hino, and
Elvin Jones. Influenced by
Herbie Hancock,
Kirkland was well-featured while with
Wynton Marsalis' band (1981-1985), but his departure in 1985 to play pop music with
Sting (along with
Branford Marsalis) greatly upset
Wynton. After leaving
Sting in 1986,
Kirkland became a session musician and in the early '90s, he joined the Tonight Show band (under the direction of
Branford Marsalis); his only album as a leader was for GRP (1991).
Kirkland was found dead in his Queens, NY, apartment on November 13, 1998; he was just 43 years old. ~ Scott Yanow