The great names in the forefront of Jazz in the 50s and 60s (Miles
Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Cannonball
Adderly) agreed on one thing at least. For them the strongest and most supportive
piano accompanist was, without doubt Wynton Kelly. Fellow pianist Bill
Evans also was full of praise for the Jamaican born New Yorker and said after
one of his concerts: "Nothing about it seemed calculated .. there was just pure
spirit shining through the conception". He made his first leader recordings
for Blue Note at the age of 19 in mid-1951. The pianist also worked with Lester
Young, Dinah Washington and Dizzy Gillespie during the '50s. Having played
on dozens of other people's records, Kelly went into the studio under his own
name and recorded with the rhythm section of the Miles Davis Quintet (Kelly was
to join Davis the next year) which featured Jimmy Cobb on drums and Paul Chambers
on bass. Although perhaps not a house-hold name, Kelly certainly had a lot of
admirers amongst fellow musicians. Ellis Marsalis for example respected Kelly
so much that he named one of his sons after him.
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