Dave McKenna

Among the best swing-based pianists of days gone by 25 years, Dave McKenna’s hard-driving basslines offer momentum to uptempo parts, and his vast understanding of better songs through the 1930s has led to many rewarding albums of traditional but fresh music. Although talented right away, McKenna didn’t achieve that very much reputation until he had been in his forties. He became a member of the Music artists’ Union when he was 15 and found early experience using Boot styles Mussulli (1947), Charlie Ventura (1949), and Woody Herman’s Orchestra (1950-1951). After 2 yrs in the armed forces, McKenna had another stint with Ventura (1953-1954) and worked with a number of best golf swing and Dixieland players including Gene Krupa, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Eddie Condon, Bobby Hackett, and Bob Wilber (in the past due ’70s), and was a soloist at piano pubs in Massachusetts. McKenna got documented for ABC-Paramount (1956), Epic (1958), Bethlehem (a two-piano time distributed to Hall Overton in 1960), and World (1963), however in 1973, McKenna’s abilities finally begun to be more completely noted. He led models for Halycon, Shiah, Famous Door, Internal Town (with vocalist Teddi Ruler), and four for Chiaroscuro. And in 1979 without Bass Strike (a trio time with Scott Hamilton and Jake Hanna), McKenna debuted with Concord, locating his house. He has produced many classes for Concord since, some like a sideman or with little groups, however the greatest ones becoming unaccompanied recitals. Within the middle-’90s Dave McKenna was near the top of his field.