I played what would be my final gig at the 55 Bar last month. The bar had been in the same location since 1919 and reports of live music taking place there go back to the 1950s. Mike Stern made it a thing in the mid 1980s. Here is a playlist of some videos of me performing there, going back to 2009, my earliest gigs in New York with Com Voce. Included in the list is the “Evoke” Quartet with Mike Moreno, the “Unified” Quartet with Benito Gonzalez as well as the new “Brooklyn Calling” band with Paul Bollenback. A …
The JAMFS Are Coming by Johnny Griffin
Here’s a funky blues head called “The JAMFS Are Coming” by Johnny Griffin, one of my all time favorite tenor players. I’ve been playing this head around town lately at jam sessions and last week, while workshopping some new music in the studio for my next album, I decided to record it. The musicians who joined me on this date are Lee Tomboulian piano, Curtis Ostile bass, and Diego Joaquin Ramirez on drums. I sincerely hope you enjoy it!
Beekman33 Piano Recital June 16, 2013
Father’s Day was bittersweet for me. My dad, Joe Killian, passed away last month at the age of 86 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He imbued a profound love of music in me. He never forced me to learn piano, he just made it so fun that I wanted to try it out. I must have seen him play a hundred times growing up and not once did it ever occur to me that I’d be performing with him in my band many years later. Oftentimes, he’d be practicing a new song for an upcoming gig, and I …