KEVIN MAHOGANY

The artist maintains his/her own homepage: www.jazzsinger.com/mahogany/mahogany

Born in 1958, Kevin Mahogany first started setting his goals when he began playing the saxophone in junior high school. He studied the instrument under the tutelage of saxophonist Ahmad Alaadeen at Kansas City's Charlie Parker Academy. At age 12, Kevin stepped into the professional spotlight with a baritone saxophone, performing with Eddie Baker's New Breed Orchestra, an 18-piece big band. He continuously honed his skills on woodwind instruments, percussion and piano, while teaching clarinet to beginning students.

Kevin's hidden passion for singing exploded in his senior year of high school and continued into college, where he formed his own jazz choir. At Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas, he received a degree in fine arts. Kevin returned to Kansas City, where - in 1981 - he put down his saxophone for the last time and began concentrating on a singing career, inspired by Eddie Jefferson, Jon Hendricks, Mark Murphy and Al Jarreau. He founded his group "Mahogany and The Apollos" which performed rhythm and blues, jazz, and popular music. Eventually the group became simply "Mahogany" and gained a regular following over a 10-year span.

It was around that time that Kevin started booking national artists into local clubs. When the Montana-based NRE Trio came to Kansas City and heard him sing, they asked him to tour with them. In the winter of 1991-92, Kevin performed eight concerts with the trio in Montana; a live recording resulted from the tour. Also impressed with Kevin's performance at a local club, pianist Frank Mantooth asked the vocalist to participate in two songs of his record "Dangerous Precedent". Recently, Kevin has given a concert and clinic at Central Missouri State University and was featured guest artist at the University of Kansas Jazz Festival.

In February 1993, he recorded his debut album "Double Rainbow", a selection of seldom-heard ballads, bop tunes, and blues. A special interest is put on the song lyrics, including words by "vocalizers" such as Eddie Jefferson, Jon Hendricks and Oscar Brown Jr., and even the great novelist James Baldwin. The album features Kevin's remarkably rich and warm voice in a wide range of style, accompanied by the skillful swinging of Kenny Barron (piano), Ralph Moore (tenorsax), Ray Drummond (bass) and Lewis Nash (drums). Released in June 1993, "Double Rainbow" met with sudden critical acclaim. "The ballads - always a test of any jazz talent - are appropriately touching but never overly sentimental. And while it can be an acquired taste, only a handful of vocalists have ever scatted with the overwhelming power of Kevin Mahogany" (Bob Brownlee).