Pianist Kevin Toney and Trio to Release Project, “New America Suite” on July 24th, 2012

On
July 24th, award-winning keyboardist/composer/author Kevin Toney will
be releasing an inspired project that blends traditional acoustic jazz
trio music with the compositional expanse of classical movements. Titled
New American Suite, the album introduces the artist’s dynamic new
group, The Kevin Toney 3 (a.k.a. “KT3” featuring Kevin Toney on piano,
Michael Bradford on bass and Chris Coleman on drums). New American Suite
is a 9-song work that Toney conceptualized with co-direction from music
veteran Don Mizel as a salute to the spirit of the United States. It
bows via Toney’s own K-Tone Enterprises through Distribution 13.
Arriving after six now-classic albums with `70s soul-jazz band the
Blackbyrds and seven acclaimed urban jazz solo albums, Kevin Toney’s
richly thematic New American Suite marks the culmination of a uniquely
distinguished career in music and a flying start into higher musical
altitudes. Simply stated, New American Suite is Kevin Toney’s finest
recording to date.

It wasn’t until after the group’s songs were
composed (primarily by co-producers Toney and Bradford) and recorded
that the concept of New American Suite took shape. It was the music that
told Toney what it was all about. “The title track and first song is a
suite in four sections each representing specific aspects of America’s
traditions of music, ” Kevin explains. “It begins with classical piano
flourishes, moves into a swinging jazz section that mirrors the way we
began moving away from our European counterparts, then an Afro-Cuban
section in 12/8 which builds to a powerful climax, followed by a
tranquil return to the theme in closing. The music had a patriotic feel –
uplifting, propelling and encouraging. From my vantage point, this
represented America.”

Don Mizell – Kevin’s close friend and
natural born conceptualist – was instrumental in shaping the individual
song titles as well as the over-arcing theme for the project. This
earned him the illustrious credit of Executive Creative Producer. And as
the Grammy®-winning co-producer of the great Ray Charles’ final
recording, Genius Loves Company, Mizell clearly understands a thing or
two about America! Kevin explains, “In our effort to paint a consistent
picture we came up with all of the song titles in one night.”

Highlights
of New American Suite include the brilliant and briskly driving “E
Pluribus Unum.” Taking its title from the Latin term meaning “out of
many, one” that has appeared on American currency, the piece finds the
trio swingin’ hard yet in unity just as America’s founding fathers
intended in maintaining a strong union. The feel-good number “A Soulful
Union” continues this theme in a stew of gospel, rock and soulful jazz
that reflects the reawakening of collective spirits to the truth that
all men and women are created equal. “Spacious Skies” is a tranquil
meditation of appreciation on the freedoms that Americans too often take
for granted, featuring the lyrical bass playing of Bradford. Coleman
sets up a tasty reggae swing hybrid on “Love is All We Need” over which
Toney unconsciously recalls the breezy melodicism of the great Vince
Guaraldi. The one non-original piece of New American Suite is a most
original arrangement of Ragtime king Scott Joplin’s familiar 1902
classic “The Entertainer” (popularized again in 1973 as the theme for
the movie “The Sting”). “Our goal was to bring the composition into 2012
with reharmonization and a relaxed forward motion groove, ” Toney
states.

A seasoned veteran, Kevin Toney first started playing
piano at age five in his city of birth, Detroit, Michigan. His first
teacher was his sister Helen. At eight, he added cello and alto
saxophone to his skill set. He later attended the prestigious Cass
Technical High School and performed with many of his city’s top
musicians. Kevin graduated to attend Howard University in Washington,
D.C. where he earned his B.A. in composition and jazz studies. During
his tenure, he became the leader of the The Blackbyrds, the innovative
jazz-soul fusion sextet founded by jazz trumpet legend Donald Byrd.
Kevin wrote and co-penned many of the band’s most memorable music
including the hit “Rock Creek Park”, “All I Ask, ” and the brassy
Grammy®-nominated scorcher “Unfinished Business.” After six now-classic
`70s Soul albums, the group disbanded and Kevin recorded his first solo
LP, Special K in 1982.

Kevin Toney truly came into his own with
his 1994 release Lovescape, featuring his composition “Kings” which
became a staple of then burgeoning smooth jazz radio. Over the next
decade-plus, Kevin’s sound evolved over seven more meticulously crafted
CDs that found him experimenting in nearly every contemporary music
palette. He also became a fan favorite presence on the American jazz
festival circuit.

Beyond his own music, Kevin Toney has performed
with an impressive survey of major artists that includes Aretha
Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Kenny Burrell, Nancy Wilson Whitney Houston,
Shania Twain, Frank Sinatra, Carl Anderson, Oscar Brown Jr., Shirley
Caesar, Pink, Isaac Hayes, Norman Brown, Andrew White and more. He also
scored two films: the period drama “Kings of the Evening” (starring Lynn
Whitfield and Tyson Beckford) and the documentary “The Kinsey
Collection” (about a married couple that assembled the largest
collection of African and African American artifacts in the United
States). In fact, it is a work from their collection – “Fugue 2000” (oil
on canvas) by renowned painter Richard Mayhew – that graces the cover
of Kevin Toney 3’s New American Suite, courtesy of his dear friends
Bernard and Shirley Kinsey.

As an author, Kevin’s books include
“The Virtuous Man, Breaking The Men’s Code”. This book addresses the
misconceptions (“Men’s Code”) that men have learned from an early age
regarding marriage and family, the baggage that men often bring into
their marriages and their struggle in letting go of them. Other
published books are The Kevin Toney Collection, Volume I and Heart of
Gratitude: Piano Solos.

Kevin is a mentor for the ‘Manformation
Project, ’ a Los Angeles-based rites of passage setting that brings boys
of 10-18 years of age into contact with Godly minded men to cultivate
positive growth. Kevin and his wife – renowned costuming designer
Phyllis Toney – also started The Toney Family Foundation which focuses
on arts and music related philanthropy.

Kevin’s awards and
achievements include two Grammy® nominations, three RIAA Gold Record
awards, NAACP Image Award, National Endowment For the Arts Fellowship
Grant, and a honorary member of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.

CD
cover painting by Richard Mayhew – Courtesy of the Kinsey Collection:
Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey at the Smithsonian
Institute.

New American Suite CD [KTE 1002] will be in stores July 24th.
New American Suite CD will be distributed by Distribution13 – www.distribution13.com