Jazz performance March 16 features pianist Frank Kimbrough

Jazz pianist Frank Kimbrough performs March 16 at 8 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center’s Rosen Concert Hall at Appalachian State University. Admission is free.

Kimbrough will be joined by bass player Ron Brendle and drummer Al Sergel.

The program will feature original compositions by Kimbrough. “I usually don’t plan in advance exactly what I’ll play or in what order,” Kimbrough said. “I like to keep things as spontaneous as possible.”

Kimbrough will announce the program during the performance. A North Carolina native, Kimbrough attended Appalachian from 1975–78.  

“I visited campus when I was in high school and went to a big band rehearsal and improvisation class,” Kimbrough said. “The jazz bug had recently bitten me. I wanted to be with those people and study music.”

A piano performance major, Kimbrough left college with a bass player he met in school and began performing at a popular music venue in Chapel Hill. He later moved to New York where he has been active on New York’s jazz scene for more than 25 years.

Kimbrough will work with students in Appalachian’s Hayes School of Music while he is on campus.

“I really enjoy getting the chance to interact with students,” he said. “It gives me a chance to see what the young folks are into and to pass along some of my experiences. One of most gratifing things is to spend time with students and answer their questions.”

Kimbrough recently joined the Juilliard School’s jazz program as a piano instructor. He previously taught at The New School University and New York University.  He has conducted workshops and master classes at Oxford University, Paris Conservatory, Oberlin, Eastman School of Music and the University of Minnesota.

Kimbrough is a Palmetto recording artist and has made more than a dozen recordings as a leader for the Palmetto, OmniTone, and Soul Note labels, and has appeared on nearly 50 more recordings as a sideman.

His tour experience includes appearances in the United States, Canada, Brazil, England, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Macao. Kimbrough has played with the Maria Schneider Orchestra since 1993. He is featured on her Grammy winning CD “Concert in the Garden.”

“Play,” his latest trio CD on Palmetto Records, was released in May 2006. It was named one of the top 10 CDs of 2006 by the Wall Street Journal, New York Newsday and the Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald. 

“Air,” his solo piano debut on Palmetto, features original compositions along with tunes by Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Paul Motia. The CD was named as one of the top 10 jazz releases of 2008 by Slate magazine.