Album Notes

KRAIG KILBY BIOGRAPHY

I began playing trombone and studying music when I was nine years old in Denver, Colorado. My late father, who was an Army officer at that time, was transferred to Germany when I was twelve, and my music endeavor really began to take off. By the time I was fourteen, I was playing principal trombone in a German-American symphony, having succeeded my private teacher who returned to the United States. It was also during this time that I began taking piano lessons.

After graduating from high school in 1965, where I won the Bank of America Award in music as a senior, I attended the College of Marin and then graduated from Long Beach State University (both in California) with a degree in Music Performance. As a matter of fact, I was among the first students to be granted permission to include jazz on my senior recital program. This was quite a highlight for me, especially after all the previous years of classical and formal training.

I've performed with several artists, including Bill Medley, The O'Jays, the late Michael Bloomfield, Otis Clay , the late Johnny Taylor and Albert Collins,The Fifth Dimension, Lola Falana, The Whispers, with whom I spent ten years, Boz Skaggs, The Louie Bellson Big Band (Northern California edition), and since 1989, Etta James. I've been in the recording studio on and off for over thirty years, and was included on the 1995 Grammy Award - winning album for Etta James, entitled "Mystery Lady", which was a tribute to Billie Holiday and was arranged by the incomparable jazz pianist, Cedar Walton.

Along with performing and recording over the years with various artists, I have been cultivating my own original music, featuring the trombone and keyboards. With the trombone being an instrument that, in my view, hasn't been nearly as exposed and/or profiled as other wind instruments, I have always been inspired to create and release music that features and highlights the instrument. My current CD, entitled "Satori", featuring the Herbie Hancock legends Paul Jackson on bass and Michael Clark on drums, is my first offering of this music, and I was honored to receive a nomination for the title track from the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, which were held at the Kodak Theater on November 19, 2009, in Hollywood.

"Let us all enter an everlasting milieu of Compassion,
allowing the Force within,
with its Creative Intelligence,
to heal ourselves and each other"

Kraig Kilby

--ENJOY!!--