In a tragic coda to this year of COVID-19, jazz pianist Frank Kimbrough died on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020.
Kimbrough was the guest artist on the last concert at Bowling Green State University before the pandemic shut down all performances.
He was here as the guest for Jazz Week. While at BGSU he worked with students, sharing his four decades of experience in the business. He performed a concert with the jazz faculty followed the next night by a show with the Jazz Lab I, directed by his friend and colleague David Bixler. The next day both he and Bixler flew back to New York City.
His discography dates back to the 1980s, performing both with musicians from the New York scene as well as fellow North Carolinian bassist Ron Brendle. His most recent recording was an ambitious documentation of all the compositions of Thelonious Monk, “Monk’s Dream: The Complete Compositions of Thelonious Sphere Monk.”
He also championed the music of jazz composer Herbie Nichols, as co-founder with bassist Ben Allison of the Herbie Nichols Project.
Kimbrough was also well known for his collaboration with composer Maria Schneider. He performed as pianist in her jazz orchestra for 26 years.
Kimbrough was a consummate collaborator. He told BGSU students that the most important quality as a musician was “how to play with the cat standing next to you and make him sound good.”
– David Dupont, BG Independent News
