For
pianist David Kikoski it’s but a matter of course that tradition and
innovation go hand in hand. Already in his boyhood he got a grounding in two traditions at
once: sat down at the piano by his father, a part-time musician himself, young David was
taught songs of Duke Ellington and Count Basie and the basics of Chopin and
Beethoven. In high school bands David played both rock and jazz, the latter interest
taking him later on to study at Berklee. On graduating in piano performance in 1984,
Kikoski stayed in Boston. Club performances brought him in contact with a number of future
collaborators, Roy Haynes and Pat Metheny among them. Switching to New York soon landed
him gigs with Randy Brecker and Bob Berg, bassist Santi Debriano and the band of Puerto
Rican saxophonist David Sanchez. After first two solo albums for smaller record companies
(the second, «Persistent Dreams», produced by Steely Dan’s Walter Becker)
Kikoski’s talent arose major label interest. Epic/Epicure released his eponymous
third record in 1994. «There are so many styles of music, jazz and otherwise, that
you’re exposed to. The challenge is to use all that in your own way, to personalize
all that», David Kikoski admits. Well, he already has found a number of
ways, hasn’t he?
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