Critical Acclaim for Kenny
The declaration of love for the city where he was born creates an intimate portrait, far from any cliché. As described by Alain Gerber in the sleevenotes, “the master of the pure, the immensely subtle, in its most direct expression.” Brad Mehldau’s teacher brings the art of poise and lucidity to a very high level. Rarely have ballads of the night sounded as sincere.
- “So Jazz (About 2010 Release “New York Love Songs”)
“Let us say it out straight: this work, which would be served by a long analysis, represents the esthetic culmination of the great pianist Kenny Werner’s carreer and a white stone (marking stone) in the history of jazz arrangement and – composition; nothing quite as forceful and as profound has appeared since the work left by Gil Evans and George Russell”
– Classica (France)
“This CD is much more than music. It is pure sentiment, feeling, love – and the miracle is, that it transmits so flawlessly to the listener. If your goal, which I believe, was to bridge gaps between people, you have certainly succeeded. Here I sit, across an ocean, fully amazed at the closeness of this music, full of joy, sorrow, and the tranquility of this music. This CD is one deep breath and is crafted by a musical mastermind, whom I bow to. Everything falls into place.”
– Anders Koppel
“The process (No Beginning No End) was hardly effortless. It is, however, by any measure masterful.”
– Jazz Inside
“Perfection. 360 degrees of soul and science in one human being. My kind of musician.”
– Quincy Jones
“Kenny Werner is a total musician. He feeds my heart and my brain and pushes me into fresh territories. I am grateful that our agendas can coincide that often.
P.S. He also wrote a book on how to “liberate” one’s own creativity!”
– Toots Thielemans
“… an ebullient stylist … his solos start evenhandedly and become wooly rides into the darkness.”
– The Village Voice
“a pianist who tempers fearsome technique with a questing spiritualism”
–Nate Chinen, The New York Times
“Mr. Werner and his trio took apart two pieces, a swinging original of his own called ‘Jackson Five’ along with ‘You and the Night and the Music’, and reconfigured them with all sorts of nearly miraculous rhythm and tempo changes….a type of rhythm section fluidity that’s rarely heard….Mr. Werner is a clear virtuoso, and when he solos there’s wit everywhere, with clichés dragged out of the closet to poke fun at or
rhythmic bumps added for humor.”
– Peter Watrous, New York Times
“When one hears pianist Kenny Werner, that feeling of elation is clearly front and center.”
– Zan Stewart, The Newark Star Ledger
“Whether soloing or interpreting, Werner takes you outside, but not by any route you’ve followed before. You never know where he’s going, but every place he takes you is a delight.”
– Keyboard Magazine
“Werner has become one of our most literate and visceral pianists.”
– JAZZTIMES
“Since about 1980 Kenny Werner has been one of jazz’s unsung heroes”
– Harvey Pekar
“Werner owns more chops and brains than most pianists do….Werner hardly raises his voice to make subtle points, couching his logic in neat vamps, sinewy angular lines, dizzying rhythmic double entendres.”
– Down Beat
“Werner, patient as a spider, spins a web of lyric calm and dancing beauty and fills in the corners, not budging far from his center….Werner’s set – one of the very best in a series [Live At Maybeck Hall] that has quietly become a bellwether for pianists of our era – merely shows one gentler aspect of an extraordinary gifted artist.”
– The Boston Pheonix
“Pianist Kenny Werner . . . He’s a bold, brave player and composer, unafraid to tackle spiritual and political matters through the medium of instrumental music, and he presents his ideas with uncommon clarity. Werner is a consummate sideman and leader, and he’s also a deep thinker about this music — his book Effortless Mastery is widely read by those who want to make jazz.”
–Joe Klopus, The Kansas City Star