Kevin Toney 3 - New American Suite (2012)

Award-winning, 2x Grammy nominated pianist/composer/author Kevin Toney releases an inspired project that blends traditional acoustic jazz trio music with the compositional expanse of classical movements. Titled New American Suite, the album introduces the artist s dynamic new band, The Kevin Toney 3 featuring Kevin Toney on piano, Michael Bradford on bass and Chris Coleman on drums). New American Suite is a 9-song work that Toney conceptualized with co-direction from music veteran Don Mizell as a salute to the spirit of the United States. Arriving after six now-classic albums with 70s soul-jazz band the The Blackbyrds and seven acclaimed urban jazz solo albums, Kevin Toney s richly thematic New American Suite marks the culmination of a uniquely distinguished career in music and a flying start into higher musical altitudes New American Suite consisting of eight new original pieces plus a dynamic arrangement of Scott Joplin s ragtime masterpiece The Entertainer finds Toney and his remarkably tight new unit creating richly multi-faceted landscapes of improvised music in a contemporary expression, all the while maintaining ties to Americana roots that were, naturally, deeply influenced by the melting pot of cultures that have come to call it home. Song titles such as Spacious Skies, In God We Trust and Cyberia metaphorically represent ideas and concepts of this New America in which we now live. Simultaneously, the playing of the musicians as an ensemble and in brilliant solo turns showcases psychic interplay and the utmost sensitivity.The album bows via Toney s own K-Tone Enterprises.