Kenny Davern

John Kenneth Davern's embryonic days in the music world found him as a big band sideman in various sax sections, and then on to the classic jazz combos of Greenwich Village and New York's uptown clubs as a clarinetist, to his soprano sax adventures in the Soprano Summit, and now back to the clarinet with which he has solidly established himself as one of the finest players in the entire world.

Davern is a native of Huntingdon, Long Island. As a young professional at the age of 16, he sat in with many of the legendary groups in New York City and the fast company gave him the background he needed to become a member of Jack Teagarden's band and to record with Jack at age 19. The bands of Phil Napoleon and Pee Wee Erwin found Kenny in the front line alongside these giants from 1955 through 1965, and fans in the Big Apple were warming up to this burgeoning new talent.

Stints with Billy Butterfield and Herman Autry in the late 50's as well as Ruby Braff paved the way for his own group at Nick's. Recognition was solidified with a year's tour in 1963 with the Dukes of Dixieland, followed by engagements in New York and Canada with "Wild Bill" Davison, Bud Freeman, and Shorty Baker.

The Ferryboat in Brielle, N.J. and the Gaslight Club in New York occupied a lot of his time through 1968. The late 60's and early 70's found him working with Dick Wellstood quite a bit in clubs such as Michael's Pub in New York. Between club appearances, Kenny began to appear at the some of the many festivals and jazz societies that were springing up all over the country, which gave him a new exposure to many people who were previously unaware of him.

Another stamp of approval came when the Soprano Summit's first recording was released in 1973 and the group officially formed in 1975. The great reed star, Bob Wilber, proved to be the ideal musical partner for Davern, and while this unique group lasted but a short time, their sound has made them an unforgettable item in anyone's record collection.

The United Kingdom and Australia have always been receptive to Kenny's talents as wall as his impish humor, which sets up his individual style as a foremost exponent of the traditional as well as an explorer of the sounds and tastes of the present. Tours of the U.K. and "down under" with the World's Greatest Jazz Band have spread the gospel of Davern even further.

Kenny has appeared in the film classic The Hustler starring Paul Newman as well as the Broadway show Marathon-33 and the Off- Broadway show One Mo' Time.

The early 80's found him forming the Blue Three with Dick Wellstood and Bobby Rosengarden. They made a highly successful recording and toured the US and abroad. Recordings with Ralph Sutton and Gus Johnson as well as Dick Wellstood and Art Hodes are still big sellers. His recording The Very Thought of You in 1985 won the Music Trades Association Award as the Best Jazz Record of the Year in England, where a few years earlier he had been selected as the Number One Clarinetist in the World by the English Jazz Journal Reader's Poll.

The busy years since 1985 have found Kenny at many American festivals, European tours, clubs, and concerts such as: the Breda, Holland festival with the Eddie Condon Club Band; tours with the Blue Three; the Dick Gibson Colorado Jazz Party; the Miller party in Scottsdale, Arizona; The Thunderbird Ski Lodge in Taos, New Mexico; the Odessa and Midland, Texas jazz parties; the Sarasota, Florida Jazz Festival; and jazz cruises aboard the S.S. Norway.

Kenny Davern is featured in the Riverwalk program :