Pianist Barry Kiner

[George Karpinsky]

Can anyone give any information on pianist Barry Kiner.Is he still alive and
is he still playing? If known,last one or two records.Thanks in advance.
George.

[Tom Marcello]

Barry was one of my dearest friends. He passed away in 1986. He was
brilliant, funny and one of the greatest pianists ever. A giant. Those of
you that never heard him would be amazed at his awesome gifts that pale in
comparison to many of todays players. But I guess that was also true when
Barry was with us.
Besides his recordings he made with Buddy Rich ( who loved and admired him),
he made two records on his own. The first was on the Phoenix label with Tom
Warrington on bass and Danny D'Imperio on drums. The second is a self
produced recording that teamed Barry with bassist Frank Pulara called Live
at the Strath. Both are great and Of course I have each plus many hours of
club and concert recordings that I made over the years. Ask some of todays
players who knew him; Steve Marcus, Joe Locke, Chuck Mangione, Steve Gadd,
Barry Harris,Joe , John and Pat LaBarbra and Joe Romano. They will tell you
that Barry was THE REAL THING.
Barry's brother Steve, has been trying to get releases from Bob Porter , who
produced the Ist. record and has been trying to finance the remastering of
other recording so they can be released and Barry's great talent can be
shared with people today. Steve can be reached at:
skie...@rochester.rr.com. I'm sure he would be glad to hear form you or
anyone who has a interest in Barry's work. I'm glad he isn't forgotten. I
know that those that he touched hasn't.
Thanks for remembering,
Tom Marcello
George Karpinsky wrote in message ...

[Don1217]

I knew Barry casually while growing up in the Rochester, New York area in
the 1970's. Barry lived near a meat market my father operated in the Rochester
suburb of Brighton. I remember Barry coming in our store and purchasing candy
and soda along with his brother. I remember he would invariably be wearing a
t-shirt with a print of Charlie Parker on it; I think it said "Bird Lives!".

Unfortunately, I started a career and moved away from Rochester before Barry
became well known in the area and began playing in the clubs. As such I never
had the pleasure of hearing him perform live. I do however have a copy of his
Phoenix LP which I treasure (a fine example of hard driving bebop piano) and a
casette tape of a concert that was broadcast on NPR and one or two of the Buddy
Rich LPs on which Barry performed. Every now and then I pull these out and
revel in Barry's genius.

I remember seeing Richie Cole perform down in Yonkers a few years back and
talking to him between sets about the fine talent that came out of the upstate
New York area. As many of you know, Richie cut his teeth with the Buddy Rich
big band. Richie had great praise for Barry's playing.

I agree that Barry's passing was indeed a profound tragedy to the world of
jazz as well as to those who I know loved him deeply.

I for one eagerly await the release of some of Barry's work on CD.

(DonNania)