Ken Rhodes

US-American jazz pianist and composer. Born August 14, 1945 in Memphis, Tennessee. Died August 28, 2016 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina Born into a family of musicians in Memphis, Tenn., Rhodes started taking piano lessons at 6. He was reared in Chicago and led jazz trios throughout high school. He received a master’s degree in composition at the now-defunct (after 105 years) American Conservatory of Music in Chicago and went to the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati to work on a doctorate degree in composition. He had a career in Europe and taught at the Cincinnati conservatory before moving to Winston-Salem in 1987 to work as a resident accompanist and composer in the departments of Dance and Drama at UNC School of the Arts. He retired in 2013. He lived in Europe in the 1970s, working as a rehearsal pianist for the Augsburg Opera and a house musician for the Nuremberg Drama Theaters. He played with the Bavarian Radio Big Band and the Dusko Goykovich Quintet, and toured with a jazz trio that he led. He wrote extensively in the classical milieu including one symphony. Matt Kendrick, leader of the Matt Kendrick Trio and local jazz impresario, met Rhodes about 30 years ago. “I was his bass player for the past 15 years,” Kendrick said. “He was my friend. He introduced me to my wife. He was a well-read and intelligent person. I loved to talk to him. He was just a great pianist. I loved playing with him. “He swung so good. He had an impeccable sense of swing, and he had a great grasp of harmony and knowledge of composition. ... I felt really thankful to be able to play with him.” Kendrick was in Rhodes’ trio, and Rhodes played with the Matt Kendrick Trio, which has played for an open-mic night at Tate’s Craft Cocktails for the past seven years..” Rhodes recorded several widely circulated CDs, including “Profiles” on the Amayana label in 1974 in Germany and “The Ken Rhodes Trio Live at the Reynolda House Museum of American Art” in 2000, with Kendrick and Thomas Taylor. In 1994, he played on Chris Murrell’s debut album, “Reprise.” Rhodes was a devout atheist.