Live at Maybeck Recital Hall is an album of solo performances by jazz pianist Dave McKenna, recorded in 1989. When Joanne Brackeen first arrived at the tiny Maybeck Recital Hall for a concert in June 1989, she was so delighted with the piano and the acoustics that she insisted that Concord owner Carl Jefferson arrange to have her performance there recorded. The message hit home and over the next few years, several dozen solo piano concerts were duly recorded by the label until the hall was sold and it was no longer available for tapings. One of the first concerts to follow Brackeen's featured Dave McKenna. He seems in a particularly lyrical mood throughout this afternoon concert, though his trademark buoyant bassline is often present.
Terence Kemp McKenna (November 16, 1946 - April 3, 2000) was an American researcher, philosopher, speaker, spiritual teacher and writer on many subjects. His works are wide-scoped, ranging from consciousness, the human experience, psychedelic substances and their role in societies, evolution of civilizations, origin of the universe to aliens.
Dave McKenna made a remarkably piano solo debut in 1955 with the fifteen tunes he recorded for ABC Paramount (1-15). The remaining tracks on this compilation also come from a solo album, one he cut almost eight years later for the label Realm. Playing without a rhythm section, a key challenge for a jazz pianist, McKenna accomplished a recital of lasting value and pleasure. He plays with strength, individuality, fine beat and technique, and constant taste in all tempos. He is a wonderfully co-ordinated two-handed pianist.
Home and the people who make it have captivated Lori McKenna for years. Over the last three decades, as she became a wife and mother of five, she has also emerged as one of the most respected, prolific singer-songwriters in popular music. Her 2016 release The Bird and the Rifle netted three Grammy nominations, along with Americana Music Association nods - all firsts for McKenna as an artist. Then, she made history: In 2016, she became the first woman ever to win the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year two years in a row thanks to co-writing Little Big Town’s Girl Crush and penning Tim McGraw’s no. 1 Humble and Kind solo. Both songs also clinched back-to-back Grammy wins for Best Country Song. In 2017, she became the Academy of Country Music’s first female Songwriter of the Year. The Tree [2018], her eleventh studio album, was nominated for the 2019 Americana Awards Album of the Year. 2020 brings a new record for McKenna, The Balladeer, produced by Dave Cobb.
Columbia Records release eagerly anticipated second record from 21 year old singer / songwriter. This 10 song follow up to 2017's What Do You Think About The Car? includes the hit singles Beautiful Faces, The Key To Life On Earth, Daniel, You're Still A Child and latest single Be An Astronaut.