Song:Sweetheart
Album:Legends Of Acid Jazz
Organist Charles Kynard is best known for his 1968-1971 albums on Prestige Records. He's not as well known as his labelmate Charles Earland because Kynard was never a full time musician. But today he is revered by hip hop and Acid Jazz guys and is frequently sampled. He was born Feb. 20, 1933 in Kansas City, MO. His uncle Ben Kynard was in Lionel Hampton's band. He learned piano as a child. He started playing clubs while attending the University of Kansas. That's when he switched to organ. While in the US Army, he toured with their band. In the early 60s, Kynard played organ at Kansas City A's games. He moved to Los Angeles in 1963 to become a special needs teacher. He played clubs at night and he even played organ at his local church every Sunday. Kynard first recorded as a leader for World Pacific in 1963. He worked frequently with guitarist Howard Roberts and that got him into the LA studio scene where he worked on film music. Kynard also toured with Gladys Knight and Jimmy Witherspoon. Kynard signed with Prestige Records in 1968. His albums for Prestige are his best known albums. This Legends Of Acid Jazz CD contains two of those albums. Sweetheart is from the 1970 album Afro-Disiac. The songs are written and arranged by Richard Fritz. Musicians are Houston Person on tenor sax, Grant Green on guitar, Jimmy Lewis on bass and Bernard Purdie on drums. The second album on this CD is Wa-Tu-Wa-Zui from 1971. Musicians are Virgil Jones on trumpet, Rusty Bryant on tenor sax, Melvin Sparks on guitar, Jimmy Lewis on bass and Idris Muhammad on drums. This CD is available at a budget price. Jazz fans should check it out. After five albums for Prestige, Kynard recorded three albums for Mainstream. His final album was in 1973. At that point, he occasionally played clubs. But he concentrated on his teaching job until his death on July 8, 1979 at age 46. One current musician and Missouri native who is a big Kynard fan is Pat Metheny. Here's a video for Sweetheart by Charles Kynard.
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