Mahogany, Kevin (Bryant)

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(Bryant)

(b Kansas City, MO, July 30, 1958; d Kansas City, MO, Dec 17, 2017). American singer. He took up clarinet at an early age and began teaching the instrument when he was 14; he also learned piano and from the age of 12 he played baritone saxophone in big bands. He did not sing in public until he was 18, when he performed as a member of his church choir. While studying music and drama at Baker University (BFA 1981), in Baldwin City, Kansas, he led a jazz vocal group; he gave up saxophone in 1981, having realized he had a greater facility for singing. After returning to Kansas City he sang in local rhythm-and-blues and soul groups, and around 1990 he began focusing on jazz. The following year he toured Montana and recorded with both Frank Mantooth’s big band and the trio NRE. From 1993 Mahogany performed and recorded as a leader, with James Weidman (his music director) and Dave Stryker among his sidemen; that same year he recorded with Elvin Jones and around ...