Calvin Keys

American jazz guitarist Calvin Keys is best known for his first two albums, Shawn-Neeq (1971) and Proceed with Caution! (1974). Born in Omaha, Nebraska, on February 6, 1943, he was introduced to music by his father Otis, a well-known drummer on the local scene, before turning to guitar. Hired by Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson at the age of seventeen, he then moved to Kansas City and accompanied several musicians, including Jimmy Smith, and participated in the soul jazz scene that forged his energetic, swaying style. In 1970, Calvin Keys moved to Los Angeles, California and signed with Gene Russell's Black Jazz Records, for whom he produced the jazz-funk album Shawn-Neeq (1971), which became a classic of the genre and had a palpable influence on generations to come. After playing for Ray Charles, the guitarist recorded Proceed with Caution! (1974) and took part in sessions for Gene Russell and Doug Carn, before moving to San Francisco, where he worked with Billy Brooks and, between 1975 and 1980, in pianist Ahmad Jamal's band. This period also saw Calvin Keys accompany musicians such as Bobby Hutcherson, Leon Williams, Eddie Duran and others. Calvin Keys was still very active on tour and in the studio in the 1980s, notably with Tony Bennett, Pharoah Sanders and Sonny Stitt, before signing with Olive Branch Records and resuming his solo career with the albums Full Court Press (1985) and Maria's First (1987). Thereafter, between recordings for Lifeforce Jazz, Wide Hive, and Silverado, Calvin Keys continued to play on the West Coast. He collaborated with composer James Newton Howard on the soundtrack to the film Dying Young (1991) and reunited with Ahmad Jamal. After heart surgery in 1997, he brought together a wide range of musicians for the album Detours into Unconscious Rhythms (2000), accompanying Big John Patton, Dr. Lonnie Smith, and Taj Mahal in concert. Further albums followed, and Pat Metheny paid tribute to him with the track "Calvin's Keys.” His final album, Blue Keys, was released in 2022. Calvin Keys died on April 14, 2024, at the age of 82.

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