Re: More on Kenny Poole


I've been playing the handful of Kenny's arrangements that I know for
the last few days. They are so simple yet so musical. It's almost
impossible not to fall into a nice steady groove while playing them. I
plan to learn many more while I have time.





(Tim Berens) wrote:
Here is more on the story of the too soon death of Kenny Poole.

Last fall, Kenny was diagnosed with cancer of the esophogus. He had
been having trouble eating and holding down food for a very long time
before he went to the doctor about it. When he finally did visit a
doctor he got the bad news.

He began treatments for the cancer, but after only a short while, he
chose to discontinue the treatments. He decided to just live what
was left of his life without undergoing radiation and chemo. While
he was undergoing the first couple of treatments, the doctors were
able to give his system a good boost that probaly extended his life by
a few months.

Kenny kept playing his gigs. He gigged right up until the point where
he no longer had the strength to get through a gig. He was playing
marvelously well -- better than ever -- right up to the point where he
was no longer strong enough to hold a guitar. He began to deteriorate
rapidly about a month ago, when he had to cancel a performance with
Gene Bertoncini in Cincinnati.

He entered Hospice of Cincinnati for the last couple of weeks of his
life. One fellow who talked to him 3 days before he died said that he
still had all his mental faculties and that he was just as ornery as
ever.

Kenny slipped into a coma on Friday night, and passed away peacefully
Saturday morning.

Kenny spent his life avoiding fame. He chose a quiet life of solo
jazz gigs in his hometown, and deliberately avoided any sort of
limelight. Those of us who live near him were blessed to have had a
guitarist of his caliber to go out and hear.

Kenny played guitar as well as anyone who has ever played guitar. He
reached that very rare level of skill where nobody plays better than
he did. This is not to say that Kenny was "better" than everybody
else, but rather that nobody played better than Kenny.

Kenny developed a fluency with solo guitar playing that was
astonishing. He was able to maintain 3 voices at once in an
improvisatory manner -- a melody, a bass line, and chordal
accompaniment -- and he created arrangements "on the fly" that would
be worthy of notation and weeks of practice. And then he could do the
same song in every other key in different styles.

Joe Pass knew and respected Kenny as did George Van Eps. In fact,
every guitarist who ever heard Kenny play was immediately amazed by
his skill and artistry.

It wasn't just finger and brain skills with Kenny though. His playing
moved the listener's soul. Many nights, his fans would arrive at the
beginning of the gig and sit there for 3 hours, enchanted, bewitched,
thrilled, touched.

If you had the amazing good fortune to hear Kenny perform live,
consider yourself very lucky.

We miss you, Kenny.

Tim




Tim Berens
http://timberens.com
timb at erinet.com
A Website for Guitarists
Learn Something. Have some fun.

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