Cyrus Chestnut
Background information
Born	(1963-01-17)January 17, 1963 (age 62) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Genres	Jazz,blues
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, producer
Instrument	Piano
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Alfa,Evidence,Atlantic,Warner Bros.,Telarc,WJ3
Website	www.cyruschestnut.net

Cyrus Chestnut (born January 17, 1963) is an Americanjazz pianist, composer andproducer. In 2006,Josh Tyrangiel, music critic forTime, wrote: "What makes Chestnut the best jazz pianist of his generation is a willingness to abandon notes and play space."^[1]

Cyrus Chestnut was born inBaltimore, Maryland, in 1963, the son of McDonald (a retired post-office employee and church pianist) and Flossie (a city social services worker and church choir director).^[2] Chestnut began learning the piano at the age of seven, and in his boyhood played at Mount Calvary Baptist Church.^[2] By the age of nine,^[3] he was studying classical music at thePeabody Institute.^[2] In 1985, Chestnut earned a degree in jazz composition and arranging from Boston'sBerklee College of Music.^[4]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Chestnut worked withWynton Marsalis,Terence Blanchard,Donald Harrison, and other bandleaders. He joined the band of jazz vocalistBetty Carter in the early 1990s and appeared on her 1992 albumIt's Not About the Melody. That same year, he recorded his first albums as a bandleader,The Nutman Speaks andNut. Chesnut has continued to work and record as a bandleader into the 21st century.

In 2006,Telarc releasedGenuine Chestnut, his first album for the label. On it he is accompanied by his regular trio of Michael Hawkins, bass and Neal Smith, drums. Additional artists on this session includeRussell Malone, guitar and Steven Kroon, percussion. It includes jazz interpretations of some well-known pop numbers of the past half-century, including "If", the early 1970s soft-rock ballad byBread. "This song has been with me ever since the sixth grade," Chestnut recalled, "I had to play it for my English teacher's wedding. I've played it in many and various contexts. I actually played it in a Top 40 band when I was just out of school. A lot of time has passed, but then recently I just started thinking about it again."^[5] Chestnut's own "Mason–Dixon Line" is one of the album's high points, a joyful bebop number.^[6]

WithGerald Albright

• Giving Myself to You (Atlantic, 1995)

WithCarl Allen

• Testimonial (Atlantic, 1995)

With Carl Allen &Rodney Whitaker

• Get Ready (Mack Avenue, 2009)

With Tiffany Austin

• Unbroken (Con Alma, 2018)

WithGary Bartz

• The Blues Chronicles: Tales of Life (Atlantic, 1996)

WithKathleen Battle

• So Many Stars (Sony, 1995)

With Alexander Berenson

• Take Me With You (Butman Music, 2010)

WithDee Dee Bridgewater

• Prelude to a Kiss: The Duke Ellington Album (Phillips, 1996)

WithJeri Brown

• Fresh Start (Justin Time, 1996)

WithRonnie Burrage

• Shuttle (Sound Hills, 1993)

WithAnn Hampton Callaway

• To Ella with Love (Sin-Drome Records, 1996)

WithBetty Carter

• It's Not About the Melody (Verve, 1992)
• The Music Never Stops (Blue Engine, 2019)

WithJames Carter

• In Carterian Fashion (Atlantic, 1998)
• Gold Sounds (Brown Brothers, 2005)

WithMichael Carvin

• Between Me and You (Muse, 1989)
• Revelation (Muse, 1991)

WithFreddy Cole

• Always (Fantasy, 1995)
• A Circle of Love (Fantasy, 1996)
• To The Ends of the Earth (Fantasy, 1997)
• Le Grand Freddy (Fantasy, 1999)

WithCarla Cook

• It's All About Love (MaxJazz, 1999)
• Dem Bones (MaxJazz, 2001)
• Simply Natural (MaxJazz, 2002)

WithElvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet

• The Juliet Letters (Warner Bros., 1993)

With Dee Daniels

• State of the Art (Criss Cross, 2013)
• Intimate Conversations (Origin, 2014)

WithMichael Dease

• Grace (Jazz Legacy, 2010)

WithDr. John and theDonald Harrison Band

• Funky New Orleans (Metro, 2000)

With Cynthia Felton

• Afro Blue: The Music of Oscar Brown Jr. (CD Baby, 2012)
• Freedom Jazz Dance (CD Baby, 2012)
• Save Your Love For Me (CD Baby, 2014)

With TheDizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band

• I'm BeBoppin' Too (Half Note, 2009)

WithJimmy Greene

• Beautiful Life (Mack Avenue, 2014)

WithMark Gross

• Blackside (Jazz Legacy, 2012)

WithRoy Hargrove

• With the Tenors of Our Time (Verve, 1994)

WithDonald Harrison

• Full Circle (Sweet Basil, 1990)
• For Art's Sake (Candid, 1991)
• Indian Blues (Candid, 1995)
• Big Chief (Past Perfect, 2002)

WithVincent Herring

• Folklore: Live at the Village Vanguard (MusicMasters, 1994)
• Don't Let It Go (MusicMasters, 1995)
• Days of Wine and Roses (MusicMasters, 1996)
• The Uptown Shuffle (Smoke Session, 2014)
• Hard Times (Smoke Sessions, 2017)

With Laird Jackson

• Quiet Flame (Venus, 2016)

WithDenise Jannah

• I Was Born In Love With You (Blue Note, 1995)
• A Heart Full of Music (Timeless, 2000)

WithGeorge Kawaguchi

• Between Me and You (Muse, 1989)
• Revelation (Muse, 1991)
• Plays Herbie Hancock (King Japan, 2004)

With The Keystone Quartet

• A Love Story (32 Jazz, 2000)

WithKevin Mahogany

• Another Time Another Place (Warner Bros., 1997)

WithWynton Marsalis

• The Marciac Suite (Columbia, 2000)
• Higher Ground (Blue Note, 2005)

WithChristian McBride

• Gettin' to It (Verve, 1995)

WithBette Midler

• Bathhouse Betty (Warner Bros., 1998)

WithCharnett Moffett

• Music from Our Soul (Motéma Music, 2017)

WithGeorge Mraz

• Bottom Lines (Milestone, 1997)
• Duke's Place (Milestone, 1999)

WithRoy Nathanson

• Fire at Keaton's Bar & Grill (Six Degrees, 2000)

With Chiara Pancaldi

• I Walk a Little Faster (Challenge Records, 2015)

WithMadeleine Peyroux

• Dreamland (Atlantic, 1996)

WithMorris Robinson

• Going Home (Decca, 2007)

With Jackie Ryan

• Doozy (Open Arts, 2008)

With Ameen Saleem

• The Groove Lab (Jando Music, 2013)

With Andy Scott

• Angels (Jazz Legacy, 2015)

WithJimmy Scott

• Mood Indigo (Milestone, 2000)
• Moon Glow (Milestone, 2003)

WithMarilyn Scott

• Every Time We Say Goodbye (Venus, 2008)

WithBud Shank

• By Request: Bud Shank Meets the Rhythm Section (Milestone, 1997)

With Jae Sinnett

• Blue Jae (Valley Vue, 1992)
• House and Sinnett (Positive Music, 1994)
• Listen (Heart Music, 1997)

WithBilly Taylor

• Taylor Made at the Kennedy Center (Kennedy Center, 2005)

WithJoris Teepe and TheDon Braden Quintet

• Pay As You Earn (Mons, 1995)

WithTim Warfield

• Cool Blue (Criss Cross, 1995)
• A Whisper in the Midnight (Criss Cross, 1996)
• Gentle Warrior (Criss Cross, 1998)
• Jazz Is (Criss Cross, 2002)
• Eye of the Beholder (Criss Cross, 2013)

WithSadao Watanabe

• Remembrance (Verve, 1999)

WithKim Waters

• Tribute (Warlock, 1992)

WithRodney Whitaker

• Children of the Light (Koch, 1996)

WithPhil Wilson's Rainbow Band

• Latin American Tour (Shiah, 1985)

WithSteve Wilson

• Step Lively (Criss Cross, 1995)

With Joh Yamada

• Bluestone (Milestone, 1999)

WithDave Young

• Two by Two, Volume Two (Justin Time, 1996)
• Side by Side (Justin Time, 1996)

• Cyrus Chestnut official website
• Hip online interview
• Jazz Police review
• Interview with and performance by Cyrus Chestnut at NPR.org
• Cyrus Chestnut, pianist, bandleaderArchived 2007-09-30 at theWayback Machine

• 1963 births
• Living people
• American jazz pianists
• American male jazz pianists
• African-American pianists
• Musicians from Baltimore
• People from Harford County, Maryland
• Atlantic Records artists
• Berklee College of Music alumni
• 20th-century American pianists
• Baptists from Maryland
• Jazz musicians from Maryland
• 21st-century American pianists
• 20th-century American male musicians
• 21st-century American male musicians
• WJ3 Records artists
• HighNote Records artists
• Smoke Sessions Records artists
• 20th-century African-American musicians
• 21st-century African-American musicians

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