Virtuoso Jazz pianist Myron McKinley returns to the Bornemann Theatre on the TERI Campus of Life in San Marcos on Saturday February 8 with his “Rebirth of Cool” show where Jazz is king and the cats are cool. As well as being an A-List Jazz musician, McKinley is also the music director for Earth, Wind and Fire, and I had the pleasure of speaking with him before his last performance at the Bornemann Theatre last year, days before he set out with Earth Wind and Fire on their tour huge Summer tour.
So how does one grow up to become one of the top legends in Southern California Jazz? Well, starting at an early age helps as well as having a top-level pedigree of teaching to add to that, McKinley explained that his family was the first step on his road to Jazz greatness.
“Everybody in my family was kinda musical, so my mom – she put me on the piano – she saw I had aptitude for it so I had lessons at 3 and by 5 I was doing little recitals and by 8, I was playing at people’s weddings! You know, making $100 and my mom would give me 10 and say go get whatever you want, and I thought it was the best thing ever!” he recalled.
He credits his mom with inspiring him on piano because he says her style reminded him of Ray Charles. McKinley grew up in South Central LA, so he did not have a lot of peer support from the neighborhood kids, but between school and studying, he made it happen. His affection for Jazz came at a later age with the support of some very influential teachers. “I started out learning classical, and then my teacher around 14 introduced me to Jazz. And I kinda fell in love when I started hearing the greats like Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, and Chick Corea. I started listening to them and was amazed that they could do what they did! Wynton Marsalis was our teacher at USC Performing Arts School. We were like 14 or 15 taking lessons from him and he was serious, you know, we were kids but he didn’t care. It wasn’t like you were kids – you were musicians! – so it doesn’t matter if you were a kid. You know, that’s how his mentality was. Yeah he was a great teacher he gave us like 9 Thelonious Monk albums and said ‘Learn this!’ so yeah, great time!”
Myron McKinley is a true pleasure to watch on stage as he performs his unique style of Jazz. He is the master of finesse and his music can go from being very quiet and fragile, to swelling and surging like an ocean, then right back to a whisper again. And his band is so good that they all match his ambiance to a tee. Have you ever heard a drummer play quietly before? Me neither until that night! His songs are not typical at all, but more like scores or passages in a classical sense, which makes sense given his background. These songs are journeys that take you to many different places along the way, and gently deliver you back to your seat safe and sound. He enjoys himself truly as he plays and that joy is evident to all and is absolutely magical to be a part of. His body language is completely involuntary and he practically levitates from his seat when the music kicks into high gear. The tempo can grow as his songs evolve and he speaks in tongues as the passion overwhelms him. His performance has no dancing, no costumes, and no stage props. Just a virtuoso pianist and a trio of jazz greats, but it’s one of the best music shows you will ever see.
Clearly, his gig as Music Director for Earth, Wind and Fire is also a huge part of his life, and he gets to play his beloved piano onstage with them as well, so it’s a win-win for everybody. He says it’s a prestigious position that is quite unique and quite different from his Jazz gigs.
“It’s a huge production, it’s a huge production. But it’s a lot of fun! My job is kinda formulating the songs for everybody to know. Tying the things together, you know, because everybody in there are legends, all the musicians pretty much have played with everybody – we’ve got some pretty amazing cats in there. So it’s not a lot of work as far as teaching parts, it’s more or less like ‘Hey, this is the song we’re gonna do, here’s the segue into it,” and it’s been a learning experience and a blessing!”
You don’t wanna miss Myron McKinley in this very intimate performance at one of San Diego County’s newest and coolest venues where there is not a bad seat in the house. Dinner is available at the stylish TERI Common Grounds Café from 5pm to 8pm for those who want to get there early.
BORNEMANN THEATRE
TERI Campus of Life
555 Deer Springs Rd, San Marcos, CA 92069
$35 – $65 Reserved Seating
Doors 7:00PM
SHOW 8 PM
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