John Carroll Kirby

When big pop, R&B, and indie stars are looking for an extra sparkle, one business card is on top of the pile: that of the American composer and collaborator John Carroll Kirby. You can find his keyboard work, production, and/or arrangements on the albums of, among others, Norah Jones, Miley Cyrus, Frank Ocean, Harry Styles, Solange, Steve Lacy, Eddie Chacon, and Connan Mockasin. JCK may have a background in jazz, but his immediately recognizable style mixes genres and styles without scruples. Since 2020, he has been focusing on his solo work and letting his lush compositions – somewhere between funk, ambient, new age, and jazz – come to the fore. With success, because in addition to enthusiasm from media like Pitchfork and The Fader, Kirby can also count on a loyal fanbase. On August 28, the influential hip-hop label Stones Throw will release his latest album 'Piano Works 2016-2026'. It will consist of fourteen spontaneous pieces that John Carroll Kirby composed and recorded while touring, whenever he had the opportunity to sit behind a piano. With this, Kirby moves away from the full-band sound of his last albums. Piano Works is intended as a report of his life as a pianist and touring musician, or as he says himself: ‘the melodic/harmonic lexicon for what would inform all my other compositions of the past ten years’. A record so intimate that it seems made for the setting of Cactus Café. JCK presents 'Piano Works 2016-2026' with a solo concert on piano.