McKee, Andy

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McKee, Andy

McKee, Andy, jazz bassist; Philadelphia, Nov. 11, 1953. He studied with Al Stauffer from 1975 to 1978; he played with Richard Davis (1976), and Homer Mensch (1988). In Philadelphia he worked with Hank Mobley, Johnny Hartman, “Cee” Sharp, Walt Dickerson, and Philly Joe Jones, who was a particular influence. After arriving in N.Y. in 1980, he performed with Jaki Byard, Clifford Jordan, Sal Nistico, Charlie Rouse, Billy Harper, Mike Richmond, and Brazilian drummer Edison Machado. While living in Paris in the mid-1980s, he played and toured with Mal Waldron, Clark Terry, Steve Lacy, Don Cherry, Horace Parian, Steve Grossman, Barry Altschul, Daniel Humair, Marcial Solai, Franco D’Andréa, and others. He has been a longtime member of groups led by Philly Joe Jones, Chet Baker, Michel Petrucciani, and Elvin Jones, as well as the Mingus Dynasty, and since 1997, the Mingus Big Band. He leads Andy McKee & Next. He is a faculty member at The New School, teaches privately, and is a presenter of master-classes at conservatories around the world; he taught at Rutgers-Newark (1995–96).

Discography

Sound Roots (1996).

—Lewis Porter