Kenny Shanker

Kenny Shanker is a saxophonist, pianist, vocalist, and award-winning composer. He grew up in Pleasanton, CA and began playing piano when he was two years old. Of Kenny, Grammy Award-winning producer, Jeff Jones has said that ???he taps into a universal soul with his playing. . . . With fluidity and ease, he can capture the heart and mind of the many. He is a classic.???

Kenny won an ASCAP award for composition, and wrote music for the soundtrack of the independent film, Out of the Fog. His first album, Steppin??? Up, was released on September 6, 2011 on Posi-Tone Records. Todd Barkan, Programming Director at Jazz at Lincoln Center, hailed it as ???a masterful recording with a tremendous amount of heart and soul.??? All About Jazz called it ???impressive??? and ???immediately enjoyable, with enough twists and turns to reward repeated listening.???

Kenny has performed with the New World Symphony, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, R&B singer, Shannon (???Let the Music Play???), David Benoit, Richard Bona, Shelly Berg, Martin Fry, Lage Lund, and many others. He has also played the national anthem for the Oakland Raiders and the Golden State Warriors and toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, South America, and Japan. Locally, he has performed at Carnegie Hall, Smoke, Birdland, Fat Cat, The Garage, The Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, and Dizzy???s Club Coca-Cola. He currently resides in New York City.