Joe Kenney Band
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Joe Kenney Band

Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2015

Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, United States
Established on Jan, 2015
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Music

Press


"Hear Joe Kenney’s uplifting song “Another Side” featuring Joy Ike"

The music involves a piano-led soulful jazz-fusion instrumentation, with additional horn sounds. The singer’s honeyed vocals complements the heartwarming and uplifting composition. The therapeutic lyrics is a reminder to keep hope and always hold the belief that there’s some light at the end of whichever long dark tunnel you find yourself in. - Aipate Magazine


"Joe Kenney ''Before the Storm'' - an introspective piano gem"

Joe Kenney is an American pianist who has come to our attention with his thoughtful, mature piano piece entitled ''Before The Storm''.


While the title of the song may suggest that the music might carry within itself a warning of some sort, what you hear is one the most peaceful, easy-listening composition on the market. Perhaps it is the infamous 'quiet' before the storm, that the composer is capturing? If that be the case, then this piece hits the nail right on its head - its jazzy licks gently caressing the ear, all the while long, elongated chords bring your heart-beat below resting point, making you forget about any possible oncoming trouble.


Jazz piano at it's finest and available at the link below: - Music Dances When You Sleep


"Laura Lizcano and Philly pianist Joe Kenney meditate on loss and connection in new single “All’s Not Lost”"

'All’s Not Lost' truly succeeds as a collaboration between a gifted instrumentalist and vocalist. Kenney’s piano and Lizcano’s voice complement each other well, neither aspect overshadowing the other, and backing instrumentation by bassist Warren Mobley and drummer Lenny Mobley subtly intertwine Kenney and Lizcano even further. The song itself is a quiet mediation on loss and human connection, both ephemeral and eternal, a point enforced by the music and lyrics alike. 'All’s not lost, as we find our souls / Moving on, traveling different roads,' Lizcano sings in the chorus, and Kenney’s solo in the bridge is at once optimistic and melancholy, further reinforcing the bittersweet theme.​ - Melannie Jay


"On-Air Quote from Meredith Hairston"

Life will inevitably be a series of ups, downs, highs, lows, lefts and rights. Music, for many, is the solace at the very bottom of the low and the excitement at the peak of the high. One listens for the shared encounter; the relatable mood. The experiences Mr. Kenney shares with his audience on Afflictions & Remedies are commonplace and relatable for so many. Heartache. Suffering. Love. Hate. While the experiences themselves may be brutal, blunt, and bare, the music on Afflictions & Remedies is just the opposite. There’s something calm, gentle, and adorning in the melodies Mr. Kenney creates. Pain and triumph linger in the ear, anxiously awaiting the next story to be told. The album’s journey is not complete without the blues and ragtime feel of “Critical Departure”. The vibe of this song is a true departure from the sweet, clean tones found in the music up to this point. It’s clever with just the right amount of edge. Afflictions & Remedies is a beautiful painting of a piano at work. - WJSU, Radio, Jackson State, MS


"Philly Pianist Covers Twenty One Pilots... and its Perfection"

I'll admit, I'm a pretty harsh judge when it comes to covers but when an artist is able to completely re-imagine a song, in a totally different format....you have my attention. Joe Kenney has my attention - Wendy Rollins/I Heart Radio


"Joy Ike teams up with Philly pianist Joe Kenney to offer hope for Mental Health Awareness Month in “Another Side”"

Philly singer-songwriter Joy Ike has long been a voice of encouragement and hope amid struggles with self-doubt. In an interview last year with Harrisburg NPR affiliate WITF, she said “I used to spend probably about seven or eight years telling myself that I shouldn’t be playing out because there are people who are better at it than I am.” Her single at the time, “Say Goodbye,” was written to “remind myself to stop doubting myself all the time. I wanted to kind of turn my back to that voice and to that person or that version of myself.”

Joy Ike’s latest comes from a similar place of self-love and empowerment. A collaboration with Philly pianist Joe Kenney — who made a splash several years back by releasing solo piano covers of modern rock and pop songs by Cold War Kids, Drake, and Tove Lo — “Another Side” is a release for Mental Health Awareness Month that speaks candidly of the fog we can often find ourselves in (“Some days it’s enough, to get up, and make it to the door”) while offering reassurance that there’s a way through.

Ike repeats “Live another day, fight another day” like a mantra throughout the song to graceful, emotive playing by Kenny and stirring band accents. She acknowledges the lingering feeling of hopelessness, but assures us that there is something beyond.

Right now, it’s hard, but you must believe
If you give up now, you’ll never see,
The life waiting for you, i implore
if you can just endure:

There is another side, if you let yourself get there

Listen below; proceeds from Bandcamp sales of the song will support the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The song will also be included on Kenney’s fourth album, due out in October, which will include collabs with six Philly-area vocalists including Laura Lizcano, Chill Moody, and Aaron Parnell Brown. - WXPN/THE KEY: John Vettese


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

Photos

Bio

Joe Kenney -- a graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania with a B.M. in piano performance (2013) -- is a recording artist, songwriter, and pianist from Philadelphia. The music on Kenney's four albums and various collaborations span multiple genres, and are reflective of a cohesive blending of classical music theory, jazz fusion, rock, soul, and hip-hop idioms. Joe has garnered praise for both his original compositions and cover arrangements.

​His debut album, Afflictions and Remedies (2015), a solo piano album, received local airplay and was also praised as a "painting of a piano at work" by Meredith Hairston, who put the album in rotation at WJSU in Jackson, MS.

In early 2016, Kenney went to work on an album of jazz and classical inspired arrangements of alternative rock and top 40 hits. Released in February 2016, the sophomore album 1.5 was recognized on broadcast radio 104.5 Philadelphia and featured on iHeartRadio. DJ Wendy Rollins characterized Joe's cover of the Twenty One Pilots song Stressed Out as "perfection" and went on to applaud him for "re-imagining songs in a completely different format."

Following the success of the first two solo piano albums, Joe expanded into different formats, working with a full band and honing in on a jazz fusion sound, while retaining the classically informed harmonies from his first two albums. An EP of three singles would be released in 2017, which would be the foundation and inspiration for the forthcoming 2020 album.

In March 2018, Kenney released 2.5, his third full studio album in as many years. Showcasing multiple styles and varying instrumentation, 2.5 features distinctively energized reinterpretations of eight alternative rock hits. The first half of the album features two full group instrumental tracks and two vocal arrangements, while the second half of the album features solo piano re-imaginings of four others.​

In August 2018, Joe made waves with his debut orchestral performance with the Chester County Pops, where Kenney's arrangement of his own original work Zera was premiered, alongside a performance of Chopin's Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise Brillante.

In 2019, Kenney started his biggest undertaking to date: the recording and unveiling of his fourth album, which features six highly decorated vocal artists from the Philadelphia area, on a ten-track original album that has music geared towards markets that cross multiple musical styles. The first single, Another Side (Ft. Joy Ike), released on May 8th, 2020, and was premiered by Neon Music (UK) with a glowing review.  It was also featured on The Key/WXPN and selected as the Philly Local pick by highly popular radio personality Helen Leicht. The next two releases, All's Not Lost (Ft. Laura Lizcano) and Gone (Ft Aaron Parnell Brown) were also met with spectacular reviews.

On October 23rd, the full album, Forth, was released to all platforms. It won a Bronze Medal in the Global Music Awards and has been featured on over 85 Radio Stations in U.S. and Canada. After pushing the tour in support of the album back due to the pandemic, Kenney continued to work on more material and collaborations with new artists for future releases. Joe also recorded an entire new piano project, his 5th studio album, which is entitled Reflections on Inner Transformation. 

The music on the solo album features piano explorations and meditations on points of growth that Kenney sought to both develop in himself as an individual and to capture the spirit  of each in sound with distinct character pieces. Four singles from the album were released in 2021, and blogs such as Music Dances When You Sleep and MainlyPiano featured the music and written articles endorsing the first several singles. 

​A year after the release of Forth -- in October 2021 --  Joe Kenney Band brought to fruition Forth Tour, which saw highly successful concerts in Cleveland, OH; Lousiville, KY; Birmingham, AL; New York, NY; Wayne, PA; and Wilmington, DE.

After the momentum of the group's first tour together, Joe and his band have maintained an impressively active schedule in 2022, with debuts at World Cafe Live, TIME on Sansom, Heritage, SOUTH Jazz Club, City Winery, Kennett Brewing Company Jazz Fest, and a weekly residency at Root Down Brewing Company in Phoenixville. They released an R&B collaboration If It Lasts (feat. Elle Gyandoh and Murphy Bug)  on February 4th; and Joe's solo piano album was included as part of Kenney's inaugural NFT Project and is now on all streaming platforms as of May 13th. 

Band Members