cyrus chesnut
Cyrus Chestnut was born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, on January 17, 1963. He first received musical training from his father, McDonald Chestnut, at age five. Cyrus first started playing music publicly at Mount Calvary Star Baptist Church, aged seven. He received further musical training at the Peabody Preparatory Conservatory in Baltimore, where he obtained a Certificate in Piano and Musical Theory. Between 1981 and 1985 Cyrus attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he was awarded the Eubie Blake Fellowship in 1982, the Oscar Peterson Scholarship in 1983 and the Quincy Jones Scholarship in 1984, later graduating with a degree in Jazz composition and arranging.He began his professional career working with John Hendricks (1986-88), Terence Blanchard and Donald Harrison (1988-1990), and Wynton Marsalis (1991). In September 1991 he became Betty Carter’s pianist, staying with her until 1993. During this early years he also worked occasionally with Freddie Hubbard, Brandford Marsalis, Larry Coryell, Courtney Pine, Chico Freeman, George Adams, Michael Carvin, Chick Corea, Joe Williams and Dizzy Gillespie. Highlights of his recording career as a sideman include Crystal Stair and Black Pearl for CBS, with The Harrison-Blanchard Quintet (1987/1988), For Art’s sake and Indian Blues for Candid, with Donald Harrison (1990/1991) and It’s not about the melody for Verve, with Betty Carter (1992). In recent times, Cyrus has worked and recorded with Roy Hargrove (The tenors of our time , Verve, 1994), Christian McBride (Getting to it, Verve, 1995) and singer Kathleen Battle (So many Stars , Sony, 1995).
His recording career as a leader started in 1989 with the self-produced Gospel album There’s a brighter day comin’ , followed by Japanese Alfa recordings The Nutman speaks and The Nutman Speaks again (1993). His last recording for Alfa was Another Direction (1994), which received the Golden award by the prestigious Japanese magazine Swing Journal. This same year Cyrus signed with Atlantic Records: his first album for them was Celebration, followed by The dark before the dawn (1995), Earth Stories (1996), and Cyrus Chestnut (1998). In 2000, Chestnut collaborated with Vanessa Williams, Brian McKnight, The Manhattan Transfer, and The Boys’ Choir Of Harlem on a updated version of Vince Guaraldi’s seasonal classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas. All his recordings have received excellent reviews and accolades all over the world. His lates (2001) CD is Soul Food.
Cyrus’ piano style, rooted in the African-American traditions, exhibits a deep knowledge of the history of Jazz Piano. The influences of Art Tatum, Hank Jones, Red Garland and Tommy Flanagan are evident in his playing, but he has also absorbed many other musical concepts, which he is now blending into a mature, extremely lyrical and personal style. Without any doubt, Cyrus is called to be one of the major forces in the evolution of Jazz Piano during the 21st century.