Kevin Hunt is an Australian jazz pianist and composer.

Kevin Hunt
OriginAustralia
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Pianist, composer

Early life and education

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Hunt's first teacher was his father Ellis Hunt.[citation needed]

He trained at The Sydney Conservatorium of Music, alongside musicians such as Don Burrows, James Morrison, and George Golla. His teachers included Chuck Yates, John Speight and David Levy.[citation needed]

Career

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Hunt is a jazz pianist[1] and composer.[2][3] He has been a regular on the Jazz music scene since 1979, and has led his own ensembles performing his own compositions, but also those of classical composers like Johann Bach, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Leonard Bernstein.[citation needed]

He played in a trio called the JS Bach Trio, with Laurie Thompson and Gary Holgate.[citation needed]

From 1984 until 1988 he worked with the Kinetic Theatre company, an was assistant musical director of for Pope John Paul II Youth Celebration.[citation needed]

Recognition

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In 1998 the JS Bach Trio (Hunt, with Laurie Thompson and Gary Holgate) won ABC Classic FM's listeners' choice award, for the recording Kevin Hunt plays JS Bach.[citation needed]

In 2001 he was awarded the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust Jazz Scholarship to study in New York, in piano and composition. He briefly worked at the Australian International Conservatorium of Music and has also spoke at lectures on music. He was nominated for ARIA Awards for Best Jazz Album with Kevin Hunt - Plays JS Bach in 1998[4] and with Kevin Hunt Trio - Love Walked In in 2003.[5]

Discography

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Albums

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Title Details Peak chart positions
AUS
Tree
(with Steve Hunter and David Jones)
  • Released: 1997[6]
  • Label: Birdland
Kevin Hunt Plays JS Bach
  • Released: 1998[7][8]
  • Label: ABC Jazz (724349515727)
Love & Logic
(with Steve Hunter and David Jones)
  • Released: May 1999[9]
  • Label: ABC Jazz
Cocktails With The Kevin Hunt Trio
  • Released: 1999
  • Label: ABC (SHOPS005)
Love Walked In
  • Released: 2002[10]
  • Label: La Brava (0055)
The Magic of Hoagy Carmichael
(with Marie Wilson)
  • Released: April 2004[11]
  • Label: Marie Wilson and Kevin Hunt (MWKH2002)
Eye to Eye Vol 1+2
(with Don Burrows)
  • Released: June 2007[12]
Duelling Schimmels
(with Simon Tedeschi)
  • Released: 2008
  • Label: Schimmel
Woodlands
(with Simon Tedeschi)
  • Released: October 2010[13]

Awards and nominations

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ARIA Awards

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The ARIA Music Awards are annual awards, which recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
1998 Kevin Hunt Plays JS Bach Best Jazz Album Nominated [14]
2003 Love Walked In Best Jazz Album Nominated [14]

Mo Awards

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The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Kevin Hunt won one award in that time.[15]

Year Nominee / work Award Result (wins only)
1998 Kevin Hunt Jazz Instrumental Performer of the Year Won

References

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  1. ^ "Kevin Hunt".
  2. ^ Schwartzkoff, Louise (9 July 2008), "Bach to improvising and all that jazz", The Sydney Morning Herald
  3. ^ Jackson, Andra (13 May 2000), "He's Bach in the hunt", Sunday Herald Sun
  4. ^ "ARIA Awards nominations", Illawarra Mercury, 20 October 1998
  5. ^ "ARIA Awards nominations", The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 September 2003
  6. ^ Shand, John (12 May 1997), "Jazz", The Sydney Morning Herald
  7. ^ Best, Pete (28 June 1998), "Kevin Hunt Plays J.S. Bach(ABC Jazz)", Sunday Herald Sun
  8. ^ Shand, John (29 June 1998), "Jazz", The Sydney Morning Herald
  9. ^ Gettler, Leon (6 May 1999), "Jazz", The Age
  10. ^ Shand, John (19 September 2003), "Also out", The Sydney Morning Herald
  11. ^ Foster, Michael (12 April 2004), "Appealing for its music and history", The Canberra Times
  12. ^ Sharpe, John (15 June 2007), "JAZZ. Eye to Eye The Don Burrows and Kevin Hunt Duo", The Canberra Times
  13. ^ Kelly, Patricia (23 October 2010), "Music Reviews", Courier Mail
  14. ^ a b ARIA Award previous winners. "ARIA Awards Best Jazz Album". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  15. ^ "MO Award Winners". Mo Awards. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
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