RIJF 2023

ESM Jazz Honors Unit 1 - Kevin Murphy

Kevin Murphy is a drummer, composer, and arranger based out of Los Angeles California. While in high school in Seattle Washington, Kevin had the opportunity to perform as a percussionist and drummer in several ensembles including the NAfME All-Northwest Jazz Ensemble and the Jazz Band of America. While studying at the Eastman School of Music, Kevin has performed with a number of ensembles, including the Eastman Jazz Ensemble, the Eastman Chamber Jazz Ensemble, and the Empire Film and Media Ensemble. Kevin is well versed in many different genres of music, performing and recording with a variety of artists from a range of different backgrounds including Bug Day, Bourbon Chai, NLOG Brass Band, Gordon Webster Trio, George Higashiyama, Kenji Wagner Quartet, Mike Kaupa, and the Aaron Ouellette Quintet (which participated in the Jazz at Aspen Combo Workshop with Christian McBride), and numerous other project bands. Kevin has had the opportunity to perform with many artists such as Shelly Berg, John Daversa, Wycliffe Gordon, Michael Weiss, Carmen Bradford, Tom Christensen, Gary Versace, Ingrid Jensen, Christine Jensen, Ryan Keberle, and Sara Gazarek. He has studied and taken lessons with educator-artists such as Rich Thompson, Garey Williams, Jon Wikan, Charles Ruggiero, and Peter Erskine.

As a composer and arranger Kevin has worked on a variety of projects ranging from film to art projects; studying with Dariusz Terefenko, Dave Rivello, and Christine Jensen. Kevin has scored for short films, including Hippocampus (2022) and Loyal Customer (2021), as well as many other smaller cue projects. Kevin also directs and his own 12 piece Chamber Jazz Ensemble and 17 piece Jazz Orchestra. His works have been premiered by the Eastman Jazz Ensemble and the Eastman Jazz Lab Band (featuring Jeremy Pelt).