Kenwood Dennard

Brand X’s first North American drummer, Kenwood “Woody” Dennard’s contribution and friendship spanned four decades.

Kenwood Dennard has enjoyed a multifaceted, star-studded career as a performer, recording artist, and educator. He has toured the world and performed with such greats as Jaco Pastorius, George Clinton, Chick Corea, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Sting, Pat Martino, Maceo Parker, Stanley Jordan, Gil Evans Orchestra, Wayne Shorter, Robin Eubanks, Esperanza Spaulding, Tal Wilkenfeld, Art Blakey, Charles Mingus, Bobby McFerrin, Amad Jamal, Larry Coryell, Pharoh Saunders,  Howard Johnson, Taj Mahal, Whitney Houston, Tito Puente, Diane Reeves, Wayne Shorter, The Allman Brother’s Band, Warren Haynes and Joe Zawinul; and led the Meta-Funk All-Stars, the Real Thing, and Quintessence.

His numerous recordings include Grammy nominated Sting’s Nothing Like the Sun, Pat Martino’s Joyous Lake, Brand X Livestock (I and II), Jaco Pastorius’ Word of Mouth Band 1983 Japan Tour featuring Kazumi Watanabe, Bushrock Reset, Maceo Parker’s Life on Planet Groove, Stanley Jordan’s Friends, Naicin High Bias , Vanessa Williams’s The Sweetest Days, and Live at Montreux with Miles Davis and Quincy Jones. His first solo record “Just Advance” came out in 1991 and his latest release, “Show No Fear“, was released on Groove Economy Records in the fall of 2018.

Kenwood is also well known as a pioneer of mastering simultaneous multi instrumental live performance, playing 2 keyboards, drums and singing all at once, what he refers to as Pansonic Coordination. “After playing with Pat Martino and Brand X, I decided to concentrate on developing the MRO. My first concert was in 1979, where I played three keyboards and drums at the same time. I eventually developed it to the point where I could play eight ostinatos at the same time, and that led to playing all the parts of a song where I could sound like an entire band.”

Over the past couple of years, Kenwood has performed with Ernie Isley, Gill Evans Orchestra, Stanley Jordan Trio, Larry Coryell, Aydin Essin, Tiger Okoshi, Moe, The Funky Meters, Grey Boy Allstars, Karl Densen’s Tiny Universe, String Cheese Incident, Umphree’s McGee, The Mike Dillon Band, Ryan Montbleu Band, Max Creek and Phish to name a few. He’s played at the Gathering of the Vibes, High Sierra Music Festival, Moe.down, Strangecreek, Peach Fest and Wormtown. He’s performed at the Newport Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall and countless others venues in 28 countries across the globe.

Kenwood Dennard