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Thursday, April 23, 2020

Respected San Antonio Jazz Drummer and Vocalist Kyle Keener Has Died

Posted By Sanford Nowlin on Thu, Apr 23, 2020 at 12:30 PM

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Kyle Keener performed with musical partner Polly Harrison for nearly 50 years. - FACEBOOK / RACHEL M. LATREMORE

Facebook / Rachel M. Latremore
Kyle Keener performed with musical partner Polly Harrison for nearly 50 years.

Drummer and vocalist Kyle Keener, a longtime mainstay of the Alamo City jazz scene, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer, according to a post by Rachel Latremore on the GoFundMe raising money for his family.

As a member of the group Small World, Keener performed with guitarist Polly Harrison for nearly five decades, primarily focusing on jazz standards. In online posts, musicians remembered Keener as generous mentor with a computer-like memory for the lyrics and melodies of classic American songs.

"Like all the best humans, Kyle Keener was not easily distilled," wrote Richard Oppenheim, local president of the American Federation of Musicians, in an online obituary. "An inherently conservative man with an unfailingly adventurous soul. A man very much of his place and time who held a deep appreciation for those whose personal cultures were very different from his own."

In online comments, players shared memories of their excitement when asked to join Small World for jam sessions, something of a rite-of-passage for local students of the musical form.

“I did a day job one time,” Keener told Texas Public Radio in 2018. "It only lasted a month! I don’t know, playing music is what it’s all about. It’s in your heart, and you just get out there and do it, and have a great time."

The GoFundMe to benefit Keener's family had raised more than $26,000 at press time.

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Tags: Kyle Keener, San Antonio, Jazz, Small World, Polly Harrison, drummer, vocalist, death, obituaries, San Antonio musicians, Texas musicians, jazz musicians, GoFundMe, Texas Public Radio, American Federation of Musicians, Richard Oppenheim, Image

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