When a young musician’s sources of inspiration are jazz greats like Dave Brubeck, Ramsey Lewis, Joe Sample, Vince Guaraldi and Wynton Kelly, you’d figure that his own music would turn out to be pretty special...and in the case of jazz pianist and composer George Kahn, you’d be right. His music captures the feel of the West Coast Jazz scene of the 50’s & 60’s, but with a contemporary edge. George has incorporated many styles including bebop, smooth jazz, blues, Latin and New Orleans rhythms.
Having a Realist’s sensibility, in 1989 George started working in the banking industry, and over the following 10 year built a very successful business as a mortgage broker in Santa Monica, CA. Reaching a level of business where he found that he was able to make a substantial income and still have the time to pursue his passion, he reentered the music industry as a second career.
In 1999, George formed Sudhana Music Publishing and his independent record label, Playing Records, as an avenue to share his music. He was an early-adopter of using the internet for his music, being an original shareholder of MP3.com where his music received over 260,000 listens and downloads.
He has since released seven self-produced CDs -- Conscious Dreams (a jazz/new age configuration), Outof Time (a jazz recording featuring the late Billy Higgins on drums), FreedomVessel (featuring Grammy Award nominee Bobby Rodriguez on trumpet and Eric Marienthal on saxes), Midnight Brew, “…Compared To What?” and Cover UP! (featuring Grammy Award nominee Brian Bromberg on bass, Justo Almario on sax and Alex Acuna on drums). His latest album, SECRETS FROM THE JAZZ GHETTO was released in 2010 and is a 2-CD set featuring 7 new tracks plus a retrospective of George’s original compositions.
Kahn’s music has also been featured on many TV shows and advertisements, including Lexus, “ER”, “The Young and the Restless” and “How William Shatner Changed the World”. IN 2008 George Kahn won the 2008 Chuck Niles bebop Award at the Temecula Valley International Jazz Festival. Most recently George was part of the Catalina Jazz Club 25th Anniversary concert in October 2011, alongside The Yellow Jackets, Lee Ritenour, Brian Bromberg John Beasley, and many others. In December 2012 George also received a Certificate of Recognition from the City of Los Angeles for his dedication to helping end homelessness in Los Angeles.
