Jazz pianist and Maplewood native Ray Kennedy, died May 28 after a battle with multiple sclerosis, St. Louis Jazz Notes reported.
Kennedy’s sister, Wanda Kennedy Kuntz, has invited readers of 40 South News to a service for Kennedy on Wednesday, June 10, 7 p.m. at Salem Evangelical Free Church, 2490 Pohlman Road, Florissant.
A Celebration of the Life & Music is Ray Kennedy will place July 17 at the Sheldon Concert Hall, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The show will feature John and Bucky Pizzarelli with Martin Pizzarelli and Konrad Paszkudzi. See details at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
From Mr. Kennedy’s obituary in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Ray Kennedy was a renowned jazz pianist at the top of his form in 2006 when he began to develop symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
But Mr. Kennedy, who grew up in Maplewood, continued playing. He was in high demand, had traveled the world with The John Pizzarelli Trio, and had been featured on more than 20 CDs and in three movies. After his disease was diagnosed, he recorded jazz versions of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart.
By 2013, his career was over. He was living in a nursing home in New York City, where he had moved during his early 20s.
The Post-Dispatch reports that Mr. Kennedy’s body was cremated.
Read Mr. Kennedy’s obituary in The New York Times.
Check out the interview with John Pizzarrelli and Rick Haydon discussing Ray’s life and tribute: http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/remembering-life-renowned-jazz-pianist-ray-kennedy