Jazz communities across North America are mourning the loss of pianist Mark Kieswetter, who passed away on Monday after a long battle with stage 4 neuroendocrine cancer.
Originally from Indiana, Kieswetter lived in Michigan, California and Ohio leaving a lasting impact on the jazz scene in Toledo before immigrating to Canada in 2004. Prior to his move, Kieswetter collaborated alongside jazz greats including Zoot Sims, Jack Sheldon and James Moody. Settling in Toronto, he became a fixture in the city’s jazz scene performing with the likes of Dave Young, Emilie-Claire Barlow, Amy McConnell, Whitney Ross-Barris, Shannon Butcher and jazz.fm91’s very own Heather Bambrick who was a close friend and frequent collaborator.
“It is difficult to put into words the true essence, depth, and range of Mark’s importance to the Canadian music scene,” Bambrick expressed in a statement. “His role is varied, and I – personally – have worked with him in his capacity as an accompanist, music director, arranger, and producer. From the moment I first performed with Mark, he demonstrated a unique and inherently special ability to “accompany” perfectly. This is a rare and difficult skill and Mark executes it to perfection – just ask anyone with whom he’s worked! From there, he began arranging music for me, demonstrating his astounding capacity to bring to fruition my initial musical ideas. His ability to “get inside” the musical minds of the people he works with is so very special and is evidenced in the results of each performance and recording of which he is a part.”