Farewell Kyle Keener, AFM, Local 23 Member since 4/24/1972

Sometimes it seems as if virtually every one of San Antonio's jazz scene stories has, as its origin, a casual encounter with Kyle Keener, the superb drummer and singer we lost Tuesday.  Musician after musician will relate a strikingly consistent narrative—I was a novice who didn’t know a dominant flat-13th from a hunk of sharp cheddar; this poised and accomplished master of time and space invited me into his realm, showed me what was truly possible, bucked me up when I was flailing in flop sweat, kept my wig straight, and managed to elevate me without ever talking down to me. 

Even those of us who’d already done a few laps around the block by the time we met Kyle experienced some variation on this theme.  Shortly after arriving here, when asked by a local luminary how I was settling in, I mentioned my excitement at having been asked to sit in by Kyle and his Small World alter ego Polly Harrison.  “Oh, they ask everyone to play,” countered my new acquaintance.  In the moment, I felt slightly dissed by this response, until coming to the realization this was not so much a diminution of me as it was an enlargement of Mr. Keener and Ms. Harrison, his musical partner of forty-nine years. 

Like all the best humans, Kyle Keener was not easily distilled.  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.  Whenever I’d pile into his vehicle before or after a gig, the radio would be playing and he’d take particular pleasure in making very intuitive guesses about artists he hadn’t yet heard, based solely on things he’d read or heard discussed — this from a guy who could derive unwavering delight in re-auditing recordings he’d cherished since childhood. 

Kyle, we can only hope you had some true sense of the degree of honor accorded you by your peers.  Of the genuine love and gratitude that trailed you like a comet’s wake.  So long for now, friend.  The members of American Federation of Musicians Local 23 will miss you terribly.  Our hearts go out to Peggy and the entire Keener family, who you were so fortunate to have at your side throughout this final chapter. - Richard Oppenheim, President