Kyle Koehler

Kyle Koehler is a New York City Hammond B-3 organist rooted in the soul-jazz and hard-bop traditions of the instrument. A Philadelphia native shaped by hometown organ greats Shirley Scott and Charles Earland, he studied music performance and composition before arriving on the New York scene in the late 1990s. He has performed with Lou Donaldson, Jimmy Heath, and David "Fathead" Newman, recorded two albums with British soul singer James Hunter, and appeared at the Hollywood Bowl and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In 2002 he toured Africa as a jazz ambassador for the Kennedy Center and the U.S. State Department, and he was named a Rising Star organist by DownBeat. He leads his own trios and teaches Hammond B-3 masterclasses at colleges and jazz programs.