Kerry Politzer plays at the 1905

KMHD's Brazilian Beat Presents: A Tribute to Sergio Mendes fea. Kerry Politzer & Friends

Kerry Politzer is a Portland-based jazz pianist, composer, and educator. She is on the music faculty of Portland State University, and she has also taught at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Swing University, the University of Portland, and the University of Manitoba. Kerry received a Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied improvisation and composition with the late jazz guru Charlie Banacos, and a Master of Music from Rowan University. Prior to her new album Ruminations (PJCE Records), Kerry released seven jazz CDs as a leader, including Blue in Blue, which featured saxophonist Donny McCaslin and was termed a “first-rate jazz outing” by AllAboutJazz.com. She has also been a featured sideman on albums of George Colligan, Laura Dreyer, and the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble (PJCE). Her commissions include works for the PJCE as well as a solo piano piece, "Microclimates," for the pianist Andree-Ann Deschenes. This piece was featured on Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline. In 2019, Kerry was awarded a Regional Arts and Culture Council Artistic Focus grant to explore the music of Brazilian composer Durval Ferreira. The project culminated in the August 2019 release of Diagonal: The Music of Durval Ferreira. Kerry continues to be inspired by Brazilian music and studies Portuguese in her spare time