Kamal Gray is a

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

, rapper, vocalist, and producer from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania. He is member of the

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

band,

The Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

, who are also the

house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...

The Tonight Show Band The Tonight Show Band refers to the house band on the American television variety show ''The Tonight Show'', which has created an important showcase for jazz on American television. The Tonight Show Band has changed in form and composition since ...

on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It i ...

''. Gray occasionally appears in games and sketches on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...

''. Growing up in

Mount Airy, Philadelphia Mount Airy is a neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Geography Mount Airy is bounded on the northwest by the Cresheim Valley, which is part of Fairmount Park. Beyond this lies Chestnut Hill. On the we ...

, Gray played basketball court and football at Martin Luther King High. He studied the guitar before focusing on jazz piano training in his early teens. Gray joined

in 1994 immediately after graduating from high school in

. He replaced keyboard player

Scott Storch Scott Spencer Storch (born December 16, 1973) is an American record producer and songwriter. Storch began his career as part of Philadelphia-based hip hop band the Roots, which he joined as a keyboardist prior to the release of their 1993 debut a ...

joining the band in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. His first album with

was ''

Illadelph Halflife ''Illadelph Halflife'' is the third studio album by American Hip hop music, hip hop band the Roots, released September 24, 1996, on DGC Records, DGC and Geffen Records. It features a tougher and broader sound than their previous album, ''Do You Wa ...

'' in 1996, and he has played on twelve of their fourteen studio albums. Music writers have discussed Gray's background in classical and jazz piano with influences including

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

and

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...

. Critics have also discussed Gray's ability to integrate complex jazz styles into hip-hop keyboard rhythms, which has helped set the band apart from other hip-hop acts.

Discography

With The Roots

* '' ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin'', Def Jam Recordings, 2014 * '' Wise Up Ghost'', Blue Note, 2013 * '' Undun'', Def Jam Recordings, 2011 * ''

How I Got Over How I Got Over may refer to: * "How I Got Over" (song), a gospel song written by Clara Ward, 1951 * ''How I Got Over'' (album), an album by The Roots, 2010 {{dab ...

'', 2010 * '' Rising Down'', Def Jam Recordings, 2008 * ''

Game Theory Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions. It has applications in many fields of social science, and is used extensively in economics, logic, systems science and computer science. Initially, game theory addressed ...

'', Def Jam Recordings, 2006 * ''

The Tipping Point ''The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference'' is the debut book by Malcolm Gladwell, first published by Little, Brown in 2000. Gladwell defines a tipping point as "the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling po ...

'', Geffen, 2004 * ''

Phrenology Phrenology is a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits. It is based on the concept that the Human brain, brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific ...

'', MCA, 2002 * ''

Things Fall Apart ''Things Fall Apart'' is a 1958 novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. It is Achebe's debut novel and was written when he was working at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. The novel was first published in London by Heinemann (publisher), ...

'', MCA, 1999 * ''What They Do'', Geffen Records, 1996 * ''

'', DGC, Geffen Records, 1996

Soundtrack credits

* ''The 'Notic – Men In Black (The Album)'', Columbia/Sony Music Soundtrax, 1997

References

External links

Kamal Gray, IMDB

Kamal Gray, Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Kamal American keyboardists Musicians from Philadelphia The Roots members Year of birth missing (living people) Living people