Starting in the late 2000s and continuing into the 2020s, keyboardist, composer, and producer
John Carroll Kirby has amassed an impressive and evolving discography as an adaptive collaborator and recording artist. Frequently heard on
Sébastien Tellier's assorted studio projects,
Kirby has also contributed to releases by
Norah Jones,
Solange,
Bat for Lashes, and
Harry Styles, among dozens of others. In addition to one-off sessions as part of
Drool and
Mind Gamers,
Kirby has several solo releases to his credit. Almost exclusively instrumental and both melodic and atmospheric in nature, they've mixed new age, jazz, and R&B in a manner that is as expressive as it is difficult to classify. He started with a handful of low-key projects for assorted small independents toward the end of the 2010s, and has since issued
Conflict (2020),
My Garden (also 2020), and Septet (2021) through Stones Throw.
A lifelong Los Angelean,
John Carroll Kirby (often credited as John Kirby) established himself as a session and touring musician. He picked up his first major credits in 2007 with contributions to
will.i.am's
Songs About Girls,
Jully Black's Revival, and Raya Yarbrough's self-titled LP -- an eclectic trio of albums that indicated
Kirby's versatility. His résumé expanded throughout the next few years with albums by
Mike Doughty,
Norah Jones,
David Holmes, and
Madeleine Peyroux all featuring his input. Most notably, he played synthesizer and tack piano on
Jones' Grammy-nominated "Chasing Pirates." Additionally,
Kirby formed and soon deepened an affiliation with
Sébastien Tellier. He was credited with electric piano on two songs for the artist's
My God Is Blue, all keyboards on
L'Aventura, and not only played on but also co-arranged and co-produced
Marie et les Naufragés. Between those sessions,
Kirby partnered with Cara Stricker under the alias
Drool for a self-titled album of moody avant-pop released by Terrible Records. Shortly thereafter,
Kirby was part of
Blood Orange's
Freetown Sound and
Solange's Billboard 200-topping
A Seat at the Table. For the latter, he co-produced three tracks and played synthesizer on "Cranes in the Sky," another Grammy-nominated recording.
Kirby finally released material of his own in 2017. After the INGA collaboration "The Shrek Orchid,"
Mind Gamers' two-track
Power of Power (made with
Tellier and
Daniel Stricker, and assisted on the B-side by Karl Lagerfeld), and a connection with
Shabazz Palaces,
Kirby issued his first solo album, the lush Travel. Meditations in Music, a comparatively sparse set recorded with only a Minimoog and a Yamaha DX7, followed in 2018, the same year
Kirby was extensively involved in the self-titled album from Martin Johnson's
the Night Game.
Kirby was exceptionally prolific in 2019, appearing on
Solange's
When I Get Home,
Bat for Lashes'
Lost Girls, and
Mark Ronson's
Late Night Feelings, along with
Frank Ocean's "DHL" and
Harry Styles' "Canyon Moon." He found time during this year to issue "Lazzara," his Stones Throw debut, and Tuscany, an LP consisting of two side-long piano pieces, for the Patience label.
Kirby entered an even more fruitful 2020 by playing on
the Avalanches'
Blood Orange collaboration "We Will Always Love You." Two Stones Throw albums followed in April.
Conflict, a piano-based set of shorter compositions, was offered in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fuller
My Garden -- what was intended to be
Kirby's first Stones Throw album -- followed a few weeks later. He worked closely with
Eddie Chacon on a set of meditative soul ballads entitled
Pleasure, Joy and Happiness, offered that July. Additional keyboards and synthesizers were contributed to
Miley Cyrus'
Plastic Hearts and
the Avalanches'
We Will Always Love You, both released before the year was over. In June 2021,
Kirby returned on Stones Throw in leader mode with the lively Septet. ~ Andy Kellman