Wynton Kelly was born in Brooklyn, New York the son of Jamaican immigrants on December 2, 1931. He began playing piano when he was four years old and went on to lead his own small combos and play in groups led by others, most notably Miles Davis.

Kelly began his professional career when he was 15 touring with the Ray Abrams R&B band. He made his recording debut as the keyboard man on Cornbread, a 1948 #1 hit by saxophonist Hal Singer. After spending time performing with “Hot Lips” Page and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis. Kelly’s first record as a leader was a trio outing called “Piano Interpretations” released by Blue Note Records in 1951. That same year Kelly was the accompanist for vocalist Dinah Washington and played with Lester Young and Dizzy Gillespie in 1952 before being drafted into the United States Army where he became musical director of the Third Army Travelling Show.

After his time in the service was over, Wynton Kelly played with Charles Mingus, Benny Golson, Billie Holiday, Cannonball Adderley, Johnny Griffin and Sonny Rollins before joining up with the Miles Davis ensemble in January of 1959. Red Garland had been the pianist for Davis but had a bad habit of showing up late for gigs. One night it was time for the show to start and Garland was missing again. Kelly was at the club and Miles asked him to sit in. When Garland finally arrived Davis told him “Wynton’s got the gig,” and that’s how Kelly ended up with Miles. He stayed on with the band until 1963.

After leaving the Miles Davis group Kelly started a trio with two other ex-Miles players, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb. They toured and had a recording contract with Verve Records. The trio stayed together until Chambers’ death in 1969. Kelly suffered from epilepsy throughout his life and died in a Toronto hotel room in 1971 from an apparent seizure.
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Here is a link to a cut from the 1965 album “Smokin’ at the Half Note” by the Wynton Kelly Trio and guitarist Wes Montgomery:

"UNIT 7"