About Me
The SFNY Quartet is Kenny Washington on vocals, Art Hirahara on piano, Pat O'Leary on bass and Mike Petrosino on drums. An amalgam of musicians from San Francisco and New York City, the band's members have worked together in many configurations over the years. When the SFNY Quartet played for the first time as a group in New York City, the instant musical chemistry was recognized not only by the enthralled audience, but by a promoter who immediately offered the band a tour of Norway. The collaboration culminated in July 2006, when the quartet performed and gave workshops in Norway, reaching audiences with its vibrant sound. Since then the Quartet has returned to Norway for more appearances and made trips to Malaysia, Thailand, and Chile where they performed and held master classes for local musicians. They also have been making frequent appearances on the New York scene at clubs like Smalls, The Zinc Bar, and others. The individual members of the band have each achieved standing in their own careers, performing with a sundry of notable musicians such as Lionel Hampton, Illinois Jacquet, Joe Lovano, Diana Krall, Rufus Reid, Dave Douglas, Gerri Allen, Bruce Barth, Vincent Herring, Joe Locke, Lou Rawls, The Temptations, Gladys Knight, Stacey Kent and Elvis Costello.
