“One of today’s best-kept secrets in piano jazz. A great classic jazz trio” February 2004 Keyboard Magazine review of Kent’s 2003 CD.
The Kent Strand Trio consists of piano (or keyboard) with upright bass and either guitar, drums or a horn (sax or trumpet). Top Bay Area vocalists or instrumentalists can be added to Kent’s trio.
The Kent Strand Trio performs every Sunday in the beautiful Garden Court at the Palace Hotel for their fabulous brunch after performing for 8 years at the 46th floor Cityscape Bar and Restaurant at the San Francisco Hilton.
Past events include:
2013: Kent was hired to back Michael Bolton for a corporate event at the Grand Wailea on Maui.
2012 Kent’s quartet played for two events for the AT&T Golf Tournament with Bill Murray and Clint Eastwood joining his group onstage to sing.
2010: Opening for Train for a corporate event at the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco.
2009: Performance for President Barack Obama at the Westin St. Francis in 2009 opening for Tracy Chapman.
Kent was the Entertainment Director/Bandleader at San Francisco’s favorite nightclub, Harry Denton’s Starlight Room on the 21st floor of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel from 1995 to 2016. His group, The Starlight Orchestra played over 1,500 nights at the Starlight Room including jazz, Latin, standards, Motown, 70s and 90s dance favorites and contemporary R & B.
Kent has performed with jazz greats including Cab Calloway and Benny Carter and at jazz festivals throughout the United States. He has performed on NPR on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion Show and on Billy Taylor’s Jazz Alive. He has backed comedians Bill Murray, Robin Williams, Paula Poundstone, Craig Ferguson, Dana Carvey and Martin Short.
Kent has performed for the SF Opera Gala and the SF Symphony’s Black & White Ball and for countless benefits including the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Stop Aids and Smile Train. He performs weekly for corporate clients including Ford, McGraw-Hill, Wells Fargo, Forbes, Bechtel, Genetech, Google, BMW, Yahoo, etc.
Kent has performed for Presidents Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama, Clint Eastwood, Danielle Steel, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the King of Norway, Robin Williams and many others.
Career highlights include 8 years as a solo pianist and with the jazz trio at the Compass Rose at the Westin St. Francis Hotel, many years at the Redwood Room at the Clift Hotel, Stars Restaurant, the Ritz- Carlton San Francisco and many performances at top jazz clubs and jazz festivals
Kent’s experience includes studio work, backing shows in Las Vegas and on cruise ships and performing at the George V Hotel in Paris in 1995 and 1997. He was the featured pianist for the 50th anniversary celebration of the United Nations where he played for the world’s ambassadors.
Additional past events: San Francisco Symphony Black & White Ball and Opera Gala, the Junior League, Bloomingdale Grand Opening party at the St. Regis, the Jewish Theological Seminary, 10 years for Stop Aids Benefit, Smile Train Benefits with Alex Trebek, Kaiser Permanente, Google, Yahoo, Electronic Arts, McGraw-Hill, Wells Fargo, Forbes, Ford, Apple, Genentech, Oracle, Yahoo, the French Laundry, Deloitte Services Price Waterhouse Coopers, Bechtel, private party for Bill Marriott of Marriott International, San Francisco Hotel Association, SemiCon West Trade Show, Hartford Insurance event in Freeport, the Bahamas, California Restaurant Assn., Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Kimpton, the Monterey Jazz Festival Gala for Clint Eastwood, the National Association of Catering Executives Gala, Ford, the St. Regis Hotel’s national meeting, Starwood Hotels and Resorts GM conference, Time Magazine, Stars, One Market, Moose’s & BIX Restaurants, Macy’s, the Grand Opening of the InterContinental San Francisco, RSA Conference, the AT & T Golf Tournament in Carmel, the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, the Guardsmen Sport Auction & Celebrity Dinner at the Fairmont SF, San Francisco Food Bank, The Guardsmen, etc.