$20 coverKait Dunton: keys and vocals
John Schroeder: guitar + backing vocals
Dave Levita: guitar
Sean Hurley: bass
Jake Reed: drums
KAIT DUNTON is a Los Angeles-based jazz keyboardist, composer and bandleader with eight albums of genre-pushing original music and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media and Spotify. Kait’s joyful energy and playful spirit combined with her raw emotional style have garnered her a devoted fanbase of nearly 150,000 Instagram followers, 70,000 monthly Spotify listeners and over 30,000 TikTok followers.
2023 was a period of artistic and personal growth for Kait, during which she performed at the 66th Monterey Jazz Festival, released two full length albums, toured with her band and enjoyed a residency at the famed Baked Potato jazz club. Additionally, Kait has always loved to sing and is delighted to introduce more of her voice along with her keyboard playing.
Kait’s style ranges from sensitive to soulful to shredding, and throughout it all, she invites her audience to live in the moment right alongside her. Fans have called her a “joy bomb” and remark on her ability to be playful, passionate and precise all at once.
Kait has cultivated her signature sound over many albums and releases. From her first album in 2008, Real & Imagined —now a fan favorite with over three million streams—to her most recent single, “this one’s for you” - with nearly three million views on Instagram - Kait has evolved from an acoustic piano purist to a confident multi-keyboardist and is fast becoming known for her love for and facility on the classic vintage keyboards like the Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Clavinet and Hammond B3 - as well as her nuanced and sensitive touch on the acoustic piano, which she has been playing since age 3.
Her music has received 4.5 stars in DownBeat magazine, has reached top ten on the Jazz Week radio charts (three times!), and has been heard on KCRW and KJAZZ. Her compositions and playing style reflect her myriad musical interests including jazz, classical, pop, singer-songwriter, rock, R&B, funk, soul, gospel, Brazilian, and Latin.
In addition to composition and performance, Kait is also an active recording artist and educator. Her playing appears extensively on the Mister Rogers movie, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, as well as in The Lego Movie 2, Downsizing, Empire, and ABC’s The Little Mermaid Live! Kait was an early member of Snarky Puppy during their formative years in Texas, appearing on their sophomore record, The World is Getting Smaller. She records often for film, television and other artists, and has taught at the University of North Texas, USC's Thornton School of Music, Musician's Institute, Chaffey College, and most recently at Los Angeles College of Music (LACM) in Pasadena, where she developed their new Piano Performance program and served as the inaugural chair.
“Dunton brings a Technicolor sensibility to everything she touches.” - DownBeat
“…genuine instrumental soul… every note pops with sensation.” - PopMatters
Event Venue
The Grape, 2733 E. Main Street,Ventura,CA,United States
