ELECTRONIC PRESS KIT
ANTHEM
FOR THE ELDERS
KENNY RITTENHOUSE QUINTET
QUICK FACTS
ARTIST Kenny Rittenhouse Quintet
ALBUM Anthem for the Elders
LABEL Kaela Records
RELEASED June 12, 2026
GENRE Straight-Ahead Jazz
PERSONNEL 5-Piece Quintet
WEBSITE www.kennyrittenhouse.com
BIOGRAPHY
1.
Kenny Rittenhouse is a trumpeter and fixture of the Washington, D.C. jazz community, praised for a bright, clean tone and lyrical phrasing that draws comparisons to Freddie Hubbard. Anthem for the Elders, released June 12, 2026 on Kaela Records, is his third album as a leader, following The Francis Suite (2006) and New York Suite(2013).
Rittenhouse has called Washington, D.C. home for 36 years, ever since joining the U.S. Army Blues — the premier big band of the entire United States Army — in 1990, where he spent 30 years as a full-time staff musician. He remains an active trumpeter with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, performing on international tours alongside artists including Hubert Laws and Kurt Elling. He is also a member of the Strathmore Jazz Orchestra and the DC All-Stars Big Band, and currently teaches trumpet at American University.
He is also director of the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Youth Orchestra, a role he took on in 2019 following the passing of founding leader Fred Foss, and a 2025–26 DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Fellow — a grant that helped fund the recording of Anthem for the Elders.
Photo: Herman Burney / www.hermanburney.com
high-res version available on request
2.
PRESS
“…from the moment you hit play on Anthem for the Elders, you're in the thick of some of the heartiest, groovingest, straight-ahead jazz you can ever get your ears on.”
“With the release of his third album, Anthem for the Elders, Rittenhouse has wowed listeners and is ready to give back to young musicians.”
“There's no easing in. Like the Big Bang, the opening track, ‘Good Evening Mr. Brown,’ explodes into existence with hefty, hard-driving swing…”
— MICHAEL J. WEST, WASHINGTON CITY PAPER, JUNE 18, 2026. (full review here)
"That spirit comes vividly to life in the competitive drive of the Kenny Rittenhouse Quintet and its new album, Anthem for the Elders."
— DANNY R. JOHNSON, JAZZ AND POP MUSIC CRITIC, SAN DIEGO COUNTY NEWS, AUG 6, 2026
"A masterful trumpeter who has spent three decades in the D.C. jazz scene... one of those talents who can master the classics while making room for something distinctly modern."
— STEPHANIE WILLIAMS, WASHINGTON POST, SEPT. 2, 2026. (full article here)
3.
THE ALBUM
The band weaves together stories of community, revolution, and remembrance, celebrating the vitality, struggle, and spirit of the Black experience. The music pays tribute to the elders who paved the way and the cultural traditions that have shaped generations. It’s a journey through heritage, hope, and transformation, told through the expressive language of modern jazz.These are some of the most swingin' musicians I know, and it’s truly an honor to play with them and have them interpret my music exactly as I hear it. True professionals, every one of them.
KENNY RITTENHOUSE
Trumpet, Leader
TIM GREEN
Alto Saxophone
ALLYN JOHNSON
Piano
KRIS FUNN
Bass
CARROLL "CV" DASHIELL III
Drums
GOOD EVENING MR. BROWN
A nod to Omrao Brown, the D.C. club owner and producer whose room at Bohemian Caverns created a true home for the city's music and musicians!
SHAFT VS. SUPER FLY
Three funky 1970s grooves imagine Shaft and Super Fly not as rivals but as different faces of the same Black heroic struggle.
GEECHEE LAND!
A tribute to the Gullah Geechee people of the Sea Islands — their African-rooted traditions and ongoing fight to protect their land and culture.
ANTHEM FOR THE ELDERS
A salute to elders lost in recent years — Ellis Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Wallace Roney, Chick Corea, Pharoah Sanders, and DC-area musicians Howard "Kingfish" Franklin, Delores King, and Carl Grubbs.
TAMIR
Written after the killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by police, and what that moment meant for a father raising a Black son.
ASSATA
A tribute to the Black women who've stood on the front lines of our struggle for justice — this is not a polite blues!
BALTIMORE
A tribute to mentor and friend Tom Williams, the beloved Baltimore trumpeter and educator who passed in 2023.
BACK IN THE DAY
A reflection on the old neighborhood, friendships, and the traditions that shaped who we are as a community.
5.
PHOTOS
