Kerry Politzer is a Portland-based jazz pianist, composer, and educator. She is on the music faculty of Portland State University and has also taught at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Swing University, the University of Portland, and the University of Manitoba.  Kerry received a Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied improvisation and composition with the late jazz guru Charlie Banacos, and a Master of Music from Rowan University.  Prior to her latest album Ruminations (PJCE Records, May 2024), Kerry released seven jazz CDs as a leader, including Blue in Blue, which featured saxophonist Donny McCaslin and was termed a “first-rate jazz outing” by AllAboutJazz.com. She has also been a featured sideman on albums of George Colligan, Laura Dreyer, and the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble (PJCE). Her commissions include works for the PJCE as well as a solo piano piece, “Microclimates,” for the pianist Andree-Ann Deschenes. This piece was featured on Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline. In 2019, Kerry was awarded a Regional Arts and Culture Council Artistic Focus grant to explore the music of Brazilian composer Durval Ferreira. The project culminated in the August 2019 release of Diagonal: The Music of Durval Ferreira. Kerry continues to be inspired by Brazilian music. The pianist has headlined the Montavilla Jazz Festival and performed at other festivals and venues including the 25th Annual Gene Harris Jazz Festival, the Black Dolphin, Jazz Forum, the Oregon Coast Jazz Party, Jazz in the Valley, Smalls, the Sound Room, and many others.