Kevin Flynn: Bio

About the Band

Svengali is Kevin Flynn on sax, Wayne Christiansen on piano, Matt Clayton on bass, and Tim Tippetts on drums. Recently featured at the Holladay City Arts Festival, their uptempo tunes remind one of a funkier Spyro Gyra, while their ballads have Flynn channeling the sound of a Chris Botti on sax. The band formed with the goal of playing authentic, but accessible jazz, that would take the listener on a journey through swing, bebop, funk, fusion, and modern styles of jazz.
Each member of the group is native to Utah, who started on their instruments at a young age and gravitated to jazz after playing classical and pop/rock in school and garage bands. Wayne Christiansen has the distinction of being a part of the San Francisco music scene in 1968-69 where he jammed with Carlos Santana, Chuck Berry, Buddy Miles, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, and others.
The name Svengali was taken from the hypnotic character in the DuMaurier novel Trilby, who cast a spell on a woman of that name so she could sing like an angel. The members of Utah’s Svengali hope to cast a spell with their music wherever they play.

Kevin

"Music has been my passion ever since I was a wee lad listening to my father sing Irish ballads while strumming the guitar. I picked up the sax at age 10 and learned to play in school bands as we roamed the country like restless gypsies, stopping in Minnesota, Colorado, Florida, Arizona, California, and finally Utah. I loved listening to the cool sax of Paul Desmond (Dave Brubeck Quartet), then became enamored with the sassy blues of Cannonball Adderly. While working as a gas station attendant, I taught myself to play the blues harp to pass time during those cold winter nights when business was slow. Muddy, Sonny Boy, Little Walter; they struck a chord deep inside of me and the blues have never left me since. After high school I lived in Ireland for two years, and it was there that I reconnected with the mystical, soulful, and rollicking Irish music that was already in my blood. I learned to play the tin whistle, and you will still see me every year in the St. Patricks Day parade, playing jigs as the Flynn Clan comes down the street."