Starting his academic career at Georgia State University he transferred to Jacksonville, FL to attend the University of North Florida.  There he met and performed and toured with a number of important jazz artists who had settled into that burgeoning North Florida jazz scene. These artists include Wynton Marsalis, Louie Bellson, Eddie Daniels, James Moody, Ben Tucker, Ira Sullivan, Sam Rivers, and Nat Adderley. He counts among his mentors bassist Ben Tucker, multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan, guitar legends Nathen Page and Jack Petersen, and the fiercely individual saxophonist Bunky Green. His meeting with Bunky Green led to five years of tours. His encounter with guitarist Nathen Page blossomed into 15 years of spot tours and four albums. And his work with trumpeter extraordinaire Marcus Printup has become a lifetime association that has included recordings on Blue Note/Capital records.  While still a senior at North Florida Kevin was asked to join the faculty at UNF teaching jazz piano and improvisation.

Far from burdensome, Kevin finds teaching exhilarating. “I love working with students,” he says, “and it helps me in my own playing, because you have to analyze and understand what you’re playing in order to explain it.”  Kevin has amassed a long list of awards and a reputation as one of the finest jazz pianists performing anywhere. In 1994, he won the American Pianist Association’s Jazz Piano Competition. In addition to nearly every important jazz venue in the South, he has performed in some of the most acclaimed clubs and festivals in America and around the world: the JVC Jazz Festival in New York, The Bakery in Los Angeles, The Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center jazz series, the Toronto and Edinburgh jazz festivals, and the Moscow Center for the Performing Arts. His list of recordings is similarly extensive, including his own first album, The First Day, released in 2006, and recent titles with Motema recording artist Rene Marie, with whom he also currently tours. Their most recent album, Voice of My Beautiful Country, on the Motema Label is currently in the top 10 on the jazz charts.

Kevin Bales received his B.M. from the University of North Florida and M.M. from Florida State.  He taught at UNF for 10 years and many of his groups won Downbeat Awards and were invited to perform at IAJE and other prestigious festivals.   As a jazz pianist he has performed and recorded with Marcus Printup, singer Rene Marie, Bunky Green, Bob Reynolds, Ira Sullivan, Barry Green, and many others. He has performed at venues from South Florida to Lincoln Center and is one of the most in-demand pianists in the Southeastern U.S.  Currently he teaches jazz piano, jazz history, and improvisation at Georgia State University.