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American Songwriter, March/April 2003

Album Review for Uninvited Guest Already a renowned producer, composer, and pianist in New York City, Kenny White proves he’s also a masterful pop/rock songwriter with his debut release. His marriage of lyrics and music are exceptional. The wistful tunes speak of lost love, heartbreak, and personal insecurities with an occasional gem of hope and enlightenment. Musically, the songs are blues, ballad and folk-rock with a touch of “urban”. The opening title cut bounds in with an Elvis Costello-esque feel to go along with the sentiment “now I wake up every morning like an uninvited guest.” The sparse arrangement and duet vocal with Shawn Colvin on “In Our Hands” magnifies the poetic emptiness of the lines “that love, like an old piece of cloth from the attic/just came apart in our hands.” And the acoustic rock anthem “In My Recurring Dream” is nothing short of a lyrical masterpiece with imagery that morphs into new images and makes sense of the nonsensical-just like a dream! This one goes in the “wish I had written it” category.

- Nancy Moran

Relix Magazine, June/July 2002

On The Verge: Artists You Should Know About

by Mick Skidmore

New York, NY: Kenny White has long been a noted producer, songwriter and pianist. He has worked with such notables as Keith Richards, Shawn Colvin, James Taylor, Emmylou Harris and many more. He has now branched out on his own and released a solo album, Uninvited Guest, a sophisticated and artfully produced album that highlights his vocal and songwriting skills. The title cut and several others have a similar tone and feel to early Elvis Costello. Guitarist Duke Levine, Shawn Colvin and Peter Wolf are among the guests, but its White’s jazzy songs (“The Beautiful Changes,” “Johnny’s Got a Crush On Marilyn”) that really stand out.

Sing Out! Vol. 46 #1, Spring 2002

Kenny White, Uninvited Guest (Kenny White)
White’s smooth, smoky vocals blends with pop, jazz, and folk, with layers of piano, Wurlitzer, spacious electric guitar textures and a restless rhythmic undercurrent. White’s impressionistic songs grow on you over time, as his images evoke your own memories and associations, and the subtly insistent grooves and instrumental textures stay with you well after the record stops spinning. Nice stuff.

- RM