Kennard Ramsey

Kennard Ramsey
Occupations
  • Composer
  • guitarist
  • recording artist
Years active1980s–present

Kennard Ramsey is an American composer, guitarist and recording artist. He has composed music for film and television, including Ringmaster, Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby, Hair Show, Lincoln Heights and Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain. As a recording artist, he released the album Somos through Stanley Clarke's Roxboro Entertainment Group.

Career

Ramsey studied composition and arranging with composer and arranger Spud Murphy for five years.[1]

Ramsey's work as a film composer includes Ringmaster (1998), directed by Neil Abramson.[2][3] He also composed music for Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby (1999) and Bundy (2002).[4]

In 2004, Ramsey composed the music for Hair Show, directed by Leslie Small.[5]

Ramsey has also worked in television. He contributed additional music to the animated series Waynehead, for which Stanley Clarke composed the theme and music.[6] His television work also includes the drama series Lincoln Heights, on which he composed music with Clarke.[7]

In December 2009, Kennard Ramsey was a guest instructor, teaching film music composition at the ION International Film Festival in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.[8]

In 2011, Ramsey released the jazz album Somos through Roxboro Entertainment Group, a record label founded by Clarke.[9][10] Somos was one of the label's first releases.[9] Ramsey described the album as an updated approach to the sounds associated with Verve Records and Blue Note Records.[9]

Ramsey produced and arranged Somos and played acoustic and electric guitar, keyboards and synthesizer. He was also credited as composer, lyricist and orchestrator.[10]

In 2013, Ramsey composed the original score for the concert film Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, starring Kevin Hart and directed by Tim Story.[7] He also worked on The Heavenly Kid, Lincoln Heights and Knots Landing.[7]

Theatre

Ramsey was the composer and musical director for Jambalaya, the Musical, created by Nancy Gregory.[11] The production opened at the Orpheum Theater in New Orleans in November 2016.[11]

Selected filmography

Film

Year Title Credit
1985 The Heavenly Kid Music
1994 Fortunes of War Composer
1995 Without Air Composer
1997 B.A.P.S. Orchestra
1998 Ringmaster Composer
1999 Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby Composer
1999 Double Jeopardy Additional music
2000 Romeo Must Die Additional music, orchestrator
2002 Bundy Composer
2004 Hair Show Composer
2008 First Sunday Orchestrator
2013 Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain Composer
2014 Category 5 Composer
2020 The App That Stole Christmas Composer

Television

Title Credit
Knots Landing Music
Goof Troop Music
Bonkers Music
Waynehead Additional music
Static Shock Music
The X-Files Music
Lincoln Heights Composer

Discography

Albums

References

  1. ↑ Thurber, Jon (August 13, 2005). "'Spud' Murphy, 96; Prolific Composer, Arranger Was Well-Known as Teacher". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ↑ "'Ringmaster' Presides Over a Lively Circus". Los Angeles Times. November 25, 1998. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Ringmaster". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  4. ↑ "FILM REVIEW; The Life and Violent Times of a 1970's Serial Killer". The New York Times. September 13, 2002. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  5. ↑ Berry, S. Torriano; Berry, Venise T. (2015). Historical Dictionary of African American Cinema. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 195. ISBN 978-1-4422-4701-7. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  6. ↑ Buchner, Chris (February 4, 2023). "Waynehead". Saturday Mornings Forever. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 "Weekly Film Music Roundup (July 5, 2013)". Film Music Reporter. July 5, 2013. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  8. ↑ Cassidy, Kevin (December 22, 2009). "Spirit of optimism shines through at Nigerian film fest". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Jackson, Nate (March 19, 2011). "Grammy winner Stanley Clarke taps eclectic musicians for his Roxboro push". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 "Somos – Kennard Ramsey". AllMusic. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  11. 1 2 Fuselier, Herman (December 1, 2016). "Revised, 'Jambalaya The Musical' opens in NOLA". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. p. C20.
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