Kerry Politzer is a Portland-based jazz pianist, composer, and educator. Since 2013, she has served on the music faculty at Portland State University, and as of Winter 2020, she will also be on the faculty at University of Portland. Kerry received a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Piano from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied improvisation and composition with the late jazz guru Charlie Banacos. She continues to be inspired by his teachings.

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. Among the album’s highlights is the breezy, sun-dappled samba “São Salvador,” which is featured here as our Song of the Day.