The Myers family is deeply saddened by the news of Kenny Wild's passing. We all knew him by that name. On there behalf I send our condolences to his family. A great musical light has gone out. A mentor to many horn players and vocalists, his nickname said it all. He was a "wild" man on the saxaphone. My family knew Kenny over 50 years. We are all musicians. My oldest brother Sonny, a bass player played in a band with Kenny and Jim Thomas guitar off an on for years. My youngest brother played guitar and they all played together over the years. As a kid I remember hearing sound bites of how great a player he was...at that time I was singing in a band with both my brothers at eleven years old, but hearing about great players is something that sticks when you are among them. When I turned 21 I finally got to hear him with his band at The White Elephant in Beaverton, Oregon. After that, I went to see him as much as possible. Of all instruments, sax is the closest to the human voice. I got bebop scatting chops by listening to Kenny. He told me last time I saw him, he had major respect for my vocoice I remember he had major swagger playin that sax and he was a fine player. He was exciting to hear. In the last 10 years I saw him quite a few times. I lived in Goble Oregon and played the local tavern. What a thrill to have him show up with an alto sax in hand and jam with us. I know it was hard for him to play, because he'd lost some strength and having lung capacity is important. He was disappointed that he couldnt play like he used to. Those are subtle things only the player knows down deep. But I could still hear the young Kenny. He could play any style of music too. My family was big on jazz. He could bebop with the best of them. The last time I got to play with him, we did a couple old jazz tunes and it was pure heaven. He will be greatly missed by the music community, and i will forever remember him as one of my mentors, who cared and was kind to me. Farewell My Friend. We will all see you on the other side in the greatest band of all time!
Linda,Sonny and Dwain Myers
