String Theory Manouche

Kim Platko
Bachelor of Music, University of North Texas, 1981, and a member of the internationally-acclaimed One O'Clock Lab Band.

Member, American Federation of Musicians Local 72-147 Dallas/Fort Worth.

Elected into Buddy Magazine's "Texas Tornado" Hall of Fame, 1987.

Professional recording and orchestral musician working in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for over 30 years.

Kim performed for many years with the famous Gypsy Jazz/world music ensemble Café Noir. Following his departure from that Dallas, Texas-area group he performed with numerous local jazz bands, including a long stint with Trio Blanc, a string trio that performed many times at the Van Cliburn Rehearsal Hall and the McDavid Studio at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas.

Kim has often been seen performing at famous music festivals around the world. A few that have featured him include:

1980 Jazz Festival - Interlaken, Switzerland
1989 Montreaux Jazz Festival -
Montreaux, Switzerland
World Expo - Seville, Spain
2005 & 2006 Vail Valley Music Festival -
Vail, Colorado
Kerrville Music Festival - Kerrville, Texas
Wembley Folk Festival - Wembely, London, UK
In addition to literally thousands of jazz performances, Kim is also a mainstay in the local theater scene, frequently found in the orchestras of Fort Worth's Casa Mañana Broadway Series at Bass Performance Hall, and productions at Stage West. Additional live orchestral performances include:

The Dallas Opera Dallas Summer Musicals
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra
The East Texas Symphony
The Fort Worth Opera
The Fort Worth Symphony
The Plano Symphony
The Texas Ballet Orchestra
Kim has provided accompaniment for many famous entertainers, including...

Carol Burnette
The Coasters
Billy Eckstein
Frank Marocco
Rita Moreno
Van Morrison
Peter Noone
Bernadette Peters
Arturo Sandoval
Del Shannon
Frank Sinatra, Jr.
Richard Stoltzman
Joe Williams
Recordings featuring Kim:

Ricardo Arjono - Historias (1994, on banjo)
Café Noir - Café Noir
Craig Chambers - West by Southwest
Dallas Jazz Orchestra - Turnin' Twenty
Dallas Jazz Orchestra - Scrapbook
Domestic Science Club (Sara Hickman)-
Three Women (1996)
Randy Erwin - 'Til The Cows Come Home
Randy Erwin - Back Home
Genie Grant - Blame It On My Youth
Galen Jeter - Messin' With Texas (2007)
Jimmy LaFave - Road Novel
Gina Loren-Bellamy - Lavender Blue (1996)
Meadows WInd Ensemble - 3 Cents (2003)
One O'Clock Lab Band - Best Of One O'Clock
Pete Petersen - Playin' In The Park
Pete Petersen - Jazz Journey
B. W. Stevenson - Rainbow Down The Road
...and many more.
Television appearances include "Dallas - J.R. The Early Years" and Walker, Texas Ranger (2001)

In 2004, Kim and fellow Trio Blanc musicians Rex Bozarth and Mark Menikos were contacted by Gracey Tune, founder and artistic director of Arts Fifth Avenue in Fort Worth to be the "anchor" group of a new event she had in mind to produce: an annual celebration of the birthday of the guitarist whose name more than any other is synonymous with the term "Gypsy Jazz" — Django Reinhardt. Since that time, the Django Reinhardt festival has flourished and grown into a three-day multimedia party, and Kim Platko has performed every year, heading up a hand-picked group of players.