Rhodes MK8 Named Official Electric Piano of Blue Note Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California, October 1, 2026 — Rhodes Music announces that the Rhodes MK8 is now the Official Electric Piano of Blue Note Los Angeles. The instrument is available to artists performing at the Hollywood venue and has already been played there by GRAMMY-winning keyboardist, producer, and composer Cory Henry. Henry returns to the club this fall for The Church Experience, a Gospel Brunch series taking place September 27, October 18, and November 15.
The arrival of the MK8 at Blue Note Los Angeles continues the connection between Rhodes and Blue Note that spans both coasts. Blue Note New York has housed an MK8 since 2024, where it has been played by artists including Robert Glasper during his month-long residency at the Greenwich Village club. The new Los Angeles instrument now gives West Coast performers the same opportunity to bring the Rhodes sound to the Blue Note stage.
Founded in New York City in 1981, Blue Note has built its reputation by bringing audiences close to some of the most influential jazz musicians while continuing to provide a stage for new and evolving voices. After expanding to cities across Asia, Europe, and South America, Blue Note opened its Los Angeles venue on Sunset Boulevard in August 2025, establishing a new West Coast home for world-class jazz and live music.
Rhodes has followed its own path from California, where Harold Rhodes developed the instruments that would become part of the sound of jazz, soul, funk, and popular music, to Leeds, England, where the MK8 is built today. Across those decades, many of the same artists who have made Rhodes central to their music have also taken the stage at Blue Note. The arrival of the MK8 in Los Angeles continues that shared musical history for a new generation of performers and audiences.
That shared musical history continues through GRAMMY-winning keyboardist and former Snarky Puppy member Cory Henry, whose work spans gospel, jazz, funk, and R&B. His album Church received the 2025 GRAMMY Award for Best Roots Gospel Album. Henry has already performed on the MK8 at Blue Note Los Angeles and returns to the club this fall for The Church Experience, a Gospel Brunch series taking place September 27, October 18, and November 15.
“I love instruments that make you want to play, and the Rhodes does that,” said Henry. “It has so much soul and character already in the sound. The new Rhodes still has that feeling and history, but it gives me room to take it somewhere new. Playing it at Blue Note LA felt right at home with what I’m doing musically.”
For more information, visit: https://rhodesmusic.com/rhodes-mk8/
Header photo credit: Ben Olivas
About Rhodes
For Rhodes loyalists around the world, this is a new chapter in Rhodes' history, not a new book. With the Rhodes MK8, we’re returning to the principles, aesthetic, craftsmanship, and pride of Harold Rhodes’ originals. We’re paying homage to the past with our gaze fixed firmly on what lies ahead.
Hunter Williams
