Calvin Keys has been played on NTS over 30 times, featured on 30 episodes and was first played on 2 November 2015.

Calvin Keys (born in Omaha, Nebraska, on 6 February 1942; died 14 April 2024) was an American jazz guitarist remembered for the albums he released for Black Jazz Records.

Keys' musical interest began early with his father Otis Keys, a man who is still described as Omaha's greatest natural drummer. Early on in his own musical career he auditioned and played guitar with such greats as Eddie Cleanhead Vinson and bassist Gerald Holts. At age 17, he first hit the road with sax player Little Walkin' Willie and then followed in his father's footsteps to Kansas City, where his first gigs were with Preston Love of the Count Basie Orchestra and The Frank Edwards Organ Trio. That foundation led to working with one of the greatest organ trios of all time‚ The Jimmy Smith Trio, and then on to working with several other organ greats: Jimmy McGriff, Jack McDuff, and Groove Holmes.

In 1969, Keys headed for Los Angeles. In 1971, he cut his first album, Shawn Neeq, on what was then Gene Russell's new highly acclaimed Blackjazz record label. Soon afterwards, he was hired to record and tour with Ray Charles. It was then that Calvin's career began blossoming in full swing as he toured Europe for the first time as the guitarist for Ray's Big Band.

In 1973, Blackjazz released his second solo album, Proceed With Caution. At this time, Calvin also began also using his newly given African name, Ajafika. Appearing on the album cover in an African robe and holding a spear, Calvin was in step with the African- American independence movement with a new identity and a raw roots musical direction. Shortly thereafter, Keys was called to work with legendary pianist Ahmad Jamal. Keys spent most of the next seven years recording six albums and performing with Ahmad.

By 1975, Keys had relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area and become an avid participant in its local jazz community, working on a regular basis with John Handy, Bobby Hutcherson, Eddie Marshall, Leon Williams, Bob Braye, Ed Kelley, Eddie Duran, Bruce Forman, Junius Simons, Eddie Moore and others. In 1976, he played on Doug and Jean Carn's Ovation album Higher Ground. The 1980s proved similarly fruitful; Keys was an in-demand studio and live sideman, with credits including appearances with Tony Bennett, Pharoah Sanders, and Sonny Stitt. Keys began recording another solo album in 1984. In 1985, Olive Branch Records released tracks from these sessions as the album entitled Full Court Press; it was followed a year later by Maria's First.

Keys continued playing sessions and performing with touring acts in the Bay Area and the occasional Los Angeles gig. In 1991 he was part of the band that recorded film composer James Newton Howard's original score for the film Dying Young. Working with his own trio, Keys released Standard Keys on Lifeforce Records in 1992; his session and live work continued at a relentless pace, which eventually took its toll. Some of his work included reuniting with Jamal for the pianist's 1994 album Night Song for Motown's MoJazz imprint, and a tour of Europe that resulted in Jamal's Live in Paris 1996. An Evening with Calvin Keys, taken from a radio broadcast, was released that same year.

He was sidelined in 1997 by heart surgery, undergoing a quadruple bypass. Undaunted, he released the widely acclaimed Detours into Unconscious Rhythms on Wide Hive Records. The large cast included organist Chester Thompson (Ray Charles, Santana) and upright bassist Kenneth Nash (from Jamal's band). After the album's release, Keys toured regionally in the U.S. and in Europe before returning to the Bay Area, where he performed with organists Big John Patton and Dr. Lonnie Smith, and Taj Mahal. In 2005 Keys recorded Calvinesque for Silverado. The album hit number 30 on the jazz charts.

His second Wide Hive release, Vertical Clearance, was issued in 2006. It reunited Keys with Doug Carn, and included Phil Ranelin, Sonny Fortune, Roger Glenn, and Babatunde in its lineup. In 2007 Keys released Hand-Made Portrait on Silverado, and received a tribute from fellow Midwesterner -- and fan -- Pat Metheny, who composed and included the tune "Calvin’s Keys" on his album Day Trip. Keys appeared on Ranelin's Living a New Day for Wide Hive and on organist Gloria Coleman's Sweet Missy for Doodlin in 2009. In 2012 Tompkins Square Records re-released Shaw-Neeq exclusively on 180-gram vinyl. Keys supported it by touring with a band, performing the album in its entirety.