kenny barron
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Kenneth Barron was born in Philadelphia in 1943. He studied piano with Ray Bryant’s sister, and made such quick progress that by 1957 he was working professionally with Mel Melvin´s orchestra, a local band which also featured his brother, the late tenor saxophonist Bill Barron. By 1959 Kenny worked with drummer Philly Joe Jones, and in 1960 he joined Yusef Lateef.
That same year, Kenny moved to New York, where he was hired by James Moody after sitting in at the Five Spot - right on the spot -. In 1961 he worked briefly with drummer Roy Haynes, and in 1963 he joined Dizzy Gillespie´s band, replacing Lalo Schiffrin under James Moody’s recommendation. Kenny stayed with Dizzy until 1966, and freelanced around New York for the next few years, playing, amongst others, with Stanley Turrentine -one of the most enjoyable gigs I had, - says Kenny, Freddie Hubbard - my neighbor in Brooklyn, where I had moved - and Jimmy Owens.
During the early seventies Kenny played again with Yusef Lateef, and briefly with Milt Jackson, Jimmy Heath and Buddy Rich. 1973 was a very important year in Kenny’s career: he recorded under his own name for the first time (Sunset to Dawn, Muse Records), and he joined Rutgers University to teach piano, harmony and musical theory. From 1976 to 1980 Kenny worked with Ron Carter - he knows what he wants in terms of being a bandleader -, says Barron.
In 1981, and together with Charlie Rouse, Ben Riley and Buster Williams, Kenny founded Sphere, a quartet originally devoted to play the music of Thelonious Monk. The group did several outstanding recordings, amongst them Four for all and Bird Songs, for Verve Records. During the early eighties Kenny also recorded several trio albums, like Green Chimneys , on Criss Cross, or Scratch, on Enja Records. He was also associated with the talents of vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson.
In 1986 Kenny recorded with Stan Getz the famed album Voyage, and the following year he toured Europe and the US as part of the tenor player’s all star quartet, which featured Victor Lewis and Rufus Reid. The music created by that group has been preserved in two albums that are acclaimed amongst the best ever recorded by Getz: Anniversary and Serenity, on EmArcy Records. Kenny recorded with Getz again in 1990, this time for A&M - Apasionado -. In 1991 Getz and Barron performed in duo format for four consecutive nights at the Cafe Monmartre in Copenhagen: the music was recorded and issued a little later by EmArcy under the title People time, and represents the highlight of an outstanding musical partnership.
In the early nineties, Kenny Barron has been widely accepted as one of the leading exponents of contemporary Jazz piano. Accompanied by his old-time colleagues Ray Drummond on bass and Ben Riley on drums, Barron has performed in Festivals, Concerts and Jazz Clubs all over the United States, Europe and Japan. He has been featured on several movies (like Spyke Lee’s School daze and Do the right thing) and has contributed his skills as superb accompanist to countless recordings by the most diverse Artists. Many of the “young lions” of Jazz piano, like Danilo Perez, Rodney Kendrick, Benny Green, Cyrus Chesnut or Eric Reed credit Kenny as a major influence in their careers.
Kenny’s creative, articulated and distinctive piano style comes from the Detroit school - Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Wynton Kelly, you know … but I am starting to become a little more adventurous … it makes me take more chances …-