When thinking about the relationships between grace, elegance, charm and taste to the music of jazz, the first thing popping into my mind was the eloquence of the Modern Jazz Quartet. When attending any of the MJQ concerts, I went as if it were a recital or a chamber concert. Some of the critics of their day complained at times of the format being too restraining, especially for Milt Jackson. Today, in hindsight, we know they’ve opened new roads and avenues to express the songs of jazz in a fashion that was always in the best of taste while still maintaining innovation all the time.
This concert at the Carpenter Center conjured up much of these feelings for me. I was deeply impressed by the Kenny Barron/Regina Carter duo. Given their differences in age and experience they came together and explored the heart and soul of each other. I saw Regina at a concert in Riverside a couple of years ago in a completely different venue. It was at that concert that Regina displayed that she had the chops to play jazz on the violin - often not thought of as a true medium to swing. But, in this duo environment, she shines with eloquence and does swing ever so subtly while she respects the extraordinary musical compulsions of Kenny Barron.
The duo performed six lengthy, excursional pieces,
starting off with Softly, as in a morning sunrise which they
recorded together on their first CD. It’s a subtle approach to
this jazz evergreen and it swings with a delicate undulation of Latin
movements throughout the piece. For me, the highlight of the evening
was their version of Don’t Explain. Kenny Barron took a
remarkable exploratory solo that evokes the entire history of jazz
piano. He’s a most remarkable musician and has not truly been
given his full due. He seems to be especially comfortable in the Duo
setting and one gets the felling that Regina has learned and nurtured
from this wonderful musical relationship.
The other half of the concert presented Nnenna Freelon. She is a lovely, animated, highly gifted, pure jazz singer who may very well be one of our best lady singers around today. She can swing, be tender, introspective and subtle all at once and has enough stage presence, charisma and beauty to be a household name. But she’s not. However, it’s my feeling that in time she will get the attention she truly deserves to become more widely known.
She brought to the Center a tightly knit group of
musicians that were together, and never got into each other’s
way. I was truly impressed with Japanese pianist, Jakana Miyamoto.
When she soloed I nearly fell off my seat. She brought back some
memories of the Eddie Costa approach to the lower registers of the
keyboard. The highlight of Ms. Freelon’s set was her incredible
inside-out arrangement of Body and Soul. The enigmatic
arrangement had light elements of everything from Reggae to Afro
Cuban. Ms. Freelon, blessed with phenomenal control and articulation
held the evergreen together and pumped yet newer life into this song
of the ages.
Kenny Barron Bio
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Kenneth "Kenny" Barron was born in Philadelphia on June 9, 1943. Encouraged by his parents, he began piano studies at the age of 12 under the aegis of the sister of renowned pianist Ray Bryant. Only two years later, at the age of 14, Kenny had his first professional gig with Mel Melvin's orchestra playing alongside his saxophonist brother (and inspiration) Bill. Matter of fact, it was Bill who introduced the budding keyboardist to fellow Philadelphians and future legends Jimmy and Tootie Heath, John Coltrane, and Lee Morgan. "I even got to work with Philly Joe Jones", Kenny recalls. "I was in high school and that was a very big deal to me."
In 1962, after a stint with drummer Roy Haynes and a subsequent move to New York City's East Village after h.s. graduation, Kenny was hired by Dizzy Gillespie, on James Moody's advice, to replace Lalo Schifrin. It was then that he started to make a name for himself in the jazz world. Coincidentally, around this time Kenny received a additional musical knowledge via the recordings of piano giants Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones and Wynton Kelly.
"What got to me was their lyricism and articulation. They weren't perfect, but they were precise. I still spend a lot of time listening to them."
Remaining with Dizzy's band until 1966, Barron grew enormously, frst as a player, and second, as a composer.
After leaving Diz, Barron spent the next nine years playing with the likes of Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Owens, Stanley Turrentine, Milt Jackson and Stan Getz while also becoming the player-of-choice on countless CTI, Columbia and A&M jazz sessions. In 1986, Barron played on Getz's album VOYAGE and toured Europe the next year along with drummer Victor Lewis and bassist Rufus Reid. The music played on that tour was to appear on two of the fnest albums ever recorded by Stan Getz: ANNIVERSARY and SERENITY (released in 1989 and 1991, respectively). In 1989, Barron founded the collective he dubbed Sphere (Buster Williams; bass, Ben Riley; drums, Charlie Rouse; saxophone). Sphere not only played the music of Thelonius Monk, it also employed Barron-penned, tunes in the v ein of the master.
"I wanted the ensemble sound he got, the tandem of saxophone and piano in unison."
Barron's simpatico collaborations with Getz continued with 1990's APASIONADO and ended rather abruptly with the tenorman's literal recording swansong 1992's Grammy nominee for Verve, PEOPLE TIME. Recorded over four transcendental evenings at Copenhagen's legendary Cafe Montmartre club, PEOPLE TIME is the crown jewel of this musical tag team who have been described by European critic Alain Gerber as, "the tightrope walker and his guardian angel."
As a leader, Barron has released a pair of winners for Verve: 1993's slice-of-Brazil (yet another Grammy nominee) SAMBAO, and 1994's Manhattanesque tone poem, OTHER PLACES. On his current CD WANTON SPIRIT, Kenny is joined by bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Roy Haynes. Yet another mixture of impeccable standards and jewel-like originals, WANTON SPIRIT þows easily from the dusky aroma of Billy Strayborn's "Passion Flower" and the bopping puckishness of Herbie Hancock's "One Finger Snap" to the pianist's own exhilaratingly breakneck "Madman" and the beguiling undertow of Torn Harrell's "Sail Away."
All of the ten compositions on WANTON SPIRIT are quite extraordinary, but it is the telepathic interplay of the musicians that really breathes life into the whole affair.
"(Playing with Haden and Haynes) allowed, perhaps forced me to take a slightly different direction in my playing", muses Barron. "I certainly wasn't allowed to play safe, for which I'm grateful."
WANTON SPIRIT is the essence of Kenny Barron: class, intelligence, understatement, articulation, mad skills, and above all, a smile and the playful wink of an eye.
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