Kenny Barron - Beyond This Place

Label: Artwork Records, 2024

Personnel - Immanuel Wilkins: alto saxophone; Kenny Barron: piano; Steve Nelson: vibraphone; Kiyoshi Kitagawa: bass; Johnathan Blake: drums.

Pianist and composer Kenny Barron, a towering figure in the jazz world with 13 Grammy nominations and induction into the American Jazz Hall of Fame, has been at the helm of sophisticated post-bop for many decades, never shying away from reinventing jazz standards, reshaping his own originals, or composing anew. He does all that in his latest album, Beyond This Place, for which he enlisted a multigenerational group featuring rising star saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, veteran vibraphonist Steve Nelson, and his regular rhythm team of bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and drummer Johnathan Blake.

The quintet starts off with a rendition of the timeless standard “The Nearness of You”, smoothly introduced by piano and saxophone, and later reinforced by dulcet bass lines and sizzling brushwork. Wilkins’s remarkably soulful statement makes this number memorable. Two other standards appear in the song lineup: “Softly as In a Morning Sunrise”, is a fantastic piano-drums duet where Barron deconstructs and rebuilds his narrative by stretching the melody to the breaking point; and Monk’s “We See”, seamlessly translated into piano-sax duo idiom. Curiously, Barron, who included more than a dozen Monk tunes in his extended discography, had never recorded this one before.

Notable among Barron’s original compositions is “Scratch”, a burning post-bop cut from 1985 that, stressing rhythmic accentuations, swings impulsively with confident elan. It’s lavishly delivered and stately paced with fluid yet tension-imbued solos from Wilkins, Nelson, and Barron. “Innocent”, whose original version was recorded in 1978 with saxophonist Sonny Fortune, is now revitalized with Wilkins’ fresh approach and Blake’s dynamic contribution. The drummer also shines on “Tragic Magic”, a lilting hard-bop number penned in honor of late pianist Tommy Flanagan, and contributes a composition of his own, the smoky “Blues on Stratford Road”, which evolves into a relaxed if familiar setting. 

In turn, the freshly penned title track is a gospel-infused ballad that reflects Barron’s refined pianism and melodic sensibility. Beyond This Place marks a strong return for Barron, characterized by stimulating conversational exchanges and masterful musicianship. 

Favorite Tracks:
01 - The Nearness of You ► 02 - Scratch ► 07 -  Softly As in a Morning Sunrise

Kenny Barron / Dave Holland Trio - Without Deception

Label: Dare2 Records

Personnel - Kenny Barron: piano; Dave Holland: bass; Johnathan Blake: drums.

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Pianist Kenny Barron and bassist Dave Holland have covered a vast amount of sonic terrain throughout their brilliant careers. On Without Deception, they co-lead a trio that includes the spectacular drummer Johnathan Blake, pairing versatility and musicianship in a collection of originals and shrewdly chosen covers that feels like an expansion of their conversational duo album The Art of Conversation (Impulse! Records, 2014).

Barron-penned “Porto Alegre” opens the album with a lovely bossa groove that relies on Blake’s hot snare tones to make the rhythm even more attractive. Besides revealing a strong unity, the three musicians enchant with personal statements abundant in rich idioms. Carrying something of Jobim, “Until Then” offers another alluring canvas painted with elegant bossa nova colors, while on the title track and “Speed Trap”, also written by Barron, the trio delivers the goods with a different posture. While the former is a winsome 12-bar blues with plenty of blue notes and feel-good trading fours, the latter connects bass and drums in a spiraling swinging verve, and channels streams of cascading piano notes through it. Barron’s flagrant rhythmic figures easily evolve into smart lines that prompt the drummer to respond, and Holland employs irresistible slides and wise interval hops to complement his forward-moving pizzicato.

The post-bop lyricism evinced on Mulgrew Miller’s “Second Thoughts” made me think of that special vibe found on Barron’s staggering album Scratch (Enja, 1985), released 35 years ago and on which Holland also performed. 

Though “Secret Places” waltzes with the poignancy of Bill Evans, it develops with the tender touch of Barron, differing from the groove-centric irreverence of “Pass It On”, a composition by Holland that first saw the light of day on his 2008 sextet album of the same name. Showing off his monster technique, the bassist is both the glue that holds everything together and the booster this music needs to flow ahead. Blake’s terrific wallops and Barron’s linear tangents contribute to the positive effect.

The renditions of Duke Ellington’s “Warm Valley” and Thelonious Monk’s “Worry Later” head straight for their original musical splendor, but the trio garnishes them with their personal traits.

Maturity armors the three vertices of this stretchable musical triangle.

Grade B+

Grade B+

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Porto Alegre ► 02 - Second Thoughts ► 07 - Pass It On

Kenny Barron Trio - Book Of Intuition

Kenny Barron: piano; Kiyoshi Kitagawa: double bass; Johnathan Blake: drums.

I’ve always had a special fondness for the music of Kenny Barron, a dashing composer and creative pianist of huge technical caliber. I grew up listening to some of his gems such as “Scratch” and “Wanton Spirit”, albums that transpire all his charming spells and elastic expressiveness grounded on hard-bop and post-bop styles.
His new record, “Book of Intuition”, was recorded with Kiyoshi Kitagawa on double bass and Johnathan Blake on drums, a furiously responsive rhythm section that much contributed to the musical quality of the songs.
Barron’s compositions are quite impressive - “Magic Dance” shows pure Bossanova delicacy, “Bud Like” bounces with a frenzy Latin pulse, “Cook’s Day” delivers a calm yet expressive groove, and “Lunacy” is a rhythmically splendorous experience. In addition, we also have the magic of solo piano in “Light Blue”, one of the two Monk’s numbers, and the plaintive sounds of Charlie Haden’s “Nightfall”. 
The trio pulls a myriad of emotions throughout the ten tracks of the recording, making it another captivating and essential work in Barron’s extended discography.

Favorite Tracks:
02 – Bud Like ► 06 – Light Blue ► 07 – Lunacy