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Sambao is Kenny Barron's tribute to Brazilian music done his way. These original compositions by the peerless pianist combine jazz and samba in a modernistic way, with no copying of tunes from the master Antonio Carlos Jobim, and no hint of the populist Stan Getz approach due to the lack of a lead instrument, save Barron's attractive and inventive piano. He's accompanied by heavyweights of the Rio-cum-New York City scene, including guitarist Toninho Horta, bassist Nico Assumpção, and French-born percussionist Mino Cinelu. Barron's (and most people's) favorite jazz drummer Victor Lewis is included, reinforcing the rhythms expertly as usual.

Kenny Barron, whose duets with tenor great Stan Getz rank among the greatest achievements in that format, has recorded only a handful of duo albums with bassists. One of them, his 1986 encounter with Harvie S, Now Was the Time, came out almost by accident, years after it was recorded. (It was discovered among Harvie S’ belongings and released in 2008.) A mere five years later, in time for Barron’s 70th birthday, Witchcraft arrives as a rewarding sequel.
S’s melodic and temperate bass skates like Sonja Henie while Barron dances like Astaire on graceful tunes like “Deep Night” and “Witchcraft.” They pull an obscure Ellington piece such as “Wig Wise” and make you wonder why you’ve never heard it before as they play with it like a cat with a ball of string…

Bradley's was a legendary New York City jazz club that for 25 years acted as a gathering place for many of the Big Apple's top musicians, a place to hang out. In 1996, the Kenny Barron Trio dug in before the illustrious audience and played at their best. Barron and drummer Ben Riley were members of Sphere, a quartet (with tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse and bassist Buster Williams) that initially paid tribute to Thelonious Monk. On this trio set, "The Only One" is based on Monk's "Hackensack," Barron takes Thelonious' "Shuffle Boil" as an unaccompanied piano solo, and the threesome jams on "Well You Needn't." The other two songs, the standard "You Don't Know What Love Is" and Barron's "Twilight Song," are not connected to the pianist-composer but are excellent examples of the trio's close interplay and ability to think as one…

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.

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.