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This delightfully wide-ranging jazz quintet album from Kenny Barron opens with a delicate reading of Washington and Carmichael’s “The Nearness of You” and closes with a brisk sax and piano duet cover of Thelonious Monk’s “We See”. There is a nod to the Jazz Messengers with drummer Jonathan Blake’s composition “Blues on Stratford Road”, and drums and piano rampage through an unusually taut duet version of “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise”.
But the body of the album, and indeed its subtle emotional range, comes from the five Barron originals that span the breadth of the pianist’s 50-plus-year career. “Sunset”, released on Muse in 1973, was the first track on Barron’s debut solo album Sunset to Dawn. Back then it was interpreted through swirls of resonant Fender Rhodes, but here an acoustic band get to the essence of the tune’s prowling melody and sinuous left-hand groove…

This delightfully wide-ranging jazz quintet album from Kenny Barron opens with a delicate reading of Washington and Carmichael’s “The Nearness of You” and closes with a brisk sax and piano duet cover of Thelonious Monk’s “We See”. There is a nod to the Jazz Messengers with drummer Jonathan Blake’s composition “Blues on Stratford Road”, and drums and piano rampage through an unusually taut duet version of “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise”.
But the body of the album, and indeed its subtle emotional range, comes from the five Barron originals that span the breadth of the pianist’s 50-plus-year career. “Sunset”, released on Muse in 1973, was the first track on Barron’s debut solo album Sunset to Dawn. Back then it was interpreted through swirls of resonant Fender Rhodes, but here an acoustic band get to the essence of the tune’s prowling melody and sinuous left-hand groove…

This release combines the elegant swing of nine-time Grammy-winner Kenny Barron with the first-call Brazilian rhythm section of Trio da Paz, an inspired cross fertilization that enhances both jazz and tropical elements. From the opening "Zumbi," which rolls in like a Carnaval parade, to the infectious closer, "This One," the CD is full of light. Other superb Barron compositions include the languorous "Cloud" and the danceable "Thoughts and Dreams," where his gentle piano solo flows into a lilting bossa. The remaining three tunes are familiar to fans of Trio da Paz from their previous albums. Here, the addition of Barron's thoughtful commentary and the lush, cooling flute of Anne Drummond gives them new dimension.

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…