Kenny

Kenny G has long been the musician many jazz listeners love to hate. A phenomenally successful instrumentalist whose recordings make the pop charts, Kenny G's sound has been a staple on adult contemporary and smooth jazz radio stations since the mid-'80s, making him a household name. Kenny G is a fine player with an attractive sound (influenced a bit by Grover Washington, Jr.) who often caresses melodies, putting a lot of emotion into his solos.

Kenny Barron, the 72-year-old Philadelphia-born virtuoso, is the kind of jazz pianist whose resources are familiar and much-covered by mainstream swing players, but whose joyfully extravagant execution is a rarity today. That quality transforms this trio set from being a canter through a smooth-jazzy assortment of soft ballads, Latin smoochers and glossy swing. Barron has absorbed an encyclopaedia of jazz methods from a life on the road with legends such as Ella Fitzgerald and Stan Getz, and it pours out in these tracks. Magic Dance, with its glistening chords and Latin-jazz tick, sounds smooth at first but unleashes an impulsive torrent. Ballads such as In the Slow Lane display his impeccably light touch and Thelonious Monk’s Shuffle Boil isn’t Monkishly lateral but swings furiously.

A highlight of the ENJA catalog, this trio recording received the prestigious "Prix Bud Powell de l'Académie du Jazz" back in 1986. "Scratch" is still one of the finest and most challenging recordings Kenny Barron has ever made. A multi-poll winner, Barron is widely considered the most versatile and tasteful pianist of today. Barron has recorded with all the great names in jazz: Abbey Lincoln, Barney Kessel, Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, James Moody, J.J. Johnson, Joe Henderson, Johnny Griffin, Kevin Mahogany, Yusef Lateef and many more. Sensing the potential in Kenny Barron, Matthias Winckelmann called the pianist in early 1985 to propose this trio recording with bass champion Dave Holland and drum wizard Daniel Humair. Following "Scratch", Kenny Barron did three more albums for ENJA with his quintet.