Kenny Barron

Last updated

Kenny Barron
Kenny Barron Oslo Jazzfestival 2018 (221007).jpg
Barron at the Oslo Jazzfestival 2018
Background information
Born (1943-06-09) June 9, 1943 (age 81)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
InstrumentPiano
Years active1960s–present
Website www.kennybarron.com

Kenny Barron (born June 9, 1943) is an American jazz pianist, who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Early life

Barren was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He had four siblings; his eldest brother was tenor saxophonist Bill Barron (1927–1989). [4] At the age of 15, Barron played briefly with Mel Melvin's orchestra. [4] In 1959, still at school, Barron had local gigs with saxophonist Jimmy Heath. [4] He also played a gig with Yusef Lateef two months before graduating high school. [4]

Later life and career

A few days after graduating, Barron set off on a week-long tour with Lateef. [4] Seeking to further his musical career, Barron moved to New York in 1961. [4] He soon had a regular spot in saxophonist James Moody's band, and in the same year he was briefly a sideman with bands led by Lou Donaldson, Roy Haynes, and Lee Morgan. [4] Barron then joined Dizzy Gillespie's band, with which he toured internationally between 1962 and 1966. [4] Barron was briefly a member of the Jazztet around 1962, but did not record with them. [5] In the 1960s, he also married and moved to Brooklyn. [4]

After leaving Gillespie, Barron briefly performed with Stanley Turrentine before starting a three-year stint with Freddie Hubbard. [4] He was then accompanist and arranger for vocalist Esther Marrow in 1970, after which he returned to Lateef for almost five years. [4]

He graduated in 1978 with a BA degree in arts from Empire State College (Metropolitan Center, New York City).

He co-led the groups Sphere and the Classical Jazz Quartet. [1]

Between 1986 and 1991, Barron recorded several albums with Stan Getz, most notably Voyage (1986), Anniversary (1987), Serenity (1987), Bossas & Ballads – The Lost Sessions (1989), and People Time: The Complete Recordings (1991), a two-CD set.

He has been nominated nine times for Grammy Awards and for the American Jazz Hall of Fame. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009. [6]

In May 2010, Barron was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music along with African-born singer/songwriter Angelique Kidjo, Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucia, and songwriting duo Leon Huff and Kenneth Gamble. [7]

For more than 25 years, Barron taught piano and keyboard harmony at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He now teaches at the Juilliard School of Music. His piano students have included Earl MacDonald, [8] Harry Pickens, Jon Regen and Aaron Parks. [9]

In 2022, Barron was elected in the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame. [10]

Discography

Barron in 1986 Kenny Barron.jpg
Barron in 1986

Sources: [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cecil McBee</span> American jazz bassist

Cecil McBee is an American jazz bassist. He has recorded as a leader only a handful of times since the 1970s, but has contributed as a sideman to a number of classic jazz albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Heath</span> American drummer (1935–2024)

Albert "Tootie" Heath was an American jazz hard bop drummer, the brother of tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath and the double-bassist Percy Heath. With Stanley Cowell, the Heaths formed the Heath Brothers jazz band in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ravi Coltrane</span> American jazz saxophonist (born 1965)

Ravi Coltrane is an American jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced pianist Luis Perdomo, guitarist David Gilmore, and trumpeter Ralph Alessi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Potter (jazz saxophonist)</span> American jazz musician and composer

Chris Potter is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clifford Jordan</span> American jazz saxophone player

Clifford Laconia Jordan was an American jazz tenor saxophone player and composer. Originally from Chicago, Jordan later moved to New York City, where he recorded extensively in addition to touring across both Europe and Africa. He recorded and performed with Art Farmer, Horace Silver, Max Roach, J.J. Johnson, and Kenny Dorham, among others. In later years, performed with Cedar Walton's quartet Eastern Rebellion, and led his own groups, including a big band.

Rufus Reid is an American jazz bassist, educator, and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudio Roditi</span> Brazilian jazz trumpeter (1946–2020)

Claudio Roditi was a Brazilian jazz trumpeter. In 1966 Claudio was named a trumpet finalist at the International Jazz Competition in Vienna, Austria. While in Vienna, Roditi met Art Farmer, one of his idols, and the friendship inspired the younger trumpeter to follow a career in jazz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenny Werner</span> American jazz pianist and composer

Kenny Werner is an American jazz pianist, composer, and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Drummond</span> American jazz musician

Ray Drummond is an American jazz bassist and teacher. He also has an MBA from Stanford University, hence his linkage to the Stanford Jazz Workshop. He can be heard on hundreds of albums and co-leads The Drummonds with Renee Rosnes and Billy Drummond.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Mraz</span> Czech-born American jazz bassist (1944–2021)

George Mraz was a Czech-born American jazz bassist and alto saxophonist. He was a member of Oscar Peterson's group, and worked with Pepper Adams, Stan Getz, Michel Petrucciani, Stephane Grappelli, Tommy Flanagan, Jimmy Raney, Chet Baker, Joe Henderson, John Abercrombie, John Scofield, and Richie Beirach, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirk Lightsey</span> American jazz musician

Kirkland "Kirk" Lightsey is an American jazz pianist. He was born 15 February 1937

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donny McCaslin</span> American saxophonist

Donald Paul McCaslin is an American jazz saxophonist. He has recorded over a dozen albums as a bandleader in addition to many sideman appearances, including on David Bowie's final studio album, Blackstar (2016).

Victor Lewis is an American jazz drummer, composer, and educator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Wilson (jazz musician)</span> American jazz multi-instrumentalist (born 1961)

Steve Wilson is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, who is best known in the musical community as a flutist and an alto and soprano saxophonist. He also plays the clarinet and the piccolo. Wilson performs on many different instruments and has performed and recorded on over twenty-five albums. His interests include folk, jazz, classical, world music, and experimental music. Wilson is currently on the faculty of New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. He was elected as an American Champion by the National Flute Association. Wilson has maintained a busy career working as a session musician, and has contributed to many musicians of note both in the recording studios, but as a sideman on tours. Over the years he has participated in engagements with several musical ensembles, as well as his own solo efforts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Washington</span> American jazz double bassist

Peter Washington is a jazz double bassist. He played with the Westchester Community Symphony at the age of 14. Later he played electric bass in rock bands. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he majored in English Literature, and performed with the San Francisco Youth Symphony and the UC Symphony Orchestra. His growing interest in jazz led him to play with John Handy, Bobby Hutcherson, Harold Land, Frank Morgan, Ernestine Anderson, Chris Connor and other Bay Area luminaries. In 1986 he joined Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers and moved to New York City. Beginning in the 1990s, he toured with the Tommy Flanagan trio until Flanagan's death in 2001, and has played with the Bill Charlap trio since 1997. He was a founding member of the collective hard bop sextet One for All and is a visiting artist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Stephen Scott is an American jazz pianist. Scott played piano from the age of five. While attending New York’s High School of the Performing Arts he was introduced to jazz by alto saxophonist Justin Robinson, in particular the music of Wynton Kelly and Red Garland. Later, he took private lessons at the Juilliard School of Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dayna Stephens</span> American jazz saxophonist and composer (born 1978)

Dayna Stephens is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. In addition to leading his own group, Stephens has performed extensively with Kenny Barron, Ambrose Akinmusire, Taylor Eigsti, Julian Lage, Eric Harland, and Gerald Clayton. Stephens grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Berkeley High School. He went on to study at the Berklee School of Music and later at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Riley</span> American drummer (1933–2017)

Benjamin Alexander Riley Jr. was an American jazz drummer known for his work with Thelonious Monk, as well as Alice Coltrane, Stan Getz, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Ahmad Jamal, and as a member of the group Sphere. During the 1970s and 1980s he was a member of the New York Jazz Quartet.

This is the discography for American jazz musician Charlie Haden.

<i>Wanton Spirit</i> 1994 studio album by Kenny Barron

Wanton Spirit is a studio album by the American jazz pianist Kenny Barron, with drummer Roy Haynes and bassist Charlie Haden. The album was released in 1994 on the Verve Records label. Wanton Spirit was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance.

References

  1. 1 2 arwulf arwulf. "Allmusic biography". AllMusic. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  2. Rizzo, Gene (March 5, 2005). "Kenny Barron". 50 Greatest Jazz Piano Players of All Time. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 143. ISBN   9780634074165 . Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  3. Yanow, Scott (2001). "Kenny Barron". All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 1152. ISBN   9780879306274 . Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Bloom, Steve (June 1980). "Kenny Barron: Pianist's Progress". DownBeat . Vol. 47, no. 6. pp. 26, 27, 62, 64.
  5. Blumenthal, Bob (2004) In The Complete Argo/Mercury Art Farmer/Benny Golson/Jazztet Sessions (CD liner notes). p. 12. Mosaic.
  6. "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter B" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  7. Aubrey Everett (May 15, 2010), "Several Jazz Artists Honored at Berklee Commencement", JazzTimes. Archived September 27, 2017, at the Wayback Machine .
  8. "Wanton Spirit". Vervemusicgroup.com. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  9. Kugiya, Hugo (June 15, 2010). "Jazz pianist Aaron Parks is back on the farm the James Farm". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on June 22, 2011.
  10. "DownBeat December 2022 Readers Poll". archive.maherpublications.com. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  11. "Kenny Barron Discography". MTV . mtv.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2017.