Kenny Barron

Kenny Barron
Kenny Barron in Munich (2001)
Background information
Born	(1943-06-09) June 9, 1943 Philadelphia, United States
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, educator
Instruments	Piano
Years active	Late 1960s–present
Website	kennybarron.com

Kenny Barron (born June 9, 1943, Philadelphia) is an American jazz pianist. Known for his lyrical style of playing, Barron has appeared on hundreds of recordings as both leader and sideman and is consequently considered one of the most important and influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era.

Biography

Kenny Barron is the younger brother of tenor saxophonist Bill Barron (1927–1989). One of his first gigs was as pianist with the Dizzy Gillespie quartet. Barron was briefly a member of the Jazztet around 1962, but did not record with them.

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

He also co-led the groups Sphere and the Classical Jazz Quartet.

Between 1987 and 1991, Barron recorded several albums with Stan Getz, most notably Bossas & Ballads – The Lost Sessions, Serenity, Anniversary and People Time, a 2-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.

For over 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, Harry Pickens, and Aaron Parks.

Discography

As leader

Year	Album	Personnel / Notes	Label
1968	You Had Better Listen	Barron-Jimmy Owens Quintet with Bennie Maupin, Chris White, Freddie Waits, Rudy Collins	Atlantic Records
1973	Sunset To Dawn	Bob Cranshaw, Freddie Waits, Richard Landrum, Warren Smith	Muse Records
1974	Peruvian Blue	Ted Dunbar, David Williams, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Richard Landrum, Sonny Morgan	Muse
1975	Lucifer	Carlos Alomar, Bill Barron, Billy Hart, James Spaulding, Charles Sullivan, Chris White	Muse
1975	In Tandem	Ted Dunbar	Muse
1978	Innocence	Sonny Fortune, Jimmy Owens, Buster Williams, Gary King , Ben Riley, Brian Brake, Billy Hart, Rafael Cruz, produced by Joel Dorn	Wolf
1980	Golden Lotus	John Stubblefield, Steve Nelson	Muse
1981	At the Piano	Solo	Xanadu Records
1982	Spiral	Solo	Eastwind
1983	Green Chimneys	Buster Williams, Ben Riley	Criss Cross Jazz
1984	1+1+1	Ron Carter, Michael Moore	Black Hawk
1984	Landscape	Cecil McBee, Al Foster	Baystate
1985	Autumn In New York (LP) / New York Attitude (CD)	Rufus Reid, Freddie Waits	Uptown Records
1985	Scratch	Dave Holland, Daniel Humair	Enja Records
1986	What If	Wallace Roney, John Stubblefield, Cecil McBee, Victor Lewis	Enja
1986	Two as One	Buster Williams	Red Records
1988	Live At Fat Tuesdays	Cecil McBee, Victor Lewis, John Stubblefield, Eddie Henderson	Enja Records
1989	Rhythm-a-ning	John Hicks	Candid Records
1990	Invitation	Ralph Moore, David Williams, Lewis Nash	Criss Cross
1990	Live at Maybeck Hall	Solo	Concord
1990	The Only One	Ray Drummond, Ben Riley	Reservoir
1991	Lemuria - Seascape	Ray Drummond, Ben Riley	Candid
1991	Confirmation	Ray Drummond, Ben Riley, Barry Harris	Candid
1991	The Moment	Victor Lewis, Rufus Reid	Reservoir Records
1991	Quickstep	John Stubblefield, Eddie Henderson, David Williams, Victor Lewis,	Enja
1992	People Time	Stan Getz	Polygram
1993	Other Places	Mino Cinelu, Bobby Hutcherson, Victor Lewis, Ralph Moore, Rufus Reid	Verve Records
1993	Spiral	Solo	Enja
1993	Sambao	Toninho Horta, Victor Lewis, Nico Assumpção, Mino Cinelu	Verve
1994	Wanton Spirit	Roy Haynes, Charlie Haden	Verve
1996	Swamp Sally	Mino Cinelu	Polygram
1993	Things Unseen	Eddie Henderson, John Scofield, John Stubblefield	Verve
1998	Night and the City	Charlie Haden	Verve
2001	Freefall	Regina Carter	Verve
2001	Live At Bradley's	Ray Drummond, Ben Riley	Sunnyside
2002	Canta Brazil	Trio da Paz	Sunnyside
2003	Peace	George Robert	DIW Records
2004	Images	Anne Drummond, Kimberly Thompson, Kiyoshi Kitagawa	Sunnyside
2004	Super Standard	Super Trio - Jay Leonhart, Al Foster	Tokuma
2008	The Traveler	Kiyoshi Kitagawa, Francisco Mela, Steve Wilson, Lionel Loueke	Sunnyside
2009	Minor Blues	George Mraz, Ben Riley	Venus Records
2013	Thrasher Dream Trio	Ron Carter, Gerry Gibbs	Whaling City Sound
2014	The Art of Conversation	Dave Holland	Impulse Records

As sideman

With Ron Carter

• Yellow & Green (CTI, 1976)
• Pastels (Milestone, 1976)
• Piccolo (Milestone, 1977)
• A Song for You (Milestone, 1978)

With Continuum

• Mad About Tadd (1980, Palo Alto Records)

With Ted Curson

• Quicksand (Atlantic, 1974)

With Charles Davis

• Dedicated to Tadd (1979, West 54 Records)

With Booker Ervin

• Tex Book Tenor (Blue Note, 1968)

With Ella Fitzgerald

• All That Jazz (1989)

With Sonny Fortune

• Awakening (Horizon, 1975)

With Stan Getz

• Anniversary (Emarcy, 1987)
• Serenity (Emarcy, 1987)
• Bossas & Ballads - The Lost Sessions (1989)

With Dizzy Gillespie

• Something Old, Something New (Philips, 1963)
• Jambo Caribe (Limelight, 1964)
• The Melody Lingers On (Limelight, 1966)

With Roy Haynes

• Togyu (RCA, 1975)

With Jimmy Heath

• The Gap Sealer (Muse, 1973)

With Joe Henderson

• The Kicker (1967)
• Tetragon (1968)

With Ron Holloway

• Struttin' (1995)

With Freddie Hubbard

• Outpost (1981)

With Bobby Hutcherson

• Now! (1969)

With Jon Irabagon

• The Observer (2009)

With Elvin Jones

• New Agenda (Vanguard, 1975)
• Time Capsule (Vanguard, 1977)

With Eric Kloss

• We're Goin' Up (Prestige, 1967)

With Yusef Lateef

• The Blue Yusef Lateef (Atlantic, 1968)
• The Gentle Giant (Atlantic, 1971)
• Hush 'N' Thunder (Atlantic, 1972)
• Part of the Search (Atlantic, 1973)
• 10 Years Hence (Atlantic, 1974)
• The Doctor is In... and Out (Atlantic, 1976)

With James Moody

• Another Bag (Argo, 1962)
• Moody and the Brass Figures (Milestone, 1966)
• The Blues and Other Colors (Milestone, 1969)
• Feelin' It Together (Muse, 1973)

With Idris Muhammad

• Peace and Rhythm (Prestige, 1971)

With Nathen Page

• Page-Ing Nathen

With Marvin Peterson

• Naima (1978)
• The Angels of Atlanta (1981)

With Bud Shank

• This Bud's for You... (Muse, 1984)

With Woody Shaw

• Solid (Muse, 1986)

With Sphere

• Four for All (Verve, 1987)
• Bird Songs (1988)

With Charles Sullivan

• Re-Entry (1975)
• Kamau (1995)

With Buddy Terry

• Pure Dynamite (Mainstream, 1972)

With Bob Thiele Collective

• Louis Satchmo (1991)

With Tom Varner

• Jazz French Horn (Soul Note, 1985)

With Roseanna Vitro

• Listen Here (Texas Rose, 1984)

With Tyrone Washington

• Natural Essence (1967)

With Tom Harrell

• Moon Alley (Criss Cross Jazz, 1985)

With Alex Terrier

• Alex Terrier NYQ (Barking Cat Records, 2014)

With Virginia Mayhew

• Nini Green (Chiaroscuro, 1997)

External links

• Kennybarron.com
• Kenny Barron Discography at www.JazzDiscography.com
• Int'l Jazz Prod.
• Kenny Barron at NPR Music
• I Remember Kenny Barron, by Steve Holt
• Kenny Barron iPhone/iPad application