KENNY BARRON

BEYOND THIS PLACE

Artwork Records

Kenny Barron, piano/composer; Steve Nelson, Vibraphone; Kiyoshi Kitagawa, double bass; Jonathan Blake, drums. Immanuel Wilkins, alto Saxophone.

This album opens with one of my favorite Hoagy Carmichael ballads, “The Nearness of You.”  It is a beautiful way to start the ‘set.’  On track #2, they play the Barron original called “Scratch” at a racing tempo and with hard bop energy.  Immanuel Wilkins takes off on the alto saxophone, flying across my listening space like a jet plane.  Jonathan Black, on drums, is the engine of this group.  He pushes, prods, and propels this super group with exceptional excitement and technique. Nelson makes himself known on the vibraphone, soloing brightly.  When Kenny Barron enters on piano, I am caught up listening to one of the greatest jazz pianists currently recording and performing worldwide.

Barron has collaborated with legends of the jazz world and brings that knowledge and historic perspective to the bandstand.  When you have worked with Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Stan Getz, Yusef Lateef and Freddie Hubbard, you can say you have worked with a plethora of historic jazz masters.  Certainly, that makes you one.

For this album, Barron has assembled an intergenerational group of younger musicians who bring their best talents to the spotlight. I am thrilled by the twenty-six-year-old alto saxophone player, Immanuel Wilkins.  Steve Nelson’s vibraphone was featured on Kenny Barron’s 1982 album called “Golden Lotus.”  Nelson adds wonderful flavor to these arrangements.  Barron’s longtime bassist of choice is Kiyoshi Kitagawa, who steps up on “Blues on Stratford Road” and shows us why Barron keeps him close. It’s his instrument that locks in the rhythm and walks his bass like a gate keeper, holding the groove tightly in place with Jonathan Blakes tenacious drums. When Kitagawa steps stage center, he offers a solo that is expressive and bluesy.  On another original tune by Barron called “Tragic Magic” Blake brings his bag of tricks to the party, taking a drum solo that displays awesome talents.

The title tune, “Beyond this Place” is a pensive arrangement of moderate tempo and somber tone. It was refreshing to hear the familiar song, “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise” played at jet plane speed.

All in all, this is another masterpiece by Kenny Barron. The pianist, composer, educator is a jazz icon who has surrounded himself with amazing musical talent. The Kenny Barron Quintet shows us the incomparable importance and beauty of jazz, while passing the baton to those who will carry this music forward. Here is an album for all seasons and an important piece of jazz history.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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