Kenny Barron

Songbook

Artwork

Once again, we have an octogenarian NEA Jazz Master doing something he hadn’t done before.  Father Time has a way of encouraging these masters to fulfill their long-held projects that have been incubating for decades. Pianist and composer Kenny Barron issues his first vocal album, Songbook. This is not unlike fellow NEA Jazz Master Gary Bartz taking the R&B route, or Buster Williams delivering his first vocal album three years ago, Or George Coleman recording with strings or Billy Hart going “out” in his forthcoming album. The combination of age and the prestige of the title is an enabler. Lest we digress too much, though, this is all about 14x GRAMMY nominee Kenny Barron with his first album to fully feature vocals.

Barron presents 13 original compositions reimagined with lyrics by long-time colleague, songwriter Janice Jarrett, and interpreted by a who’s who of today’s contemporary jazz vocalists. Barrett takes to the keys with his long-standing trio featuring Kiyoshi Kitagawa on bass and Johnathan Blake on drums. The vocalist lineup includes the well-established Cécile McLorin Salvant, Kurt Elling, Ann Hampton Callaway, Catherine Russell, and Jean Baylor, alongside three exceptional emerging artists: Kavita Shah, Ekep Nkwelle, and Tyreek McDole.

Barron’s collaboration with lyricist Janice Jarrett dates to the late 1960s, when Jarrett worked as secretary for Barron’s older brother, saxophonist Bill Barron, during his tenure directing a jazz workshop at the Children’s Museum in Brooklyn. Her words first appeared on Kenny’s music for 2007’s The Traveler. “When I listen to Barron’s music, I get visuals or moments from them, especially when I pay close attention to the melodies and song titles,” Jarrett explains. “I had carte blanche in writing the lyrics because he trusted me.”

With thirteen tracks and eight vocalists, it’s impossible to get anywhere near equal distribution. So, we have Cecile McLorin Salvant, arguably the most exploratory of the group, contributing three. The upbeat, samba-powered “Thoughts and Dreams” features her extraordinary contralto voice, with Barron’s swinging piano and masterful drumming by the ever-reliable Blake. “Sunshower” begins as an intimate ballad before quickly transforming to a swaying Afro-Cuban-tinged rhythm. Salvant closes the album with the lush, intimate ballad “Song for Abdullah” (likely Barron’s nod to the great Abdullah Ibrahim, “Dollar Brand.”)

Jean Baylor of the Baylor Project, and the featured vocalist on the aforementioned Buster Williams’ effort, contributes two. “Beyond This Place” opens the album, a ballad with delivery akin to a Broadway show, replete with dynamics that showcase Baylor’s mezzo-soprano range. The piano break is bluesy, and when Baylor returns, we hear some of her famed gospel tinges. “Until Then” takes on a jazz bossa nova character; Baylor’s vocals are articulate and bright. Also contributing two is the emerging star, Tyreek McDole,  who impressed at Newport this past August and performed with Barron’s trio at the Detroit Jazz Festival. McDole taps into a bit of his Caribbean heritage on the wordless “Calypso” and reveals his gifted knack for phrasing in  “Marie Laveau,” named after the famous New Orleans voodoo priestess. Another relative newcomer who also impressed at Newport is Washington, D.C. native Ekep Nkwelle. Her smooth and enchanting delivery is on display in the soft ballad, “Illusion,” and the mid-tempo homage to the Brazilian actress in “Sonia Braga.”

The single contributors are Callaway, Russell, Elling, and Shah. Ann Hampton Calloway, who appeared in Barron’s 2007 The Traveler, returns for a dramatic take on the luminous“Cook’s Bay,” a piece Barron wrote to commemorate his 40th wedding anniversary with his wife, Joanne.” Catherine Russell, the only one to write her own lyrics, delivers her singular, grab-by-the-neck vintage blues on “Minor Blues Redux,” one clearly in Barron’s wheelhouse, as the piano break is one of the album’s best. Kurt Elling wrings out every last syllable with his trademark baritone in the ballad “In the Slow Lane” (composed for the unreleased film Another Harvest Moon). New York City-based Kavita Shah, fluent in music from Brazil, West Africa, and India, brings her lilting tones to “Lullabye.”

Barron has found late career success on the Artwork label. He garnered his 14th GRAMMY nomination for 2024’s Beyond This Place and accrued critical acclaim for 2023’s The Source, his first solo piano recording in over four decades. This well-honed project may finally be the one to deliver him a win, ironically not for his brilliant pianism, but in the Jazz Vocal category.

• Jim Hynes

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