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Joey Baron
Drummer Joey Baron was born into a Jewish working class family in Richmond, Virginia.
He is largely self-taught by means of watching others play and listening to recordings, radio and television. His early influences ran the gamut from Ed Sullivan show guests, to "The Wild Wild West" television show theme to records by Art Blakey, Ray Charles, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, James Brown, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix.
Besides being a member of the Bill Frisell Band for ten years until 1995, he has performed and recorded with an impressive list of musicians - including Carmen McRae, Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett, Hampton Hawes, Chet Baker, Laurie Anderson, Art Pepper, Stan Getz, Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, Vinicus Cantuaria, Jay McShann, David Bowie, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Big Joe Turner, Philip Glass, John Abercrombie, Mel Lewis, Pat Martino, Harry Sweets Edison, David Sanborn, Al Jarreau, Jim Hall, Randy Brecker, Marian McPartland, John Scofield, Marc Johnson and The Lounge Lizards.
Joey has lead his own trios one with John Medeski and Marc Ribot; and "Barondown" which featured Ellery Eskelin (saxophone) and Josh Roseman (trombone). "Barondown" recorded three albums - Crackshot (Avant), RAIsed Pleasure Dot (New World) and Tongue in Groove (JMT).
He also co-lead the group "Miniature" (with Tim Berne and Hank Roberts) and was a member of "Naked City" (with John Zorn, Bill Frisell, Fred Frith and Wayne Horvitz) and of Zorn's group Masada (Dave Douglas and Greg Cohen).
Joey's first release on the Songline / Tone Field series on Intuition was Down Home. The project featuresBaron's southern r&b-flavored original songs played by an all star band of Ron Carter, Arthur Blythe and Bill Frisell. "The most intriguing ensemble of the season," (New Yorker) "is not only all star, but fascinatingly so."(-Village Voice.) We'll Soon Find Out, the band's second album was released the summer of 2000. Both albums are produced by Lee Townsend.
Baron's main performing band is "Killer Joey", featuring guitarists Steve Cardenas and Brad Shepik as well as Tony Scherr on bass. They have a self-produced CD entitled Killer Joey with Shepik's predecessor, Adam Levy.
Occasionally, Joey still performs with "The Down Home Band" in a solo setting, with Bill Frisell, Lee Konitz, Vinicius Cantuaria, John Abercrombie and in a trio with pianist John Taylor and Marc Johnson on bass.
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John Taylor: Tramonto
by Neil Duggan
British pianist John Taylor (1942-2015) possessed a remarkable talent for eluding the global recognition his skills warranted. A former house pianist at London's Ronnie Scott's club, Taylor probably achieved his widest acclaim through Azimuth, the group he formed with vocalist Norma Winstone (his wife) and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler. His trio recordings with drummer Peter Erskine and bassist Palle Danielsson further cemented his reputation. Tramonto captures Taylor in another trio setting, this time collaborating with American musicians bassist Marc ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch: The Surrounding Green
by Doug Collette
Taken together, Fred Hersch's first two albums for ECM Records can be seen as a bid for recognition as the preeminent pianist in contemporary jazz. The solo work of Silent, Listening (ECM, 2024) complements the trio work on The Surrounding Green, their individual and combined impact heightened by release on the vaunted label in successive years. As much as the former depicts Hersch's touch for nuance, the latter is a display of the equally subtle mutual empathy he ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch: The Surrounding Green
by Jack Kenny
Fred Hersch's The Surrounding Green , his third release for ECM Records, is a testament to the art of the piano trio, combining lyrical introspection with sophisticated interplay. Recorded in May 2024 at Lugano's Auditorio Stelio Molo under Manfred Eicher's meticulous production, the album features Hersch on piano, Drew Gress on double bass and Joey Baron on drums. Their decades-honed chemistry gives the album musical maturity, creating a sound that is both intimate and expansive. The album's seven ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch: The Surrounding Green
by Neil Duggan
In a world where turmoil arrives almost instantly via notifications on our devices, a Fred Hersch album feels like sanctuary--an invitation to slow down and listen deeply. The Surrounding Green, his third release for ECM, once again finds the pianist in tandem with producer Manfred Eicher, the ideal partner to bring focus to the pianist's gentle improvisational and instrumental artistry. Widely regarded as one of jazz's most distinctive and enduring voices, Hersch's creative vision has influenced the genre ...
Continue ReadingHindsight: Enrico Pieranunzi, Marc Johnson and Joey Baron
by Brian Morton
Sometimes we're reduced to throwing down old bones and seeing what messages they deliver back. Maybe noticed at the time, but the recording of Hindsight, by the trio of maestro Enrico Pieranunzi, master bassist Marc Johnson and time-lord Joey Baron took place almost exactly sixty years after one of the most famous jazz piano sessions of all. When most admirers think of Bill Evans, their minds go first to the famous Village Vanguard sessions of June 1961, with Scott LaFaro ...
Continue ReadingEleonora Strino: I Got Strings
by Ian Patterson
There comes a before-and-after moment in any jazz musician's career with their first album as a leader. For Neapolitan guitarist Elenora Strino, I Got Strings marks a transition of sorts, from band member on the projects of pianist Dado Moroni and saxophonist Emanuele Cisi, to headline grabber in her own right. In fairness, Strino has led her own trios since 2016, but it usually takes the solid currency of one's own album to make the wider world sit up and ...
Continue ReadingOpen Jazz 2023
by Luca A. d'Agostino
A collection of photos from the Open Jazz 2023 festival in Pordenone from June 28, 2023 to July 12, 2023 featuring Joey Baron, Robin Verheyen, Bram De Looze, Greg Burk, Mirko Cisilino, Ludovica Manzo, Matteo Bortone and Daniele Tittarelli. ...
Continue ReadingHalf Note Announces A New Release From Lee Konitz, Enfants Terribles, Featuring Bill Frisell, Gary Peacock, Joey Baron
Source:
Antje Hübner
Available In Stores And Online September 25, 2012 Enfants Terribles features four veteran jazzmen whose collective efforts on stage and in the studio span decades. Together they are saxophonist Lee Konitz, guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Joey Baron. Individually, each boasts a distinguished career path and network of associations representing jazzʼs wide range of stylistic directions. (Konitz alone began professionally in 1945.) Recorded live at the Blue Note, Enfants Terribles finds the group surveying tunes well-known to ...
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Joey Baron - Tongue in Groove (2004)
Source:
Something Else!
By Tom Johnson Drummer Joey Baron's Baron down, featuring Steve Swell on trombone and Ellery Eskelin on tenor sax comes across like the mischievous little brother to John Zorn's Masada. More than that, the only way to adequately describe the sound of Barondown is to compare it to big brother Masada, but only if Masada got really drunk one night before a show, and since bassist Greg Cohen missed his bus for the gig, the band just got up on ...
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Drummer Joey Baron Interviewed at AAJ
Source:
All About Jazz
Combining technical acuity with a deep sense of groove, Joey Baron drums with playful exuberance. Throughout his more than 35-year career, he's propelled experimentalists like guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist John Zorn, as well as mainstreamers like vocalist Carmen McRae and saxophonist David Sanborn. He's even played with pop stars David Bowie and Marianne Faithfull. But Baron makes no distinctions between gigs, keeping an expansive, welcoming view of music. After leading the groups Barondown, Down Home, and Killer Joey, he's ...
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Law Years
From: The Surrounding GreenBy Joey Baron
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From: At SunsetBy Joey Baron
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