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Thelonious Monk: Monk Live In Paris 1967 Volume One
by Jack Kenny
This Paris concert formed part of a European tour organized by the impresario George Wein, who had previously presented numerous Thelonious Monk Quartet engagements. Seeking something different, Wein proposed an expanded ensemble. Monk was initially reluctant to depart from the quartet format and only agreed after considerable persuasion. Crucially, he retained artistic control: he selected the additional musicians himself and insisted on using Hall Overton's arrangements, familiar from the earlier concerts Town Hall (Riverside 1959) and Philharmonic Hall (Columbia 1964). ...
Continue ReadingKenny Barron / Ray Drummond / Ben Riley: So Many Lovely Things: Live in Brecon
by Jack Bowers
Search high and low, look under houses and over rooftops, scan YouTube and social media--and there is no chance you will find a more adept and perceptive jazz trio than the one you will hear and appreciate on So Many Lovely Things. Pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Ray Drummond and drummer Ben Riley recorded the two-disc album in August 1995 at the Brecon Jazz Festival in Wales, and it is by any measure a textbook lesson in how to do everything ...
Continue ReadingKenny Barron: So Many Lovely Things: Live in Brecon
by Jack Kenny
Kenny Barron had the responsibility of playing piano on People Time (Universal Records, 1991) with Stan Getz--a poignant 7 CD box set recorded just three months before the saxophonist's death. Throughout those sessions, Barron displayed an extraordinary sensitivity. Now, as then, his piano phrasing is marked by incredible restraint and weightless grace. That same brilliance shines through on So Many Lovely Things: Live in Brecon, an archival jazz release from Elemental Music that captures a masterclass by one ...
Continue ReadingThelonious Monk: Live In Paris 1967 Volume One
by Joshua Weiner
The discography of Thelonious Monk, bebop architect, composer of enduring standards and idiosyncratically influential pianist, is vast. In addition to Monk's genre-defining studio recordings, several live sets were released during his lifetime, including a notable series put out by Columbia Records during Monk's time on that most major of major labels, from 1962 to 1968. Live In Paris 1967 (Volume One) is a notable addition for several reasons: it is the first official release of material by the Monk Estate ...
Continue ReadingKenny Barron: So Many Lovely Things: Live in Brecon
by Pierre Giroux
Kenny Barron has always had the rare ability to make sophistication feel conversational. Even at his most technically dazzling, there is an intimacy in the way he shapes a phrase. That quality permeates So Many Lovely Things: Live At Brecon, a previously unissued 1995 concert recording from Wales featuring Barron with bassist Ray Drummond and drummer Ben Riley. Released by Elemental Music on June 12, 2026 as a limited 2-LP set, a 2-CD edition, and a digital release, the 105-minute ...
Continue ReadingKenny Barron: So Many Lovely Things: Live in Brecon
by Mike Jurkovic
Some guys have all the luck, and Zev Feldman is a lucky guy. Imagine criss-crossing the world on a rogue yet holy mission to bring the music all back home, and listening to, for the first time, works of art as snazzy or as regal as “Up Jumped Spring," the second of six tracks on CD1 of the 2-CD / 2-LP set, So Many Lovely Things: Live in Brecon. Jazz has known its shamans: those few who roam ...
Continue ReadingKenny Barron: So Many Lovely Things: Live in Brecon
by Andrew Schinder
By the mid-1990's, piano icon and NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron had completed his transition from being a dependable, workhorse pianist-for-hire that elevated any group that had the good sense to engage him, to one of the most revered musicians in the business, and a living bridge between hard bop tradition and 21st century jazz modernity. It was at this point when Barron, along with his cohorts during this period--dearly-departed accompanists Ray Drummond (bass) and Ben Riley (drums), who had all being ...
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