Jazz Articles about Kenny Barron

About Kenny Barron

Extended Analysis

Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio

by Chris M. Slawecki
January 18, 2014

Drummer, composer and bandleader Gerry Gibbs--son of renown vibes player and bandleader Terry Gibbs--grew up playing with musical legends from jazz traditionalists such as Clark Terry and James Moody, to Gary Bartz and Sam Rivers and other more adventurous conceptualists, to Parliament-Funkadelic and other artists who skirt the fringes in between. Gibbs' exceptionally dexterous work with pianists includes time spent in performance with bands led by Cedar Walton, Danilo Pérez, Kenny Kirkland and Brad Mehldau. Teamed here with two extraordinary ...

Album Review

Kenny Barron/Gerry Gibbs/Ron Carter: Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio

Read "Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
December 23, 2013

When drummer Gerry “The Thrasher" Gibbs was a youngster, growing up in California in the '70s, he idolized bassist Ron Carter and pianist Kenny Barron. Of course, neither man played his instrument of choice, but he recognized the greatness that emanated from both players and he viewed them as exemplars of what's right and good in jazz. He sought out and savored every album that he could find that each man appeared on and dreamt of playing with them; that ...

Album Review

Gerry Gibbs: Thrasher Dream Trio

Read "Thrasher Dream Trio" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 8, 2013

A trio that clings together and swings together. Drummer Gerry Gibbs calls this a “dream trio," a description that seems as appropriate as any. Surely, having pianist Kenny Barron and bassist Ron Carter as teammates must seem like a dream come true for any timekeeper. To summarize the point clearly, Barron and Carter are quite simply two of the best at what they do. And as for Gibbs, the new kid on the block, he's more than happy to be ...

Album Review

Kenny Barron/Gerry Gibbs/Ron Carter: Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio

Read "Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
October 17, 2013

Drummer Gerry Gibbs calls this band the Thrasher Dream Trio. That “Thrasher" aspect of the appellation might make the uninitiated conjure images of burly tattooed guys in sleeveless shirts, sporting long black hair--and maybe facial make-up--slamming their instruments in the heavy metal bass/drums/guitar mode. But this couldn't be further from the music at hand. Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio teams two seasoned jazz veterans--legends, really: bassist Ron Carter and pianist Kenny Barron--with relative newcomer Gibbs, on an energized set of ...

2,018

Live Review

Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2010

by Jakob Baekgaard
July 26, 2010

Copenhagen Jazz Festival Various Venues Copenhagen, Denmark July 2-11, 2010With the current crisis of the major record labels and the folding of venues all over the world, it could be argued that jazz, as an art form, has entered the age of survival where it is simply a basic matter of keeping the music alive, rather than trying to let it flourish and expand. However, there are also signs that the so--called crisis of the ...

215

Album Review

Kenny Barron: The Traveler

Read "The Traveler" reviewed by Florence Wetzel

by Florence Wetzel
September 4, 2009

The Traveler is a delicious offering of ten beautiful songs by pianist Kenny Barron. Eight of the tunes were composed by Barron, and each one is brimming with his famous lyricism. Most of the songs feature solid underpinning by Kiyoshi Kitagawa (bass) and Francisco Mela (drums), and in addition the CD features a variety of guests who add their own unique voices. Soprano saxophonist Steve Wilson, a superb player with an intimate, conversational tone, appears on three ...

389

Album Review

Kenny Barron: The Traveler

Read "The Traveler" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
August 19, 2008

It would be quite a feat to have traveled in Kenny Barron's shoes. A venerable pianist whose career has spanned more than fifty years of performances with a host of greats--Lee Morgan, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Yusef Lateef, Charlie Rouse and many others. His music has traveled across the paths of blues, bop, modern, and other terrains. Whether working with vocalists such as jazz diva, Abbey Lincoln or taking Brazilian music excursions in Canta Brasil (Sunnyside Records, 2002), Barron has ...