Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Kenny Barron: Peruvian Blue

255

Kenny Barron: Peruvian Blue

By

View read count
Kenny Barron: Peruvian Blue
Peruvian Blue is Kenny Barron's second solo outing, coming right after 1973's marvelous Sunset To Dawn (released by 32 Jazz last year as part of the two-disc set Soft Spoken Here ). Originally released by Muse Records in 1974, this six-song program finds Barron shifting between electric and acoustic pianos in a variety of groupings, from solo to duo and trio to sextet.

Barron solos with grand passion on acoustic piano for the standard, "Here's That Rainy Day," then duets with recently-deceased guitarist Ted Dunbar on the stylistic "Blue Monk." He then shows off his well-known trio interplay style with bassist David Williams and drummer Albert Heath on the elegant Barron original "The Procession."

Finally, the leader switches to electric piano and adds percussionists Richard Landrum and Sonny Morgan for three of Barron's electric originals: "Peruvian Blue," "Two Areas" and the appealingly funky "In the Meantime." While the ten-minute "Peruvian Blue" is stifled by too much percussion and its Chick Corea / Return To Forever influence, "Two Areas" reveals Barron's compositional abilities, his nice touch on electric piano and, especially, Dunbar's electric sensitivity.

Peruvian Blue has much to offer casual jazz listeners and "Two Areas," "The Procession" and "Blue Monk," especially, provide required listening for fans of both Kenny Barron and Ted Dunbar.

But it would have been more satisfying to hear any one of these different groupings tackle the whole program, rather than having each get sectioned off for a performance or two. Still, Kenny Barron – who has recorded nearly dozen times as a leader since the early 80s – always makes music worth hearing. Peruvian Blue is no exception.

Personnel

Kenny Barron: piano, electric piano, clavinet; Ted Dunbar: guitar; David Williams: bass, electric bass; Richard Landrum: congas, percussion; Sonny Morgan: percussion; Albert Heath: drums.

Tracks:Peruvian Blue; Blue Monk; The Procession; Two Area; Here's That Rainy Day; In The Meantime.

Album information

Title: Peruvian Blue | Year Released: 1998 | Record Label: 32 Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Kenny Barron Concerts


Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Hold On
Mark Winkler
The Hat with the Grin and the Chuckle
Ben Thomas Tango Project
Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.