Kenny Barron

Last Saturday, J. and I went to hear Kenny Barron play at the Kennedy Center. Great show. Though Barron's name pops up regularly, I was not all that familiar with his playing. The only record I own is Night and the City – a live set of duets with Charlie Haden recorded a little over ten years ago – plus a couple of tunes he did with Stan Getz early in his career (and late in Getz's – Barron played piano on his last album). The Haden duets, with their leisurely tempos, lots of extra space introduced by the lack of a drummer, and Haden's understated, deliberate bass style, pushed Barron in a certain direction on that CD, a direction that ended up being almost the complete opposite of what we heard on Saturday.

Barron was playing with his current trio – Kiyoshi Kitagawa on bass and Francisco Mela on drums. I have not heard of either before. Both are energetic and thoroughly modern players, and they pushed the pianist into a decidedly boppy territory. His soloing was solid, but actually not that distinctive – he mostly noodled in the middle register, and played fast and with precision but frequently sounded somewhat automatic. It was the rhythm section, and the way the whole trio played together that made the show.

Mela is out of the Tony Williams school of playing – incredible drive, swing to spare, and enormous power, but he deployed it, for the most part, with taste. Kitagawa was the revelation of the evening – a bassist with an actual distinct style. He used the entire instrument, both when soloing and comping, and while his technique was monstrous, he obviously cared more about playing something interesting than flashy. Perusing the program afterwards revealed that he has quite a resume – Tommy Flanagan, Jimmy Heath and Mulgrew Miller, among many others.

The material was mostly excellent. They played two originals from their upcoming record – "And Then Again" was forgettable second-rate bop, but "Beijo" – a lovely bossa-nova – was sublime, and they played it with a relaxed confidence and just the right feel. The rest was standards – "Beautiful Love," which I know from Bill Evans's versions, was a particularly pleasant surprise. Barron did it full justice. Another highlight was an Ellington medley he did by himself. The lack of a rhythm section seemed to relax him a bit.

The space is worth mentioning. The concert was held in the KC's Family Theatre, which I had not been to before. Up until several years ago, that space used to be occupied by AFI before they got their own theatre in Silver Spring, and I that's the last time I've seen it. It's unrecognizable now, and looks lovely. We had first-row seats (unintentionally), so I can't comment on the acoustics.

Excellent show all in all – it's been a long time since we heard straight-ahead jazz played at this high a level.