Invitation Kenny Barron Artist

{|Kenny Barron|} has been a respected jazz pianist since the early '60s, but it wasn't until the mid-'70s that he began coming into his own as a composer; deftly working complex time signatures and mercurial melodies into seamlessly swinging numbers,... Read more

{|Kenny Barron|} has been a respected jazz pianist since the early '60s, but it wasn't until the mid-'70s that he began coming into his own as a composer; deftly working complex time signatures and mercurial melodies into seamlessly swinging numbers, agile sambas, and lovely ballads. Fifteen years on, {|Invitation|} finds {|Barron|} in full maturity as a writer and in the sympathetic company of tenor saxophonist {|Ralph Moore|}, bassist {|David Williams|}, and drummer {|Lewis Nash|}. {|Barron|}'s democratic pen runs the gamut here as he distills {|Monk|}'s angular jubilance on {|And Then Again,|} produces one of his most beautiful ballads in {|Dewdrop,|} and works a fine bossa nova groove on {|Joanne Julia.|} The covers are no less impressive. {|Barron|} and the group swing solid and fleet on {|Bronislaw Kaper|}'s caustically subdued {|Invitation|} and place {|John Lewis|}' {|Parisian Afternoon|} in a gently swinging light. {|You Don't Know What Love Is|} is read solo by {|Barron|} with mysterious aplomb, and {|Blue Monk|} gets a strong blues reading. Throughout, {|Ralph Moore|}'s choice tenor lines glide over the notes, {|Lewis Nash|}'s tasteful drumming impressively anchors the group, and {|Barron|}'s inventive solos ride atop the band in full stride. With great material, solid playing, and the full {|Criss Cross|} sound, {|Invitation|} ends up as one of {|Kenny Barron|}'s finest outings of the 1990s. ~ Stephen Cook Less