# CD review: Kenny Barron – The Source 2023: Video, CD cover

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2023/01/30/cd-review-kenny-barron-the-source-2023-video-cd-cover/
- Published: 2023-01-30T00:04:34+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**At 19, Kenny Barron was already a noted piano stylist when he left Philadelphia
for New York in 1962. A five-year stint with Dizzy Gillespie soon followed, and 
then sideman gigs with a host of the top names in modern jazz. **

He released the first of about 50 albums a decade later, by which time he had drawn
a range of influences into a strong personal voice. This release, Barron’s first
solo piano album in more than 40 years, conveys his urbane angularities with warmth,
elegance and a sensitive touch. Thelonius Monk and Duke Ellington are both referenced
twice, the standard “(I’m) Confessin’ (That I Love You)” is unpacked, and four previously
recorded originals are made over to complete the set. The album starts with the 
discordant bounce of “What If?”, an original first heard on the 1986 quintet release
of the same name. Here it is introduced by a dazzling two-handed rumination before
settling into an up-tempo romp.

As right-hand lines spin speedily into the upper register, the left hand delivers
the urgency of a firm ostinato bass. “Phantoms”, from the same album, probes dark
corners and brings the set to a close. The second track, “Isfahan”, is the first
of two beautifully conceived Strayhorn/Ellington covers. As Barron pulls the theme
this way and that, gripping narrative twists conjure mixed emotions along the way.“
Daydreams”, the album’s ballad, is perfectly pitched later in the set.

Barron has long absorbed Monk’s sharp angles into his multi-layered aesthetic. The
playful thrust of “Teo” comes three numbers in, “Well You Needn’t” is deconstructed
at speed and Barron’s shape-shifting modernism thrills. Elsewhere, the pianist’s
originals explore subtler shades of impressionist modal jazz. “Dolores Street, SF”
is a waltz, “Sunshower” Latin-inflected and Barron’s fluid drive and grasp of form
is exemplary.

The Source is the first solo album by pianist Kenny Barron in a long time since 
his last solo album, Kenny Barron At The Piano, was released in 1981. This time,
he offers original compositions mixed with compositions by Ellington, Monk, etc…

The artist’s interpretations feature a mix of classical music influences and a strong
sense of improvisation. One can reasonably be carried away by Kenny Barron’s particularly
clever arrangements. Here, everything is done to carry the listener, beyond their
soul, towards contemplation. Kenny Barron is a well-rounded musician, having played
with Dizzy Gillespie from 1962 to 1967, and then following other paths that led 
him to play with Stan Getz, James Moody, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubard, Ornette 
Coleman, Chet Baker…

With The Source, a bit of all these souls meet and take us on a journey through 
the notes of Kenny Barron, as fluid as the ripples of a stream. It takes time to
build such an artist who has nothing left to prove and who here, takes all the risks
of a solo project, which must be acknowledged is perfectly assumed and mastered.

![The Source - Kenny Barron](https://i0.wp.com/kennybarron.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/
2022/11/Kenny-Barron_The-Source_cover.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

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