Kenny Barron - "Songbook" - ginalovesjazz.com - the jazz magazine by matthias kirsch

“Songbook” is the very first Kenny Barron album with vocals. Can you imagine? There have been individual vocal tracks here and there on past albums, but this is actually the first all-vocal album. And it’s out on double vinyl too! And it features a great crew of contemporary vocalists, both established and at the start of their careers. Original compositions by Kenny get new lyrics by Janice Jarrett. That’s the plot right here. It should already be enough to check this LP out. After all, 82-year old Kenny has never disappointed with his releases. And neither with his performances. There is just one song which doesn’t have lyrics by Janice: it’s “Minor Blues Redux”, written and performed by Catherine Russell. It’s a new take on his “Minor Blues” composition which he recorded for the album of the same name back in 2009 and it’s a steadily swinging blues number with Catherine taking full reign and control here.

Kenny is supported by his longtime partners Kiyoshi Kitagawa on bass (his brilliant 2020 trio album “Spring Night” has come out on analog vinyl earlier this year), and Johnathan Blake on drums (his equally amazing 2021 album “Homeward Bound” is part of Blue Note Records’ excellent Tone Poet series and will be released on December 5th). The album opens with a couple of tracks featuring Jean Baylor: “Beyond This Place”, the title track of Kenny’s 2024 LP, has Jean caressing the beautiful melody (there are soooo many of those in Kenny’s discography it’s amazing) with her intensely cajoling voice. She’s also behind (or rather, front and center) the bossa nova-ish “Until Then” (on Kenny’s 1991 album “Quickstep”, later revised on the astounding “Canta Brazil” album in 2002). Kenny’s almost unobtrusive and deeply elegant playing warms your heart.

Ann Hampton Callaway, who was featured on Kenny’s 2008 album “The Traveler”, also seems to be a perfect match. On a sunny rhythm echoing Ahmad Jamal’s “Poinciana”, she rides above the melody of “Cook’s Bay” with ease and wonderfully restrained fervor. (The song can be heard on “Spirit Song” from 2000 and again on “Book Of Intuition” from 2016. There is also a version on violinist Regina Carter’s 1999 album “Rhythms Of The Heart” which has Kenny on piano.) Cécile McLorin Salvant was chosen to sing on the samba-fied “Thoughts And Dreams” (also from “Canta Brasil”) and on two more songs: the Cuban-ized “Sunshower” (first recorded on “Innocence” (1978)) which comes with a slow intro before it continues with a sanguine swagger, exquisitely executed by Cécile. And she also graces the album closer which is another beauty: on “Song For Abdullah” (first recorded for the 1985 “Scratch” album), she conjures up a deeply fascinating and heartbreaking dedication to Abdullah Ibrahim, thanks in part to the floating lyrics and Kenny’s sensitive playing.

Relative newcomer Ekep Nkwelle and her immensely expressive range can be heard on “Illusion” (also from “The Traveler”) and “Sonia Braga” (from the 2013 “And The Brazilian Knights”), where she really shines on this dedication to the Brazilian actress. Her voice is so incredibly supple and flexible. Let’s hope we will hear lots more from her (she plays Winter Jazzfest in New York on January 9th). Tyreek McDole has a wordless role on the Calypso-tinged, well “Calypso”, which comes across as a positive, cheerful ditty (Kenny has recorded this tune several times, like on the solo album “At The Piano” from 1982). Tyreek also sings on “Marie Laveau” (from the 1987 “Things Unseen”), a sort of mystical, nocturnal portrait of the voodoo priestess from New Orleans. Kenny’s fluid, nuanced, no-nonsense playing once again shines through here. We also get Kurt Elling on “In The Slow Lane” (from “Book Of Intuition”), perfectly chosen for its imaginative and virtuoso stance. And New York-based Kavita Shah displays her distinctive story-telling on “Lullabye” (from “What If?”, 1986).

Kenny has three more European shows to go before his annual two-week stint at New York’s Village Vanguard:
11/19 Limoges – Grand Théâtre de Limoges
11/20 St. Cannat – Espace Culturel Antigone
11/22 Berlin – Zig Zag

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