Kenny Barron Quartet
Village Vanguard178 7th Avenue South, New York 10014
Kenny Barron brings a quartet to the Village Vanguard for the night’s 10 p.m. set. No personnel are listed for this date, so the billed group is best understood simply as Barron leading a four-piece ensemble. In the Vanguard’s triangular basement room, the music is the focus: a close audience, excellent acoustics and the venue’s customary request for silence before the performance leave space for the set to speak for itself.
A Philadelphia native, Barron is a pianist whom NPR calls “one of New York’s most talented and tasteful keyboard players” and “a living bridge between multiple generations of jazz.” His long musical history includes work with Dizzy Gillespie, Yusef Lateef and Stan Getz, whose praise for Barron was characteristically direct: “Kenny’s the other half of my musical heart.” Barron also co-founded Sphere, the group devoted to interpreting Thelonious Monk’s music. A review quoted by Tom Reney hears “imaginative fluency” as a defining quality in his playing, calling it “remarkable.”
A narrow basement staircase leads to a triangular room with a red curtain and a stage at the point, where musicians play for a small audience of 123. Tables open like spokes from the stage, and the walls hold portraits of jazz legends. The acoustics are excellent, and the only sound before the music begins is the hum of the room. No food is served, only drinks at a bar. Shows start at 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., with seating beginning at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. respectively. The atmosphere is focused entirely on the music, with silence requested before the concert begins.