As the elder on the piano-centric new label Artwork, we would expect another solo or perhaps a trio album from NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron, who recently turned 80 and garnered a 2023 Grammy nomination for his solo album The Source last year. Barron’s live shows in recent years have been with his longstanding trio. While present here, Barron augments that core, forming a quintet with saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins and vibraphonist Steve Nelson. Trio mates, bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa, and drummer Johnathan Blake are his mainstays and the configurations here do shift to duos, trios, and quartets as well. Yet, there are few examples of Barron leading a quintet; 2018’s Blue Note Concentric Circles is the most recent one. Barron is regarded in most circles as the greatest living pianist still working as he represents a link to jazz’s formative years, working with giants such as Yusef Lateef, Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, and more.
Though Nelson and Barron have a history together, this is the first time for Wilkins, the youngster who has proved vital in leading on his two widely acclaimed Blue Note releases and as a valued sideman. Like most jazz elders, Barron prides himself on mentorship, and Wilkins now joins a growing list of alumni who have worked with the pianist—Terence Blanchard, Jon Batiste, Aaron Parks, and Gerald Clayton, among countless others.
The album contains six Barron originals, two standards, and the requisite Monk cover, as Barron has long been a fervent Monk devotee. The classic ballad “The Nearness of You” begins the program in a quartet reading that presents Wilkins in a most sensitive, lyrical context. This is as tender a take on this tune as any. Barron’s angular “Scratch,” first heard on his 1985 trio record with Dave Holland and Daniel Humair, brings the full quintet as strains of Monk ring through with a brimming solo from Nelson and a much different, far fiercer Ornette-like turn from Wilkins in this marriage of traditional and contemporary. The rhythms are intricate but deftly handled by the bass-drum duo. Barron’s “Innocent” is also an older tune, first appearing as the title track on his 1978 album (Wolf Records). It builds slowly, shimmering with the kind of piano-vibes-saxophone melody we’re accustomed to on more recent fare from Joel Ross’s Good Vibes and Christian McBride’s Inside Straight groups, though, given its origins, this one has a duskier, post-bop sheen.
“Blues on Stratford Road” is even more like a legacy piece, evoking those classic Blue Note albums of the ‘60s with strong turns from Nelson, Wilkins, Kitagawa, and, of course, the leader. Naturally, this quintet, together for the first time, sounds like a well-oiled engine, able to seamlessly segue from one soloist to the other while crafting solid support for each other. Wilkins and Nelson soar effortlessly on the up-tempo post-bop “Tragic Magic,’ one where Barron nods to another of his piano influences, Tommy Flanagan, in his energetic solo, ceding to Blake for a few whirlwind choruses. The powerful but controlled drummer shines even more brightly in his duet with Barron on the chestnut “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise.” The long-held synergy between the two is at its apex here.
The quintet conjures a reverent, gospel-like vibe on Barron’s sublimely gorgeous title track, with Blake anchoring in his restrained way. Few drummers in jazz are as versatile, evidenced by Blake’s sideman appearances with Bill Frisell, Tom Harrell, The Mingus Big Band, and rapper Q-Tip. He is also the leader of his group Pentad with Wilkins, Ross, David Virelles, and Dezron Douglas, on Blue Note.
“Sunset” harkens to Barron’s debut as a leader in 1973, Sunset to Dawn (Muse), then presented as a fusion piece, it takes on an iridescent acoustic glow here with thoughtful, tasteful solos, especially from Nelson. The album closes with the obligatory Monk tune, “We See,” an animated duet between Barron and Wilkins, a rapport that belies the five decades-plus age difference between the two. As you’d expect with this skilled caliber of musicians, this is top-shelf jazz, traditional with just enough icing to give it a contemporary feel.
