On The Record:
Kenny Barron's concentric circles

January 25, 2024 | by Rusty Aceves

L-R: Kenny Barron, Mike Rodriguez, Dayna Stephens, Kiyoshi Kitagawa, Johnathan Blake

The third night of Kenny Barron’s week as Resident Artistic Director (2/2) features the pianist’s all-star quintet, the band featured on his 2018 Blue Note release Concentric Circles. Here’s a brief look at the album, the band, and the history of Barron’s use of the five-piece lineup.

Over his five decade career, pianist and composer Kenny Barron has recorded and performed in every setting from big band to solo piano and has perfected the art of the piano trio, but a look through his history shows that the quintet format holds some very special magic for the 2010 NEA Jazz Master and 13-time GRAMMY nominee.

Beginning his 1967 debut release You Had Better Listen in collaboration with trumpeter Jimmy Owens, Barron has consistently returned to the 5-piece configuration over the years, notably on 1973’s Sunset to Dawn, 1982’s Golden Lotus, and the superlative 1986 Enja session What If?, featuring a young Wallace Roney on trumpet and longtime compatriot John Stubblefield on tenor.

To celebrate his 75th birthday and mark his 50th year as a recording artist, Barron assembled a new quintet in 2018 based upon his longstanding trio with bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and drummer Johnathan Blake featuring SFJAZZ Collective trumpeter Mike Rodriguez and Bay Area-raised tenor saxophone master Dayna Stephens — a perfectly attuned vehicle for Barron’s advanced hard bop. Their Blue Note debut, Concentric Circles, was Barron’s first for the label, consisting primarily of the pianist’s evocative originals, a cover of fellow 2023-2024 Season artist Caetano Veloso’s flowing samba “Aquele Frevo Axé,” and ending with a solo reading of Thelonious Monk’s sublime ballad “Reflections.”
In his review for allmusic.com, critic Matt Collar wrote, "While Barron has never sounded anything short of virtuosic, his skills have only deepened over the years. He commands the album, framing his musicians with richly textured chord voicings one minute, and launching into evocative improvisational asides the next. What's particularly refreshing is how immediate and of-the-moment the album feels. Concentric Circles is the sound of a jazz master continuing to push forward, buoyed by his bandmates and the lessons of the past."

Kenny Barron's week as SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director runs 1/31 to 2/4, with the Concentric Circles quintet performing 2/2, also streaming live at sfjazz.org as part of SFJAZZ At Home. Tickets and more information is available here. 

Originally posted October 30, 2018, revised January 24, 2024