Kenny Barron: Songbook

Called “one of the top jazz pianists in the world” by The Los Angeles Times, Kenny Barron is a 2010 NEA Jazz Master, fourteen-time GRAMMY nominee, and former SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director who helped define and extend the jazz tradition since his work with Dizzy Gillespie in the early ‘60s catapulted him into the spotlight. On these nights, Barron is joined by his trio with drummer Johnathan Blake and a bassist to be named soon, and a selection of very special guest vocalists, performing his original compositions from his 2025 Artwork Records album Songbook. This performance will also honor the legacy of bassist and longtime trio member Kiyoshi Kitagawa, who passed in April of 2026. 

A seven-time recipient of Best Pianst by the Jazz Journalists Association and named to the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 2022, the Philadelphia-born Barron built his peerless reputation as a sideman with Freddie Hubbard, Yusef Lateef, Stan Getz, James Moody and Ron Carter.  

He has recorded over 50 albums as a bandleader over his five-decade career, and his newest release for the Paris-based Artwork label, Songbook, fulfills a longtime goal to record an album of his original compositions with vocals. The session includes a stunning lineup of guests including his fellow 2026-27 Season performers Cécile McLorin Salvant and Kurt Elling along with Tyreek McDole, Ann Hampton Callaway, Jean Baylor, Kavita Shah, Ekep Nkwelle, and Catherine Russell.