Kenneth "Kenny" Barron was born in Philidelphia on June 9, 1943. Encouraged by his parents, he began studies at the age of 12 under the aegis of the sister of renowned pianist Ray Bryant. Only two years later, at the age of 14, Kenny has his first professional gig with Mel Melvin's orchestra playing alongside his saxophonist brother Bill. Matter of fact, it was Bill who introduced the budding keyboardist to fellow Philadelphians and future legends Jimmy and Tootie Heath, John Coltrane and Lee Morgan. "I even got to work with Philly Joe Jones," Kenny recalls. "I was in high school and that was a very big deal to me."In 1962, after a stint with drummer Roy Haynes and a subsequent move to New York City's East Village after high school graduation, Kenny was hired by Dizzy Gillespie on James Moody's advice, to replace Lalo Schifrin. It was then that he started to make a name for himself in the jazz world. Coincidentally, around this time Kenny received additional musical knowledge via the recordings of piano giants Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones and Wynton Kelly. "What got to me was their lyricism and articulation. They weren't perfect, but they were precise. I still spend a lot of time listening to them." Remaining with Dizzy's band until 1966, Barron grew enormously, first as a player, and second as a composer.
After leaving Diz, Barron spent the next nine years playing with the likes of Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Owens, Stanley Turrentine, Milt Jackson and Stan Getz, while also becoming the player-of-choice on coutless CTI, Columbia and A&M jazz sessions. In 1986, Barron played on Getz's album Voyage and toured Europe the next year along with drummer Victor Lewis and bassist Rufus Reid. The music played on that tour was to appear on two of the finest albums ever recorded by Getz: Anniversary and Serenity. In 1989, Barron co-founded the collective dubbed Sphere (Buster Williams; bass, Ben Riley; drums, Charlie Rouse; saxophone). Sphere not only played the music of Thelonius Monk, it also employed Barron-penned tunes in the vein of the master. "I wanted the ensemble sound he got, the tandem of saxophone and piano in unison."
Barron's simpatico collaborations with Getz continued with 1990's Apasionado and ended rather abruptly with the tenorman's literal recording swansong 1992's Grammy nominee for Verve, People Time.
As a leader, Barron has released a pair of winners for Verve; 1993's slice-of-Brazil (yet another Grammy nominee) Sambao, and 1994's Manhattanesque tone poem, Other Places. On Wanton Spirit, Kenny is joined by bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Roy Haynes. Yet another mixture of impeccable standards and jewel-like originals, Wanton Spirit flows easily fro the dusky aroma of Billy Strayhorn's Passion Flower and the bopping puckishness of Herbie Hancock's One Finger Snap to the pianists own exhilaratingly breakneck Madman and the beguiling undertow of Tom Harrell's Sail Away.
All of the ten compositions on Wanton Spirit are quite extraordinary, but it is the telepathic interplay of the musicians that really breathes life into the whole affair.
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