Pianist and composer
Kenny Barron
had already enjoyed a career as a session, touring, and arranging musician when he recorded
Sunset to Dawn
for
Candid
in 1973, a few months shy of his 30th birthday. He's worked with top-shelf talent since the early '60s, including
Yusef Lateef
,
Dizzy Gillespie
James Moody
Lou Donaldson
Roy Haynes
Lee Morgan
, and others. Of the six selections here, he composed five, while
Freddie Waits
, his drummer on the date, composed one. The other members of the group included electric bassist
Bob Cranshaw
and percussionists
Richard Landrum
and
Warren Smith
. Even here, despite his inexperience as a headliner,
Barron
leads his quintet into a wildly diverse set of modern jazz that incorporates modal, Afro-Latin grooves, hard bop, funk, and the lyricism that has been a trademark of his playing ever since.
The set opens with "Sunset," one of three tunes on which
plays electric piano. The heavily reverbed instrument is given a solo for the first 90 seconds before percussion winds in and
Cranshaw
delivers a roiling funk bassline against
's brilliant solo. "A Flower" is a lyrical piano solo on which we hear the import of his primary influences,
Tommy Flanagan
Hank Jones
. "Swamp Demon," driven by
's pulsing bassline, joins Latin vamps to post-bop jazz-funk as
Waits
and the percussionists create a rhythm orgy.
' "Al-Kifha" joins high-flying modernist post-bop to frenetic modernist swing as
speedily walks the band into the stratosphere atop
's blocky chords and upper register arpeggios. The pianist's solo here is nothing short of breathtaking in its facility, harmonic invention, and flawless technique. The striated waltz time in "Delores Street SF" is appended by syncopated percussion and drums while underscored by the bassline.
's melodic approach to the verses is threaded through with classical overtones and lush lyricism. Closer "Dawn" is another tune on which
plays electric piano, pursuing a slippery meld of complex harmony, a lithe yet funky groove, and modal investigation. The beauty in this track and the other two electric piano jams is how natural and easy
incorporates it into his sense of rhythm and flow. The I-IV-V blues rubs against the percussionist's Latin groove as
get in behind the pianist and push him toward delivering a stellar solo that leans into a polished vamp.
reveals an easy rapport with the instrument as he creates something akin to
Chick Corea
's impressionism and
Herbie Hancock
's eternally soulful groove. This quintet's approach to these lovely, sometimes complex songs, strongly assists in supporting the bandleader's harmonic investigation and polyrhythmic invention.
is among the most enjoyable entries in
's vast catalog. ~ Thom Jurek