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A highly respected, immensely influential jazz pianist, Kenny Barron is a sophisticated improviser, composer, bandleader, and educator. Emerging during the hard bop era, Barron established himself early on as an in-demand sideman, working alongside his brother, saxophonist Bill Barron, as well as with such titans as Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Freddie Hubbard, Booker Ervin, and many others. Blessed with fluid technique and a nuanced sense for chord voicings, he is the epitome of the modern jazz pianist, at home in both swinging straight-ahead dates and more forward-thinking settings. Since the '70s, he has also dedicated himself to passing along his knowledge, working as an instructor at the university level. Although often thought of as a journeyman with numerous session credits, Barron is a virtuoso performer with many well-regarded albums under his own name, including 1978's Innocence, 1995's Wanton Spirit, 2016's Grammy-nominated Book of Intuition, 2018's Concentric Circles, and 2023's The Source.

Born in Philadelphia on June 9, 1943, Barron took on the piano at the age of 12, with a little help from Ray Bryant's sister, known today as the mother of guitarist Kevin Eubanks. Three years later, on the recommendation of his own big brother, saxophonist Bill Barron (1927-1989), he joined Mel Melvin's R&GB band. The aspiring pianist gained more experience while working with drummer Philly Joe Jones and saxophonist Jimmy Heath, as well as multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef in Detroit. Lateef's album The Centaur and the Phoenix (1960) was Barron's first modern jazz recording project -- not as a performer (Joe Zawinul was the pianist on this date) but as composer and arranger.

His recording debut as an improvising artist, The Tenor Stylings of Bill Barron, took place shortly after he moved to New York in 1961, and was the first of many albums with his brother. A session in 1962 found Barron working with trumpeter Dave Burns, onetime member of sax and flute man James Moody's exciting bop orchestra. Moody himself played an important role in Barron's career, first hiring him to perform at the Village Vanguard, then bringing him into Dizzy Gillespie's band. Barron stuck with Diz and Moody until 1966, performing at clubs and festivals on both coasts and touring through France and England.

Barron's first great year of independent recording activity was 1967. In addition to co-leading the session You Had Better Listen with trumpeter Jimmy Owens, the pianist made records with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and saxophonists Joe Henderson, Stanley Turrentine, Tyrone Washington, Booker Ervin, and Eric Kloss. His ever-expanding discography continued to widen in the '70s, featuring dates with sax and flute men Moody and Lateef, bassists Ron Carter and Buster Williams, and artists like Earl and Carl Grubbs, Marion Brown, and Marvin "Hannibal" Peterson.

Barron's artistic balance of freedom and discipline would continue to bear fruit in the '70s as he worked regularly with saxophonists Chico and Von Freeman, John Stubblefield, Nick Brignola, and Stan Getz (with whom he toured extensively during Getz's twilight years). The stylistic range continued to widen as Barron sat in with violinists Michal Urbaniak and John Blake, drummer Elvin Jones, and singing trombonist Ray Anderson. He also delivered several of his own albums, including 1973's Sunset to Dawn, 1975's Lucifer, and 1978's Together with fellow pianist Tommy Flanagan. Also beginning in the '70s, Barron joined the faculty at Rutgers University, teaching piano and keyboard harmony.

During the '80s, Barron remained quite active, releasing his own albums such as 1985's Scratch, with bassist Dave Holland and drummer Daniel Humair. He also played on Bill Lee's score for Spike Lee's film Do the Right Thing, appeared on multi-performer tribute albums honoring composers Nino Rota and Thelonious Monk, and became a founding member (with Charlie Rouse, Buster Williams, and Ben Riley) of Sphere, the definitive Monk legacy band. The '90s were an equally fruitful period for Barron, and found him working steadily for Verve, releasing such albums as People Time, Other Places, Wanton Spirit, and Night and the City.

By the turn of the century, Barron had established himself as both a piano virtuoso and journeyman artist who issued solo, duo, and large-ensemble recordings. In 2000, he released the Grammy-nominated Spirit Song, followed quickly by the release of Freefall, featuring violinist Regina Carter, in 2001. Around this time, he left his position at Rutgers and joined the faculty at Juilliard. Barron then moved to a quintet setting for 2004's Images. Four years later, he collaborated with West African guitarist Lionel Loueke on Traveler. Vocalist Claire Martin was the next beneficiary of Barron's deft accompanist skills on her album Too Much in Love to Care in 2012.

Barron next delivered several duo albums, pairing with bassist Holland for 2014's The Art of Conversation on Impulse! and vibraphonist Mark Sherman for 2015's Interplay on Chesky Records. In 2016, he returned to the trio format with the Grammy-nominated Book of Intuition featuring bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and drummer Johnathan Blake. He then expanded his trio to a quintet for his Blue Note debut, 2018's Concentric Circles, adding trumpeter Mike Rodriguez and saxophonist Dayna Stephens. The following year, Barron issued a three-disc live album titled The Art of Piano Duo, collecting three duo performances with late pianist Mulgrew Miller from 2005 and 2011. He then reunited with Dave Holland and Johnathan Blake for the 2020 trio date Without Deception. Barron also joined singer Patty Lomuscio for her 2022 sophomore album, Star-Crossed Lovers, then returned a year later with the solo piano release The Source, which earned Barron yet another Grammy nomination in the process. ~ Matt Collar & arwulf arwulf

Percussionist Joe Locke is a highly-regarded performer and composer, known for his expressive, swinging style on both the vibraphone and drums. Emerging in the late '80s, Locke initially established himself as a reliable hard-bop player working alongside Eddie Henderson, Freddy Cole, Eric Alexander, and others. He also showcased his deep sense of the jazz tradition with albums like 1994's Longing, and 1999's Mutual Appreciation Society with pianist David Hazeltine. Beginning the '00s, Locke gained further plaudits issuing more ambitious works like 2003's Four Walls of Freedom, a six movement suite based on the writings of monk Thomas Merton, and his 2005 Milt Jackson-tribute Rev-elation. A five-time recipient of the Jazz Journalists Association's "Mallet Instrumentalist of the Year" Award, Locke was also inducted into the Music Hall of Fame of his hometown of Rochester, New York in 2016.

Born in Palo Alto, California in 1959, Locke was still a child when he moved with his family to Rochester, New York. It was there that he first started playing piano and drums around age eight, before taking up the vibraphone at age thirteen. Encouraged by his father, a music teacher, Locke initially played in rock bands. However, by his teens he had discovered jazz, and was soon imbibing the work of his idols Bobby Hutcherson and Milt Jackson. After high school, he honed his skills at the Eastman School of Music where he gained valuable tutoring from noted educators like John Beck, Gordon Stout, and Ted Moore.

In 1981, he moved to New York City, where he eventually found work playing or recording as a sideman for luminaries like Kenny Barron, Freddy Cole, Marvin "Smitty" Smith, Jerry Gonzalez, and others. He also began flexing his compositional skills, supplying the score for the independent film/documentary El Salvador: Another Vietnam. As a leader, Locke debuted with 1990's Present Tense on the Danish SteepleChase label. More albums followed for the label including 1994's But Beautiful with pianist Kenny Barron, 1994's Longing, and 1996's Inner Space.

Also during this period, he toured Japan with Eddie Henderson and recorded with artists like Grover Washington, Jr., Dianne Reeves, George Cables, Barbara Dennerlein, and the Mingus Big Band, among others. He then moved to Milestone/Fantasy's roster with 1995's Moment to Moment: The Music of Henry Mancini. His subsequent Milestone dates included 1997's Sound Tracks (which concentrated on songs from famous films) and 1998's Slander (And Other Love Songs). In 1999, he paired with pianist David Hazeltine, bassist Essiet Essiet, and drummer Billy Drummond for Mutual Appreciation Society.

In the 2000's, he formed a fruitful relationship with John Priestley's Sirocco Jazz Ltd. label, issuing albums like Beauty Burning with pianist Frank Kimbrough and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts, and 2001's Storytelling with vocalist Mark Ledford and keyboardist/co-producer Henry Hey. His Storytelling band was also on board for 2002's State of Soul. A year later, he issued the sophisticated Four Walls of Freedom, a six movement suite based on the writings of monk Thomas Merton. Locke then joined pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and drummer Mickey Roker for the 2005 Milt Jackson-tribute Rev-elation on Sharp Nine Records. Over the next several years, Locke stayed busy, pairing with longtime associate pianist Geoff Keezer, for 2006's Live in Seattle, and issuing the 2007 quartet dates Sticks and Stones, and 2008's Force of Four which featured a guest appearance by saxophonist Wayne Escoffery.

For the Love of You arrived in 2010, and featured Keezer, along with bassist George Mraz, and drummer Clarence Penn. The atmospheric session Via appeared in 2011, and found Locke collaborating with Keezer, and multi-reed player Tim Garland. Keezer was also on board for 2012's Signing on Motéma Music, as were drummer Terreon Gully, and bassist Mike Pope. More efforts followed for the label including 2013's Lay Down My Heart: Blues & Ballads, Vol. 1 , 2015's Love is a Pendulum. In 2018, Locke returned with Subtle Disguise, a nuanced album featuring contributions by saxophonist David Binney, guitarist Raul Midón, and others. Along with originals, the album included covers of Bob Dylan's "Who Killed Davey Moore?," and Blind Willie Johnson's "Motherless Children." ~ Matt Collar