ng debut as an improvising artist took place shortly after he moved to New York in 1961 and made the first of many albums with his brother, saxophonist Bill Barron.
In 1962, Kenny would join trumpeter Dave Birons who was a member of James Moody's bop orchestra. It was through Birons that he met Moody who would later play an important role in Barron's career, hiring him to perform at the Village Vanguard and taking him to join Dizzy Gillespie's band.
Kenny stayed with Moody and Gillespie until 1966 during which time they performed at clubs and concerts throughout France and England.
In 1967, Kenny played with trumpeters Jimmy Owensand, Freddie Hubbard and saxophonists Joe Henderson and Stanley Turrentine. In the 1970's, he made a lot of records with flute men James Moody and Yusef Lateef and bassist Ron Carter and Buster Williams.
While playing with all these musicians, Kenny would maintain a combination of freedom and discipline and developed a stylistic range that continued to widen as he went on to play with violinists Michal Urbaniak and John Blake, drummer Elvin Jones and trombonist Ray Henderson.
In the 1980's, Kenny composed and played the sound track to Spike Lee's movie "Do the Right Thing". He became a founding member of the band "Sphere" with Charlie Ross, Buster Williams and Ben Riley all of them former associates of Thelonius Monk.
Barron's history of collaborations and accomplishments span a period of fifty years and paints a panoramic picture of his lifelong devotion to music. He is a respected educator who has taught at Rutgers University, Julliard and Manhattan School of Music.
He continues to create music of exceptional quality and substantial depth using that fundamental jazz instrument, the piano.
We hope you enjoy reading this piece and that you find the correlation between jazz and democracy fascinating.