Search - Bill Barron :: Modern Windows Suite

Kenny Barron, the piano wizard, accomplished accompanist, and inventive composer, is a well-known jazz figure. His older brother, tenor saxophonist and educator Bill Barron (1922-1989), was an equally gifted artist who influenced his younger sibling, as these impressive 1961 tracks show. The elder Barron echoed the '60s avant-garde style of fellow Philadelphian John Coltrane, and Barron's genius lay in brilliantly balancing individualism and inspiration. His "Men at Work Suite," with a sextet featuring his younger brother, trumpeter Ted Curson, and underrated drummer Pete LaRoca Sims, abounds with references to George Russell, Thelonious Monk, and Charles Mingus on the Lydian-tinged "Tone Colors," the moody colors of "Dedicated to Wanda," and the call-and-response interaction on "Keystone." With Coltrane bassist Jimmy Garrison and Monk drummer Frank Dunlop, Barron unpacks the frenetic and bluesy "Blast Off," the evocative Sun Ra-like harmonic shadings of "Ode to an Earth Girl," and the intricate Mingus-like musings of "Nebulae." From the time of these recordings to his death, Bill Barron never stopped exploring, educating, and inspiring. --Eugene Holley Jr.