Legendary Kenny Barron keeping it young
At 75, pianist, composer and NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron likes to work with musicians born well after he started making his reputation as a teenage wunderkind contributing tunes and arrangements to Yusef Lateef’s seminal 1961 world jazz album “The Centaur and the Phoenix” (Riverside) and touring and recording with trumpet legend Dizzy Gillespie.
He opens a run of performances around the region on Sunday at Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society with his blazing quintet featuring trumpeter Mike Rodriguez, tenor saxophonist and Berkeley High alum Dayna Stephens, bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and drummer Johnathan Blake. The band also performs Wednesday at Sonoma State’s Green Music Center and Nov. 9 at the SFJazz Center as part of Barron’s four-night Miner Auditorium residency.
Barron’s other SFJazz dates feature Grammy Awardwinning drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, trumpet great Eddie Henderson and violinist Regina Carter; saxophonist Hailey Niswanger, guitarist Camila Meza and vibraphonist Nikara Warren, as well as a solo recital Nov. 11.
Details: 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, Half Moon Bay; $45-$65; 650-726-4143, www.bachddsoc.org; 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Sonoma State’s Green Music Center; $25-$55; gmc.sonoma. edu; 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8-10 and 7 p.m. Nov. 11 at SFJazz Center, San Francisco; $24-$95; 866-920-5299, www.sfjazz.org.