KENNY BARRON
Kenny Barron’s unmatched ability to mesmerize audiences with his elegant playing, sensitive melodies and infectious rhythms is what inspired The Los Angeles Times to name him “one of the top jazz pianists in the world” and Jazz Weekly to call him “The most lyrical piano player of our time”.
Philadelphia is the birthplace of many great musicians, including one of the undisputed masters of the jazz piano: Kenny Barron. Kenny was born in 1943 and worked with drummer Philly Joe Jones while still in high school. At age 19, he moved to New York City and freelanced with Roy Haynes, Lee Morgan and James Moody after the tenor saxophonist heard him play at the Five Spot. Upon Moody’s recommendation Dizzy Gillespie hired Barron in 1962 without even hearing him play a note. It was in Dizzy’s band where Kenny developed an appreciation for Latin and Caribbean rhythms. After five years with Dizzy, Barron played with Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Milt Jackson and Buddy Rich. The early seventies found Kenny working with Yusef Lateef, who Kenny credits as a key influence in his art for improvisation.
Following stints with Ron Carter in the late seventies, Kenny formed a trio with Buster Williams and Ben Riley, which also worked alongside of Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Eddie Harris, Sonny Stitt and Harry Sweets Edison. Throughout the 80’s Barron collaborated with the great tenor saxophonist Stan Getz, touring with his quartet and recording several legendary albums including Anniversary, Serenity and the Grammy nominated People Time Also during the 80’s, he co-founded the quartet SPHERE, along with Buster Williams, Ben Riley and Charlie Rouse.
Kenny Barron’s own recordings for Verve have earned him nine Grammy nominations. Barron consistently wins the Jazz critics and readers polls, including Downbeat, Jazz Times and Jazziz magazines. In 2005 he was inducted into the American Jazz Hall of Fame and won a MAC Lifetime Achievement Award. He was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2010.
DADO MORONI
Edgardo “Dado” Moroni was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1962. Dado was exposed very early to Jazz music, thanks to his parents’ record collection, and he started playing piano at age four.
Basically self taught, Fats Waller, Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson, Art Tatum and Erroll Garner were his first influences and Dado tried to learn their solos by ear until, around age 11, he met local Jazz pianist Flavio Crivelli, who gave him a more formal training and introduced him to the music of Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie and more contemporary pianists like Bill Evans, Ahmad Jamal and Oscar Peterson.
Moroni has toured and recorded as a member of the Jimmy Woode Trio, the George Robert/Tom Harrell Quintet, Ray Brown's Two Bass Hit, the Alvin Queen Quintet, the Ron Carter Trio, and the Enrico Rava/Dado Moroni Duo. He led his own trio (with Peter Washington on bass and Lewis Nash on drums), and has worked with countless other jazz greats in USA, Europe and Asia.
