Saw Kenny Barron at Jimmy’s in Portsmouth NH. Kenny still plays great, with beautiful voicings and masterful technique. We heard him in a trio, and the format was very traditional with solos and trading fours. There was nothing new from-wise, and after hearing more modern jazz players, it sounds dated. For what it is, and if you like a trio, this was certainly very good!
Delightful time on a beautiful spring evening. Drummer was fabulous - but his solos might have been a little shorter.
The room at jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club is boomy. The bass is consistently too loud and consequently overwhelms the. other instruments on stage. Kenny Barron sat and played a new Steinway grand piano but you wouldn’t know it as the eq on the piano was bass heavy and robs the instrument of Steinway definition. That is a shame and was unfair to Maestro Barron and the audience. The only instrument that had definition and sounded like itself was the drums and they were too loud. This bass problem in a overly reverberant room was not unique to the Barron show; it is unfortunately a consistent problem with most of my listening experiences at Jimmy’s (I have had six) and until the room is properly tuned and the mixing board EQ challenges properly addressed with sensitivity, Jimmy’s will never fulfill its promise to be top notch listening venue with a clear balanced sound for the audience and the stage artists.
The musicians were terrific. They took time to answer questions as well at the end. The drummer, Johnathan Blake, is the most amazing drummer I’ve ever seen. The music was excellent. We sat in the balcony, and the view was excellent. Jimmy’s is a wonderful venue for jazz and blues. I hope to go back soon.
Kenny Barton’s trio is impeccable. The sound system muddled the bass. Bass notes were indistinct. Too bad because the bassist was superb.