Kenny Barron & Turtle Island String Quartet

[LWayne]

On Friday, November 4th my wife and I traveled a couple of hours west to attend a concert at the Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio. The Turtle Island String Quartet with Kenny Barron were making only there second ever appearance together, having rehearsed together earlier in the week in preparation for this show.

This unique pairing of jazz piano and a string quartet was being presented as part of the expansion of the Tri-C Jazz Fest which is now starting to expand their shows beyond just their annual April shows. Everything was first class-from the people working the show to the stage presentation. Tri-C should certainly be proud of a first-rate evening.

The show began with the Turtle Island String Quartet (David Balakrishnan-Violin, Evan Price-Violin, Mads Tolling-Viola, and Mark Summer-Cello) performing a song by Paquito D’Rivera before segueing into a beautiful version of the John Coltrane ballad “Naima”. Kenny Barron joined them for a spirited arrangement of “Caravan”. The pairing of strings and piano really made this song come alive in a way that I had never heard before. They closed the first set with their take on the Miles Davis classis “Milestones”.

The second set opened with Kenny Barron playing solo for a couple of songs. He glided through one of his own compositions (didn’t catch the name) before treating the audience to an excellent treatment of the Thelonious Monk classic “Well, You Needn’t” While I have heard many pianists tackle the Monk repertoire, I can honestly say that Kenny Barron might be the best interpreter that I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. He has incredible touch and vitality with the piano that makes the instrument come alive.

The Turtle Island String Quartet rejoined Barron and they played some self-penned songs. The “Fusion” suite jointly written and arranged by the members of the TISQ was particularly enjoyable. Appropriately, the highlight of the evening was the encore. The group together performed a wonderful version of the Oliver Nelson classic “Stolen Moments” with the cellist utilizing a pedal to modulate his instrument and effectively provide a strolling bass accompaniment.

While I am not typically a fan of strings, the combination of the Turtle Island String Quartet with Kenny Barron, an indisputable jazz master, proved very compelling.

Another great evening!

LWayne