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Kenny Barron & Regina Carter
Freefall
VERVE 549 706-2
Crotchet  

1. Softly as in a Morning Sunrise
2. Fragile
3. Misterioso
4. Phantoms
5. What if
6. Squatty Roo
7. Freefall
8. Shades of Grey
9. Footprints
10. A Flower

Kenny Barron - Piano   Regina Carter - Violin

This record brings together two artists who are generally regarded by the jazz world as the tops on their chosen instruments. Kenny Barron has been a professional musician since 1958, when he was aged 15. He has worked with James Moody, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Yusef Lateef, Buddy Rich, Charlie Rouse, the list is endless. Probably his greatest achievement was to work in harmonious accord with Stan Getz; something almost no one else managed! In 1973 he became a member of the teaching faculty at Rutgers University, but this has not seriously inhibited his performances throughout the world and many young musicians have benefited greatly from the opportunity to learn from him.

Regina Carter trained as a classical violinist and it was her intention to be a soloist with a major orchestra, during her training however she heard French jazz violinist Jean Luc Ponty and luckily for the jazz world, she decided to become a jazz artist. Her training is obvious by the beauty of the tone she produces and the dazzling technique she possesses. She claims that it was being taught by the Suzuki technique, which requires students to play by ear, that she was able to make the switch.

The record came about after she had played with Kenny for a week at New York's famous 'Sweet Basil', both artists wanted to make a record together and fortunately for the listener VERVE obliged.

The 10 tracks cover a very wide range of styles from the easy swinging Squatty Roo a Johnny Hodges tune, to the contemporary Freefall. I am happier with the former than the latter, but many fans of contemporary music will have the opposite view I'm sure. All of the record however re-enforces that these musicians are the best around and that this album is certain to become a 'classic' in the future.

Don Mather