Kenny Barron Solo Analysis

In the couple of bars of this chorus of his solo, hes well into the song, and previously

building up to this chorus as somewhat of a release of all the 8th note phrases into this

strong thematic statement made at the top of the chorus

In the 9th bar he begins another thematic shape going up - Playing shapes is one of the

things we rarely talk about in class but is very valid to improvisation and development of

melodic content.

Mostly, these strong rhythmic and thematic phrases act as a launching pad to propel the

music forward, and give the rest of the rhythm section some fire to keep playing

He plays naturally long phrases, with very rhythmic content. We need to discuss more on

how to shape lines using harmonic rhythm within a longer phrase.

Although the answering is subtle, Grady Tate finishes Kennys phrases within the long

lines that he plays, answering on the ands of two and four. Around bar 17. And Kenny

answers back Grady around bar 20 with another continuation of the shape developed in

bar 17

Its apparent in Kenny Barrons solo that he is dealing with diatonic shapes and not

necessarily patterns.

In bar 27, he breaks up the tension with more lyrical phrasing, playing strong melodic

content, two bars following of a longer phrase, and ends the chorus with quarter notes,

similar to how he began the solo.

 I chose to analyze this solo from a phrase oriented point of view, dealing with how a

musician presents their ideas, not only the content which is there, but the delivery and the

eloquence that a musicians brings to the information that they play.