One of the most tasteful and lightly swinging pianists on the jazz scene, Kenny Barron is also an educator who has been most closely linked since the early '70s with Rutgers University. He is most often heard in either trio or quintet settings in recordings or performances and is a highly sought-after accompanist for instrumentalists and singers.

A Philadelphia native, born June 9, 1943, Barron is the brother of the late and under-recognized tenor saxophonist Bill Barron. He began piano studies at age 12 with Ray Bryant's sister, later working with an r&b combo before joining drummer Philly Joe Jones in 1959, then Yusef Lateef and moving to New York City in 1961. Through the '60s and '70s he put in stints of varying lengths with Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Lou Donaldson, Lee Morgan, Roy Haynes, Freddie Hubbard and, for a second time, Lateef, among others.

In addition to leading his own groups since the '80s, Barron was part of the Sphere quartet with Charlie Rouse, Buster Williams and Ben Riley, recently re-formed with Gary Bartz in place of the late Rouse. He has also played prominent roles with leaders such as Stan Getz, Jimmy Heath, Milt Jackson and Buddy Rich. He established a particularly close playing relationship with Getz in the second half of the '80s and early '90s in both quartet and duo contexts. One of the most highly thought of among his numerous albums is "Night & The City" on Verve with Charlie Haden. Among other recommended albums are Lemuria-Seascape on Candid and Quickstep on Enja.

After a short break again in 1987 for a European tour with Victor Lewis and Rufus Reid. The last tour he did with Getz was in March of 1991, this was to be the last tour for Getz, and a recording done at the Cafe Montemartre in Copenhagen as a duo, called "People Time," is one of the best jazz recordings available.

Barron also co-owned Joken Records, with releases from Sumi Tonooka, Ben Riley, and his brother Bill Barron.

Barron was twice elected "favorite jazz pianist" by the Down Beat readers' poll.