Why does pianist Kenny Barron (1943) enjoy teaming up with a bassist so much? Because it gives him a foundation upon which he can unfold the most exquisite harmonies. And why does bassist Dave Holland (1946) prefer to play with Kenny Barron? Because Barron is an incredibly good listener as well as a fabulous soloist. On the album The Art Of Conversation (2014) the duo engage in a musical dialog. They first collaborated over thirty years ago. Barron is a master pianist; while at school he played with drummer Philly Joe Jones, and he later worked with Roy Haynes, Lee Morgan and Dizzy Gillespie, among others. Holland has also accompanied jazz greats and played on legendary records. For instance, he first played with Miles Davis’s band around 1970 and can be heard on albums like In A Silent Way and Bitches' Brew, projects that marked the breakthrough of jazz fusion.
