The Kenny Barron Trio (left) and Chief Adjuah (right) will play San Antonio’s Carver Community Cultural Center on separate nights. Credit: Left: Levy Stabb; Right: Eric Ryan Anderson

San Antonio jazz fans are in for one sweet weekend.

Influential pianist Kenny Barron and boundary-pushing “sonic architect” Chief Adjuah are bringing their unique approaches to the art form to the Jo Long Theatre at the Carver Community Cultural Center.

The Kenny Barron Trio’s free concert, presented by San Antonio nonprofit Musical Bridges Around the World, will take place Friday, Feb. 14, while Chief Adjuah will take the stage on Saturday, Feb. 15.

Known for his lyrical improvisations and nuanced chord voicing, Barron has been recognized as a 2010 Jazz Master by The National Endowment for the Arts and he’s earned a total of 11 Grammy nominations.

Barron emerged from the 1950s hard-bop era as an in-demand sideman and has worked alongside greats including Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard and Stan Getz. By the late 1960s, however, his skills as a composer and bandleader allowed him to release a string of acclaimed albums that showed his ability to work both in conventional jazz settings and head further out.

As a longtime jazz educator, he’s also mentored artists including Terence Blanchard, Regina Bell and David Sanchez.

Joining Barron in his trio are bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and drummer Johnathan Blake, who provide a powerful rhythmic foil for the pianist’s sophisticated chordal and melodic work.
Trumpeter and bandleader Adjuah, born Christian Scott, is a two-time Edison Award winner and six-time Grammy Award nominee NPR has praised for “ushering in a new era of jazz.” Performing what he calls “stretch music,” Adjuah draws on the foundation of his New Orleans roots while mixing modal jazz with hip-hop, dance music, African, Latin and post-rock influences.

In addition to releasing 13 albums as a bandleader, Adjuah has collaborated with artists as varied as Prince, Thom Yorke, McCoy Tyner, Mos Def, Robert Glasper and Flea.

His latest release, 2023’s Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning, marked the first album where he didn’t perform on trumpet but on the n’goni, a stringed instrument used by West African griots, along with a bowed instrument he invented himself.

Kenny Barron Trio: Free, but tickets must be reserved online, 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14, Jo Long Theater, Carver Community Cultural Center, 226 N. Hackberry St., (210) 207-7211, thecarver.org.
Chief Adjuah: $37, 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, Jo Long Theater, Carver Community Cultural Center, 226 N. Hackberry St., (210) 207-7211, thecarver.org.

Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed

Related Stories

This article appears in Feb 5-18, 2025.

Sanford Nowlin is editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Current. He holds degrees from Trinity University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, and his work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative...