Back in the 50's Bill Barron and Coltrane lived, hung out, and played in Philadelphia for a while. There was a big music scene with lots of jamming going on. And if you talk to musicians who were there at the time they say that the stuff Bill Barron was playing then sounded very much like some of the later Coltrane. His brother is the great pianist Kenny Barron. Here's Bill Barron on a Ted Curson date, playing a nice uptempo jazz waltz in a minor key:
Oooh, that Schubert 'Serenade' always chokes me up...
Here's something in a tropical vein. It opens up so lyrically, all nice and innocent — I love the way the tension builds and builds and by the time Sonny plays his last chorus before the closing theme you can practically hear the horn breaking apart, pieces flying everywhere...
