What better way to open the Festival than a bona fide legend described by Jazz Weekly as “the most lyrical piano player of our time”? With his consummate mix of power and melodic invention, NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron has elevated the jazz scene since 1962, when Dizzy Gillespie hired the 19-year-old pianist straight outta Philly. He’s been a creative force ever since, both as a sideman for a succession of jazz stars like Freddie Hubbard, Milt Jackson and Stan Getz and as a bandleader, composer and educator.

In recent decades his group has served a proving ground for some of the music’s most prodigious young players, like the extraordinary drummer who powers Barron’s trio, Johnathan Blake (a fellow Philadelphian) and bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa.

Joining them is 25-year-old Haitian-American vocalist Tyreek McDole, a phenomenon who in 2023 became only the second male singer to win the Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition. Introducing himself to Healdsburg Jazz audiences with Barron’s trio continues his magic carpet ride in luxuriant style.