An Evening with Two Pianos, Mulgrew Miller, Kenny Barron, Benny Green, Eric Reed - Live in Vienna, France

In 2012 the Jazz à Vienne festival, a famous French venue that is built on an ancient amphitheatre, played host to a rare musical meeting. Four esteemed pianists gathered for an eight-handed performance that dazzled, delighted and left the audience hungry for more. Born in the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s respectively, these musicians represent a segment of the development of jazz and have all had sparkling careers.

Kenny Barron is a veteran who caught the tailend of swing jazz and played alongside Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz; Mulgrew Miller was a bebopper who later played with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers; Benny Green developed his style after Bud Powell and has played with Ray Brown, Art Blakey and Freddie Hubbard; Eric Reed is a jazzmen and film composer who has built a career next to Wynton Marsalis and Christian McBride. 

Together, these four conduct a piano masterclass and who better to look to for guidance than the great Thelonious Monk? None of the jazz greats subverted, stretched and deconstructed the instrument more than Monk, and his compositions are tackled here in solo, duo and ensemble formats. The concert is also special as one of the last times we see Mulgrew playing in public. He died the following year, leaving a legacy as a true musicians’ musician who lived and breathed jazz till the end.