Thomas Barber's Janus Bloc
Snow Road
Complex yet melodic large ensemble music that draws influence from the early days of jazz to the present.
A brilliant young trumpeter, arranger and composer, Thomas Barber creates music that is often cinematic, always full of surprises, and capable of going in almost any direction. On his debut CD Snow Road, he introduces seven colorful originals that utilize a very intriguing instrumentation and are utterly unpredictable yet ultimately logical. This is 21st century jazz.
Born in Moscow, ID 29 years ago, Thomas regularly attended the local Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival with his family. When he was four or five, he attended a performance by the Ray Brown Trio which left a strong impression. He started piano lessons shortly after, but switched his focus to the trumpet four years later. "I found that I could make sounds on the trumpet with only three keys, which seemed so much simpler than wind instruments with all their keys. There were two universities within seven miles of where I lived, and I started taking private lessons. I frequently played with older local musicians, and soon started getting calls for whatever work there was in the small town area. Most important for me was a weekly gig with a quintet during junior high and high school. It taught me what it's like to perform 3 1/2 to 4 hours at a time. I learned a lot of tunes, and many of the ins and outs of playing in a small jazz ensemble."
After he won both the Lionel Hampton High School Trumpet Competition (performing "Round Midnight," "All Blues," and "Groovin' High,") and the International Trumpet Guild Jazz Competition in Gothenborg, Sweden in 1997, he began to treat the trumpet as a serious career choice. Attending the University of Northern Colorado, Thomas chose to work towards a classical degree because he wanted to improve his technical ability on the trumpet. “At the same time, I was opened up to composing during my time at UNC. Many people encouraged me to develop my skills in that area. It was during this time that I realized the correlation between performing and composing. The better a composer one is, the better a player one can be and vice versa.” Thomas had opportunities to play with many of the musicians who passed through town including Louie Bellson, Pete Fountain, Nicholas Payton, Maria Schneider, Bob Brookmeyer, Conrad Herwig and Kenny Wheeler.
After graduating and saving up money, he entered The Juilliard School’s Artist Diploma program in September 2004, studying jazz performance. “Juilliard is extremely devoted to developing how musicians play in an ensemble. The master classes are dedicated to how to listen in ensembles and how to interact in a constructive manner to other musicians.”
Since moving to New York, Thomas Barber has been quite busy as both a trumpeter and composer. He has composed for Steve Turre and Joe Alessi, arranged for the trombone ensemble Dease Bones, been a sideman and an arranger on a wide variety of recordings, and written scores for four films: The indie feature Love Sick (2006), the animated short Operation Fish (2006), and the feature documentaries Mania (2008), about the Portland Trailblazers, and Kings Of The Road (2009) about the Portland Buckaroos. He has performed with Paul Simon, Slide Hampton, Wynton Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon and many others. As a leader, Thomas plays in separate quartets with pianist Ola Gjielo and drummer Fuyu Murata. But closest to his heart is Janus Bloc, the group that is featured on Snow Road.
“I’ve always loved big bands, film scores and orchestral music. For this group, I want to be able to switch from a jazz trio setting to an orchestral palette to a big band sound on a whim, and then on to a big band sound at whim. The overall goal with Janus Bloc is to have as many different compositional choices at my disposal as possible.” The group on Snow Road consists of the leader on trumpet along with trombone, French horn, alto (doubling on flute), tenor, clarinet, baritone (also playing bass clarinet), a string quartet and a three-piece rhythm section. There are also guest appearances by trumpeter Claudio Roditi and vibraphonist Tim Collins.
Janus Bloc performs a continually intriguing program of seven of Thomas Barber's originals, plus a heartfelt version of "Come Sunday." From the innovative "Shatzaquotek" to the lush "Song For Snow Road," the post bop "White Out" to the burning "Lickity Split," the jazz waltz "Elizabeth Rose" to the elegant solos by trombonist-producer Michael Dease and Claudio Roditi, the music covers a wide spand of moods, ideas, and grooves without ever forgetting to swing. Snow Road deserves many listens because there is so much to be discovered.
Thomas Barber is enthusiastic about Janus Bloc. “We are planning many performances during the next few months. I want to write so much more for this ensemble. I love the instrumentation and the musicians, and would absolutely love to tour and perform with them regularly.”
Much more will be heard from Thomas Barber in the future.
Jazz: Experimental Big Band