Album Notes

John La Barbera Big Band -
Fantazm

"Fantazm," John La Barbera's follow-up to his 2004 Grammy nominated "On The Wild Side" CD, is a collection of standards and originals inspired by something Duke Ellington once said: "... a little thing that the theme is taken from... the kind of a dream that you have about that kind of a girl... it's called Fantazm." Featuring Pat La Barbera on saxes, with Joe La Barbera on percussion, and Clay Jenkins on trumpet, tracks include the Duke Ellington rarity "Fantazm" in his jungle jazz style; Woody Shaw's "Moontrane;" David Raksin's "Apache" love theme: "My Love & I;" Mister Mr.'s "Kyrie," and 4 originals by La Barbera and his brother Pat.

John La Barbera started playing cornet when he was five years old. At the age of seven he was performing with his parents and brothers Pat, and Joe in the La Barbera Family Band. His studies at the S.U.N.Y Potsdam, Berklee College, Eastman School of Music, and private study with Rayburn Wright contributed to his love of writing and strengthened his skills for a career in composition and arranging. By the late sixties John was playing trumpet and touring the world in the great Buddy Rich Orchestra. This was the beginning of his nineteen year association with Buddy as his principal composer/arranger. He went on to play and write for many renowned big bands and is now one of the most respected composer/arrangers in jazz. His works have been recorded and performed by Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Mel Torme', Chaka Khan, Harry James, Bill Watrous, Bill Perkins, Al Cohn and Phil Woods just to name a few. As co-producer and arranger for The Glenn Miller Orchestra Christmas recordings (In The Christmas Mood I & II) John has received Gold & Platinum Records. Mr. La Barbera is also a co-founder of the internationally acclaimed all women big band, DIVA.
Mr. La Barbera is also active as a clinician and lecturer in colleges and high schools throughout the U.S. and abroad. He is a two-time recipient of The National Endowment for The Arts award for Jazz Composition and serves as a panelist for the NEA in the music category. His career has been profiled in dozens of publications and encyclopedias, most notably the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, and the Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. John's published works distributed by Kendor, Hal Leonard, Warner Brothers, Sierra Music, C.L. Barnhouse, Educational Programs Publications, William Allen Music, and Arrangers Publications are considered standards in the field of jazz. education.