Tom Barber

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.After he won both the Lionel Hampton High School Trumpet Competition and the International Trumpet Guild Jazz Competition in Gothenborg, Sweden in 1997, he attended the University of Northern Colorado, working towards a degree in classical trumpet performance. While at UNC, Thomas had opportunities to play with many of the musicians who passed through, including Louie Bellson, Pete Fountain, Nicholas Payton, Maria Schneider, Bob Brookmeyer, Conrad Herwig and Kenny Wheeler.Since moving to New York in 2004, 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 documentary Mania (2008), about the Portland Trailblazers, and Kings Of The Road (2009) about the Portland Buckaroos. Thomas also scores regularly for the Comcast Sportsnet series Rip City Stories, which airs regularly across the country. 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 his debut album 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. 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 Thomas 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.Thomas Barber is enthusiastic about Janus Bloc. “We are planning many performances during the next year. I want to write so much more for this ensemble. I love the instrumentation and the musicians, and would very much enjoy the chance to tour and perform with them regularly.”Much more will be heard from Thomas Barber in the future.-Scott Yanow