UMBC Jazz Ensemble with Jonathan Barber

The Department of Music presents the UMBC Jazz Ensemble with Jonathan Barber, an international recording artist, composer, educator and bandleader who was voted the #1 Up-and-Coming Drummer of 2018 in Modern Drummer magazine.

Barber has recorded and toured worldwide with such artists as Pat Metheny, Terence Blanchard, Erykah Badu, Nicholas Payton, Buster Williams, Jimmy Greene, Jeremy Pelt, Wallace Roney, Jennifer Holiday, Steve Davis, J.D. Allen, Walter Smith III, Gretchen Parlato, and The Brooklyn Philharmonic. In addition to his first-call status as a sideman, Barber has stepped forth as a composer and leader with his band Jonathan Barber & Vision Ahead. This band is a powerful declaration of intent that has been making waves on the modern jazz scene. Barber’s blend of classic, swinging jazz with elements of gospel, rock, soul, and fusion is a compelling showcase of Barber’s broad stylistic range as a drummer, performer and composer. Barber has produced and self-released all of his latest recordings: Vision Ahead (2018), Legacy Holder (2020), Live at Jazz Standard (2020) and Poetic (2022).