Results for "Jonathan Barber"

Musician

Jonathan Barber

New York City-based Jonathan Barber was voted the #1 Up-and-Coming Drummer of 2018 in Modern Drummer. Only 29 years old, he has already recorded and toured worldwide with such artists as Pat Metheny, Nicholas Payton, Buster Williams, Jeremy Pelt, Wallace Roney, Terrace Martin, Jennifer Holiday, Harold Mabern, Steve Davis, Stefon Harris, and many more. Barber has also been called on for such significant performances as Jimmy Greene’s Ana Grace Project (with an all-star band comprised of Greene, Kenny Barron, John Patitucci, and Kurt Elling) and back-to-back sold-out concerts with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and Erykah Badu at the BAM Opera House.

Album

Celestial Keeper

By Joey Alexander

Label: Mack Avenue Records
Released: 2026
Track listing: Bemused (solo improv I); Aversion; Whispers Of Love; Stella by Starlight; Deep Calls to Deep My Funny Valentine; Bemused Again (solo improv II); Aliceanna (Bmore); As Far as the Eye Can See; How Great Thou Art.

Album

We Dream

By Lakecia Benjamin

Label: Artwork Records
Released: 2026
Track listing: First Light; Beyond the Dawn; My Only; Mi Gente; Ascension; DreamBreaker; We Dream; Flamekeeper; Hiromi Jam; Right Now; New World.

Video

Radar

Featuring the music of Jonathan Barber
Duration: 6:48
October 18, 2026

You may not have heard of drummer Jonathan Barber, but he’s already arrived as a powerhouse. Word-of-mouth led him to transformative roles with tenor saxophonist JD Allen in 2013 and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt starting in 2017. After being named “#1 Up-and-Coming Drummer” in 2018 by Modern Drummer, he caught the ear of Pat Metheny, who brought him early into his Side-Eye project. Barber brings explosive intensity through muscular tom fills, rat-a-tat jabs on snare and sophisticated syncopation on cymbal. He leads the group Vision Ahead, blending fusion, bop and gospel feels, with his long-time personnel Andrew Renfroe on guitar, Taber Gable on keys, Matt Dwonszyk on bass and Matt Knoegel here on tenor. Captured live for the concert series “Musig im Pflegidach” (“Music in the Care Home Attic”), the performance of “Radar” unfolds under the aged wooden rafters of a Benedictine monastery founded in 1027 AD. Note the great blend of timbres, especially horn and guitar.

Article: Album Review

Joey Alexander: Celestial Keeper

by Doug Collette
July 18, 2026

Joey Alexander may no longer qualify as a prodigy, but his skills as a pianist and composer remain prodigious. The bell-like clarity of the notes ringing out at the outset of “Bemused (solo improv 1)" augurs as much for Celestial Keeper as it does for the now 22-year-old, who follows suit throughout the album.

Article: Album Review

Lakecia Benjamin: We Dream

by Mike Jurkovic
May 28, 2026

Lakecia Benjamin is clearly pulling no punches on We Dream. Not that she ever has, given a discography that includes 2020's Pursuance: The Coltranes (Ropeadope Records); 2012's intoxicating, groove-crazy Retox (Motema) or the spellbinding sister releases Phoenix (Whirlwind, 2023) and the super stoked Phoenix ReImagined (Live) (Ropeadope Records, 2024). We Dream drops the mic and leaves ...

Song of the Day

Gateway

July 9, 2026

Album: Gateway
By Michael Pallas
Label: Truth Revolution Records
Released: 2024
Duration: 07:06

Article: Multiple Reviews

Guitar and Bass Reviews featuring Josh Achiron

by Jerome Wilson
April 2, 2026

These are short reviews of recent guitar or bass-led albums. Dave Stryker Blue Fire--The Van Gelder Session Strikezone Records 2026 Guitarist Dave Stryker fulfilled a long-time dream by recording this album with his longstanding organ trio at the legendary Rudy Van Gelder studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. The ...

Article: Album Review

Margherita Fava: Murrina

by Geannine Reid
January 4, 2026

The hum of modern jazz is strong from the first notes of Murrina. Margherita Fava emerges as a creative force at the piano with her crystalline single notes and cascade of piano chords that shimmer with the microcosms of the modern jazz piano tradition. Recorded in the autumn of 2025, the album captures a trio that performs ...

Album

As We Are Now

By Jimmy Greene

Label: Greene Music Works
Released: 2025