Drummer for Upcoming Film FATHER OF THE BRIDE

Honored to work with these amazing Artists in creating the soundtrack for upcoming film FATHER OF THE BRIDE 🎥🎞🎬
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Special thanks to the musical genius @terence_blanchard for this Opportunity
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Directory by Gaz Alazraki
Co-Produced by Andy Garcia
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Terence Blanchard 🎺
Christian McBride 🎻
Gerald Clayton 🎹🎹
Charles Altura 🎸
Luis Conte 🪘
Yours Truly 🥁
– Plus Orchestra
…… what a band !

Sign Up For Barber’s “4ward Motion Drum Program”

4ward Motion Drum Program 

4 week Program

  1. Drumming concepts 
  2. Social media concepts (IG, facebook, website) 
  3. Ways to engage your local community
  4. Composition / Arranging

-(4) 60 minute Drum Lessons

-(1) masterclass group Zoom workshop. (Listening, Q&A, Brainstorming, interacting with our Drum Community)

Free Consultation

Focuses

– Drumming with Intention & Musicality 

– Help build content & strategies for YOU to move forward 

– Composing & Arranging Tips.

– Recording Video & Audio Homework Assignments 

– Access to Play Alongs 

– The Approach of Soloing 

– The Approach of Comping

– Tonality (ways to incorporate Melodic tones in phrasing)  

– Building Jazz Repertoire

– Song Development (How to properly & musically serve a song)

– Building Patterns 

 

4ward Motion Drum Program

Live at Jazz Standard | October 23, 2020

Partnering with Bandcamp, I am inviting you all to participate in this upcoming release. Live at Jazz Standard will only be released exclusively on Bandcamp where listeners ALL OVER THE WORLD are able to make financial contributions towards the album while receiving gifts which may include digital album, VINYL (limited edition), Legacy Holder T-shirt, signature drumsticks, drum lessons and more.

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Click the link and support the Vision
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Any contribution is greatly appreciated
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Available for Virtual Drum Lesson

It’s official, I now have my own personal drum studio.
This is something I’ve been working on for a while and finally I’m in full operation.
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Even in these strange times, music can still be created and be pushed forward.
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I’m now available for recording drums, samples, drum lessons….  Already completed and working on  some cool projects. Excited to share them soon.
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(Drum Lessons) starting in September I have 10 slots available. (In person or virtual)
This summer I have create concepts focusing over phrasing, accompaniment, soloing, composition, using Ableton and applying this information to music play-alongs that I’ve created or perform with other artist over the years.

If interested follow these steps:

 

Click Contact Me

 

Put your name, Email, label Drum Lesson (in subject), and your schedule in “Your Message”. 

Jonathan Barber on Keeping The Vision Ahead

In early March, I was two weeks into a West Coast tour with my band Jonathan Barber & Vision Ahead. For me, this was a special tour, considering I organized it myself to promote my upcoming album Legacy Holder [release date May 15, 2020]. Out of nowhere, the COVID-19 swiped through the United States, causing an abrupt end to not only my tour, but daily routines and operations.

I learned quickly how serious this matter was when gigs and tours that were planned months in advance were now being cancelled. Legacy Holder album-release shows, Auvisa Drum festival, summer European tour with Pat Metheny, fall European tour with Vision Ahead, local New York gigs, and recording sessions…. Cancelled.

Can I recover from all of this?

Yup!

What do I do now?

Do what I do best—improvise and make the very best with what I have.

As I began to experience days of being quarantined, and now have the schedule of a college student on summer vacation, I knew I had to go through the process of this pandemic with the right perspective

I’m not displaced—I’m repositioned.

A lot of the times, we focus on what we’ve lost from this pandemic—not realizing that what we already have can help us get through this situation. In a time like this, maybe this is the perfect opportunity to release music. Thankfully, my second album was already scheduled to be released this spring.

Legacy Holder is eight tracks of original music, and it’s a continuation of my musical direction as a drummer and bandleader. With this album, you’ll witness Jonathan Barber the composer. Yes, there are drum solos in Legacy Holder, but more importantly, I was intentional with the mood and shape of each song. When I compose songs, I like to create a journey from the beginning to the end. This approach makes me serve the music, and be mindful of how certain musical choices effect what’s coming next, and how the next section is being introduced. I feel inspired not just by how I sound as an individual, but, collectively, how my band Vision Ahead sounds.

Now, this message isn’t making light of the struggle, grief, and anxiety that COVID-19 has caused. As we carrying on from this situation, here are four things that we can effectively use to keep our creative spirit, musically and mentally.

Attention

What are you giving your attention to? Pay attention to things that motivate, inspire, and enlighten you. Listen to a new album a day, or pick a drummer and check out the recordings that drummer has been a part of.

Rest

Taking a break is also useful. Giving your mind an opportunity to clear itself, and to focus on the positive, not the negative.

Learn Something New

Drummers—whether it’s soloing, learning rudiments, working on different grooves, or incorporating other instruments to our normal setup, we have the time to research and get better at what we want to learn. Spend time on what you don’t know, but do want to learn. Think about the music, as well—don’t focus on just the drums.

Make Good Decisions

This is where our improvisation skills won’t just be used for the bandstand. Again, you have to be real with yourself, and figure out what are the best decisions to maintain your craft and your musical foundation. Location, access to your instrument, technology tools, being accessible (virtually), creating content/product, and a providing a service are key things you have to consider on how this best applies to you.

Since enduring this pandemic, I’ve spent time in my hometown of Windsor, Connecticut regrouping and a creating strategy for moving forward. Thus far, I’ve been giving lessons and master classes to drummers all over the world—thanks to Zoom and Skype. As some may know, this year I joined the legendary Ludwig Drums. Recently, I received a beautiful vintage-bronze mist Classic Maple kit—which sounded amazing right out the box. I’ve taken this time to dive back in with Sunhouse Percussion, which have opened my interests about creating various solo presentations.

Be thankful for what you have. Embrace it, and don’t stop creating!

Although obstacles may change, the vision remains the same. Music will never die, and we all get to participate in the continuum of music and it’s relation to the world.

Now Drum to THAT!

(Found on ON THE BEAT / MODERN DRUMMER)

Legacy Holder Receives 4.5 Stars from Downbeat

Jonathan Barber & Vision Ahead
Legacy Holder
(Vision Ahead Music)
By Bill Milkowski  |   Published August 2020

Jonathan Barber’s star has been on the rise since his auspicious 2018 debut, Vision Ahead, and a 2019 tour in Pat Metheny’s trio. The Hartford native’s sophomore release, Legacy Holder, more than fulfills his promise, showcasing powerfully slick drumming within the context of adventurous writing that bears the unmistakable influence of Atlantis-era Wayne Shorter.

The reflective title track highlights some fluid improvising by guitarist Andrew Renfroe and builds toward exhilarating heights through old-school trading of eights between pianist Taber Gable and pungent-toned altoist Godwin Louis. The runaway uptempo swinger “Major” is charged by Barber’s forward momentum on the kit in tandem with Matt Dwonszyk’s insistent walking bass lines. “Son Of Hartford” opens with Barber slamming against some angular arpeggiated unisons from Renfroe and Louis, recalling classic Mahavishnu Orchestra. If Barber is indeed a legacy holder, he’s continuing in a lineage of adventurous drummer-composers spanning Tony Williams and Terri Lyne Carrington. There’s an abundance of heightened energy and new ideas here, executed with pristine precision by the bandleader and his future-facing ensemble.