Native of Nashville, TN, known around the world as “Music City,” trombonist Roland Barber enjoys a career full of diverse and exciting musical pursuits at the highest level. Roland has achieved a powerful, soulful and spiritual artistry as a jazz performer, so much so that Curtis Fuller (John Coltrane’s only trombonist) exclaimed upon hearing him, “Now THAT’s what jazz trombone is all about!” Roland’s style is a synthesis of jazz’s finest elements – sporting a keen, fluent command of the bebop language, tempered with a compelling sense of melodic “voice” that’s rooted in the swagger and soul of the blues and swing traditions. Roland employs a warm, personal tone that is lyrical and full, yet ready to burn with heat and intensity when the moment presents itself. Roland is also known for his masterful plunger-mute playing – a gem in the music of jazz that goes back to Tricky Sam Nanton of Ellington’s orchestra and a study has been passed down the generations, most directly to Roland through mentors Steve Turre and Al Grey.
Barber has performed with titans of jazz music as well as young lions, including Stefon Harris, Sean Jones, Clark Terry, Branford Marsalis, Houston Person, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, the Chico O’Farill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra, Lainie Cooke and the Grammy-winning New Orleans Jazz Ensemble. Barber has performed in venues the world over, from Manhattan to Estonia, including Carnegie Hall, Birdland, the Blue Note, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and Madison Square Garden. Television appearances include MTV’s Making the Band, NBC’s Saturday Night Live, CBS’ Today Show and the ESPN Awards. Beyond the jazz realm, Roland has performed with a stylistically broad “who’s who” of the music scene, including the Wooten Brothers, Slavic Soul Party, Lauryn Hill, the Nashville Symphony, Lady A, Melinda Doolittle, Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, Lauren Daigle, Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo, the Wood Brothers, Cissy Houston, La India, Roberto Blades, Take 6, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Kirk Whalum, the NBC Saturday Night Live Band and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra.
Alongside being a compelling performer, Barber is also a celebrated composer and arranger, and was awarded a New Works Jazz Grant from Chamber Music America, which led to the writing and premier of his first extended suite, Songs of the Village, written for quintet. This suite saw its world premiere at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club in 2010.
Having relocated back to Nashville, TN after a seven year tenure in NYC, Roland is now a mainstay in the Nashville studio scene, having recorded in almost every genre imaginable. Roland’s combination of experience and talent that puts him at the top of the city’s list when brass performance is needed. Despite the global difficulties of 2020, Roland celebrated the first year of recording on EVERY brass instrument (from trumpet to tuba) in the studio, and is trailblazing a path as a one-man, multi-instrumentalist brass machine.
Roland also is quite active in education circles, having taught for Manhattan School of Music, the Nashville Symphony, Vanderbilt University, Nashville Notes and the Nashville Jazz Workshop. Roland has given masterclasses around the country at venues including Vanderbilt University, University of North Carolina, University of Michigan, Middle TN State University, Tennessee State University, and others. An educational highlight, Roland gave a masterclass/clinic for the 2021 JEN Clinic entitled, “The Voice of the Plunger,” where he detailed the history and development of the language of the storied mute’s history in jazz. Beginning with the inception of the mute in Ellington’s early bands, Roland traced the development of plunger artistry through to the modern master practitioners that helped shape his own approach, most notably Clark Terry, Al Grey and Steve Turre. Roland can be found now leading his own bands throughout the region, be it his small group jazz quartet/quintet, his NOLA-inspired Righteous Few Brass Band, or his Salsa-In-English band, Souvenir.
Barber holds an M.M. in Jazz Studies from Manhattan School of Music (2005), as well as an Artist Diploma (2003) and B.M. in Jazz Studies (2001), both from Indiana University.
Heart Expressed, Art Finessed is Roland’s first (2013) release. Fueled by Roland’s original compositions alongside a ballad penned by Steve Turre, the album features a combination of musicians from the Nashville and New York jazz scenes, including drummer Ulysses Owens (Christian McBride Trio), pianist Gordon Webster, saxophonist Rahsaan Barber (Roland’s twin brother), and Nashville’s Jim Ferguson on upright bass.
Calendar
Feb 23, 2022 – Recording with 360 Jazz Initiative, North Carolina
FEB 26, 2022 – Roland Barber and Friends, Skydeck @ Assembly Food Hall, Nashville, TN
FEB 26, 2022 – Roland Barber’s Righteous Few Brass Band, Skydeck @ Assembly Food Hall, Nashville, TN
MAR 1, 2022 – Roland Barber presents: The Righteous Few Brass Band, Rudy’s Jazz Room, Nashville, TN
MAR 12, 2022 – Roland Barber Quartet, Rudy’s Jazz Room, Nashville, TN
MAR 13th, 2022 – Roland’s Advanced Jazz Class Concert, featuring Bo Clayton, Andy Robinson, Jarett Allen, Andrew Ledford, Joey Bonvisutto and more, at Rudy’s Jazz Room, Nashville, TN
MAR 24th – with Rahsaan Barber, City Winery, Nashville, TN
APR 1, 2022 – Roland Barber Quartet, Rudy’s Jazz Room, Nashville, TN
APR 23 -with Rahsaan Barber, Crosstown Concourse, Memphis, TN