Date/Time
Date(s) - July 19, 2023
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm
Location
Buskirk Chumley Theater
Categories No Categories
Ticket Link: https://buskirkchumley.org/event/rahsaan_barber_and_everyday_magic/
Saxophonist Rahsaan Barber and the members of his sextet, Everyday Magic, have performed extensively throughout the nation since the celebrated 2011 release of the ensemble’s self-titled debut album, Everyday Magic. The album was the first of three albums produced by the saxophonist to earn recognition as an “Editor’s Pick” by Downbeat magazine. The band’s 2022 calendar featured performances at Live at Lucille’s (Knoxville), The Nashville Jazz Workshop, The Jazz Kitchen (Indianapolis), Middle C Jazz Club (Charlotte), Sharp Nine Jazz Gallery (Durham), Barking Legs Theater (Chattanooga), The City Winery (Nashville) and The Green Room at Crosstown (Memphis). In the dozen years of collaboration, the ensemble has appeared at numerous festivals throughout the South, and has been a featured ensemble in the programming of regional educational institutions, most recently appearing as headliner of UNC-Wilmington’s 2018 JazzFest.
Bandleader and composer Rahsaan Barber has become a nationally celebrated performer and educator, making good on the expectations one could have of a saxophonist who debuted in Downbeat magazine’s Critics’ Poll for Rising Star Tenor Saxophonists nearly a decade ago, in August of 2013. Barber has become a sought-after bandleader, collaborator and educator, with recent performances at Carnegie Hall, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center and The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, alongside such musicians as Branford Marsalis, Tito Puente, Jr., Brian Blade, and Victor Wooten. In March of 2023, Barber completed his doctoral (DMA) studies at the University of Memphis, while completing his third year as Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies and Saxophone at The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Educational pursuits have not served as distractions to Barber’s commitment to jazz performance at the highest levels, but, rather, have strengthened both his artistic acumen and the community of artistic colleagues in his orbit. Chief collaborators amongst these artists are the members of Everyday Magic, starting with Rahsaan’s lifelong collaborator and twin brother,
trombonist Roland Barber, whose resume includes performances with Jazz at Lincoln Center, Stefon Harris, Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan. The newest member of Everyday Magic is dynamic trumpeter/educator Pharez Whitted, noted Jazz Director of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and widely regarded as one of the most powerful and prolific trumpeters of his generation. The band’s rhythm section is led by Rahsaan’s long-time collaborator, pianist (and protege of Geri Allen) Matt Endahl. Drummer Joshua Cook and bassist Kevin Beardsley round out the rhythm section, contributing a musicality and versatility that allows the band to draw on influences and inspirations ranging from ancient tribal conceptions to modern idioms which span the globe in origin.
