Walk All Ways

Well-known in the Seattle area, Barry is a man of many talents. He is the musical director of the Seattle Womens Jazz Orchestra and has also contributed charts to The Jazz Police big band (Origin 82395 is an all-Berry program) and The Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra. Four self-released CDs of his music are available (http://www.barrymusic.com/index.htm). His publishing company (http://www.marinamusic.com/) produces combo and big band jazz charts, including those by Randy Brecker.

Although closely associated with big bands, there's much more to his muse. He was a featured composer at the 2007 Lima Jazz Festival in Peru and has been Composer/Performer in Residence at the Banda Amazonas in Manaus, Brazil and the Conservatoire de Tatui in S�o Paulo.

Barry plays cornet with a brash, vocalized, gutsy approach that hearkens back to jazz individualists like Henry "Red" Allen and the brassmen of Ellington's Jungle Bands, and also contributes some melodica and miscellaneous percussion. James DeJoie is on baritone saxophone, flute, clarinet and bass clarinet; his playing on the latter horn is notably liquid and emotionally compelling. Alicia Allen plays violin, Ruth Marshall cello, Steve Rice accordion, Chris Symer double bass, and Scott Ketron drums and percussion. Susan Pascal is on vibraphone or marimba on two tracks, Ernesto Pedianco congas and Will Dowd cajon on one apiece.

There are connections to Afro-Peruvian lando, Cuban danzon and charanga, Brazilian forr -- (particularly the slow xote and moderate bai�o rhythms), and Argentina's Nuevo Tango in the timbres of the group's unusual instrumentation and in Barry's compositions. The brief "Pastorale Zipoli" and especially "Fuga Bembe" also evince Baroque counterpoint juxtaposed with Afro-Caribbean rhythms. "Nini's Dream" has a marvelous polyrhythmic drum solo by Scott Ketron. "La Folia Lando" is a bittersweet lament with superb cornet solo work and a resonant foundation laid by double bass (tuned in fifths), cello and accordion; Rice's solo here is one of the highlights of the disc ? he's not afraid of a little floating dissonance or a few flourishes a la Guy Klucevsek.

Walk, dance and play all ways: good advice. Barry seems poised on the brink of widespread international recognition.