Tony Barba Quartet

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M.O.D. Media Productions

Tony Barba and saxophone.

Tony Barba

media release: Presented by BlueStem Jazz. $20.

Tony Barba - sax; Matt Gold - guitar; John Christensen - bass Devin Drobka - drums  

Tony Barba is a saxophonist/educator/producer whose career has spanned the last twenty-five years. Originally hailing from Acton, Massachusetts and previously living in NYC and Chicago, Tony has resided in Madison, Wisconsin since 2013. He has performed, taught and toured professionally all over the world. A long standing member of the globe trotting Youngblood Brass Band, Tony has also performed and recorded with such notable and diverse artists as Makaya McCraven, Bon Iver, David Murray, Josh Ritter, the Mountain Goats, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and the Temptations. In Madison he is currently a member of the Johannes Wallman Quartet, Golpe Tierra, Immigre, Michael Brenneis’s Plutonium, and the Paul Dietrich Jazz Orchestra. In 2020, Barba released the acclaimed album Blood Moon (Shifting Paradigm Records) for his quartet featuring Matt Gold on guitar, John Christensen on bass and Devin Drobka on drums. In addition to performing, Barba maintains a private teaching studio and is the jazz band director at James Madison Memorial High School. 

Matt Gold

"Matt Gold effortlessly embodies his own dialect—defined by varied, spacious soundscapes, innovative improvisational flourishes and rich harmony." - DownBeat Magazine

 "There’s an alluring kinetic energy to this recording, whether it be Gold’s electric guitar power-playing, his acoustic guitar and its whispered textures, the folk-tinged vocals blending perfectly with the abstracted Americana, or the bluesier elements that are a welcome delight."  - ★★★★ UK Vibe 

"This Chicago-based guitar trio have an engaging sound and wield their own succinct brand of distorted Americana."  - Jazzwise Magazine   

Matt Gold is a guitarist and composer based in Chicago, IL. His work pulls from diverse traditions of electric and acoustic music. Matt has given his guitar a good strum or two in venues across North America, Europe, and Asia, and has written music for films as well. His work has been praised for being “accessible, yet healthily unconstrained by genre and sure of its own identity” (UK Vibe) and for "combining the virtuosity and precision of a string quartet with the playfulness of small-group jazz" (Chicago Reader). In May 2020 Gold released his first solo record, Imagined Sky (Whirlwind Recordings), displaying his penchant for concise melody and a nuanced, exploratory palette of abstracted Americana. He has released four albums as the instrumental duo Sun Speak (with drummer Nate Friedman) and one with the singer/songwriter duo Storm Jameson (with vocalist/guitarist Jim Tashjian). As a guitarist and collaborator, Matt performs and records with artists including Makaya McCraven, Greg Ward, Sara Serpa, Hood Smoke, and Jamila Woods. He co-curates the Flood Music concert series and record label.