While Jeff Barnhart is now a highly regarded pianist,
vocalist, arranger, bandleader, recording artist, composer, pedagogue and
entertainer, he had very humble beginnings.
Jeff commenced his professional career at age 14 playing and
entertaining four nights a week in a restaurant in his home state of
Connecticut. Here he began to learn the classic swing, jazz and ragtime
repertoire of the early 20th century. Jeff put himself through college playing
throughout New England including stints with
one of his childhood influences, the Galvanized Jazz Band. In the 1990’s he toured the US and Canada,
playing most of the major festivals on the circuit with either the Hot Cat Jazz
band or the Draga-Vax Connection.
The 21st century has seen Jeff in demand as a
soloist and band pianist at parties, festivals, clubs and cruises in all
corners of the globe. He currently manages
the Titan Hot 7, one of the most acclaimed bands in the country. In addition, he leads two bands in the
UK: the Fryer-Barnhart International
Jazz Band, which concentrates on hot music of the 1920’s, and Jeff Barnhart’s
British Band, which performs small group swing of the 30’s.
In addition to his widely acclaimed solo and band
appearances, Jeff is enjoying great success performing with smaller groups,
most notably the trio We Three with clarinetist Bob Draga and drummer Danny
Coots and also Ivory and Gold, a duo with his talented wife, flutist Anne
Barnhart. Through her encouragement, he
is now including classical works as part of his performing repertoire. Ivory and Gold is becoming a mainstay at many
jazz and ragtime festivals throughout the US and the UK, while We
Three is garnering praise from both audiences and critics at major festivals, concerts and parties. Jeff is also part of a whimsical quartet entitled JAS”M
which is comprised of Jeff,
Anne, Sherrie Colby and Matt
Bottel (both well known from Blue Street).
Jeff enjoys playing dual piano and has done so with such
jazz luminaries as Ralph Sutton, Neville Dickie, Louis Mazetier and John Sheridan. He also performs ragtime with Mimi Blais and
Brian Holland. In addition to his own label,
Jazz Alive Records, Jeff plays piano and sings on the international labels GHB,
Summit-World Jazz Records, Music Minus One, and the two largest jazz labels in the
UK,
Lake Records and P.E.K. Sound. He has recently been signed on to the Arbors
Records label, and his first Arbors CD entitled “In My Solitude.” has just been
released. Jeff has been featured as both
pianist and vocalist on over 50 full-length recordings. |
