“Gloves off man,” promises Joe Barna. “I guarantee it will be the most aggressive jazz that Jazz on Jay ever had.”
The Troy drummer, composer, bandleader and scene-catalyzing impresario backs up his bold claim with ambition and achievement.
He wraps up the Jazz on Jay 2024 season with his Sketches of Influence band after being named Jazz Artist of the Year at the 2023 Eddies Awards and 2022 Jazz Artist of the Year at Xperience magazine’s Listen Up Awards.
Joe Barna. Photo provided
Formed in 2009, Barna’s Sketches of Influence features Keith Pray, alto saxophone; David Gleason, piano and Jason Emmond, bass this Thursday, a lineup that hasn’t previously played together. All are in-demand performers: Pray will soon release a new album by his Big Soul Ensemble.
Studying classical percussion taught Barna precision, but jazz offered freedom. He began his music training at SUNY Schenectady, then earned his BFA in Jazz Studies with a focus on drumset performance and composition in 1999 from SUNY Purchase. There he studied with Jon Faddis, Hal Galper, Adam Nussbaum, John Riley, Todd Coolman and Ralph Lalama. Barna was busy performing long before completing his training; his first gig was with Melting Picassos at Mother Earth’s Caffe in 1994.
He’s also performed with Lalama, Gary Smulyan, Lee Shaw, Jerry Weldon, Stacy Dillard and other stars, and guested on 10 albums as a sideman. Credited with energizing Troy’s jazz scene by organizing and promoting shows, he has literally toured the world, performing in Europe, Asia and across the Pacific. Sketches of Influence recently toured as far as Nashville. Here, he has opened for the pianist Joey Alexander, and released six albums as a leader. His latest is “The Heights,” dedicated to his young daughter.
These days, he promotes monthly shows at Alias Coffee in Troy, including the venue’s Fall Into Jazz Festival Sept. 22 featuring Sketches of Influence, the Justin Hendricks Trio and the Jeanine Ouderkirk Quartet.
Jazz on Jay free concerts are noon to 1:30 p.m. at Jay Square, the new park space opposite Schenectady City Hall. The rain site is Robb Alley at Proctors, 432 State St., Schenectady. Seating is provided indoors at Robb Alley, but patrons are invited to bring their own seating and refreshments to Jay Square.
Jazz on Jay is presented by the ElectriCity Arts and Entertainment District and sponsored by the New York State Council on the Arts, a Schenectady County Legislature Arts & Culture Grant, Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corporation, The Schenectady Foundation, Price Chopper/Market 32, MVP Health Care, Schenectady County, Schenectady City Hall, and Proctors Collaborative.
Hoke's Jukebox 