John LaBarbera

He began playing cornet when he was just five years old. By age seven John was playing in the La Barbera Family Band with brothers Pat and Joe. Then after studies at SUNY/Potsdam, Berklee and Eastman, John toured with and wrote for world famous Buddy Rich Big Band.

Through the years his music has been recorded/performed by Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Watrous, Mel Tormé, Harry James, Chaka Khan, Bill Watrous, Bill Perkins, Al Cohn and Phill Woods to name a fews. Also successful as a commercial writer and recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts awards for jazz composition, John is currently Professor of Music at the University of Louisville. He is also co-founder of the internationally acclaimed big band, DIVA.

John’s new big band CD “On The Wild Side” on Jazz Compass has been nominated for a 2004 Grammy award and is the latest offering from this major composer in the field of jazz big band.