Review Text
West Texas native Stephen Barber began playing piano at age three, taking up guitar at age eleven, and composition at age thirteen. As a teenager, he collaborated with Stevie Ray Vaughn and Christopher Cross, and his band The Electromagnets opened for the infamous Frank Zappa / Captain Beefheart Bongo Fury show at The Armadillo in Austin TX (1975). In his early twenties, he moved to New York City to study composition and orchestration with John Corigliano. As a composer, arranger, and player, he has worked in collaboration with David Byrne, Keith Richards, Josef Zawinul, Willie Nelson, Natalie Merchant, Ornette Coleman, Gilberto Gil, John Legend, T Bone Burnett, Roseanne Cash, Arto Lindsay, Marisa Monte, Bonnie Raitt, Michael Stipe, Jennifer Warnes, Shelly Duvall, Alejandro Escovedo, David Torn, Eric Johnson, PBS, The London Symphony, The Czech Radio Orchestra, Steps Ahead, Tosca String Quartet, and Meridian Arts Ensemble. He was worked on over 250 album, film, and television projects, dividing his time between New York City and Austin, Texas. His works are performed on this new release by Eric Huebner, a versatile pianist known for his performances of 20th and 21st century music. Appointed pianist of the New York Philharmonic in 2012, he appears in over 60 orchestral and chamber music concerts annually with the orchestra.
