Photos: Rudy Lu
The final concert of the series drew a large crowd. 2023’s Eddy Award winning Sketches of Influence played a set of originals dedicated to Joe’s influences and audience. In many ways the performance was an end but also a beginning for Mr. Barna.
Taking no prisoners but playing/composing with feeling, love and compassion has always been Mr. Barna’s style. This performance was no exception. Dedicated to well known but seldom seen guitarist Mark Kleinhaut “Hitting the Mark” was a rumba. Other local people in Joe’s life have been honored by Joe’s compositions. Included were, his daughter Savina (The Heights), Gary Garabedian (The Moment) the late Lee Shaw (Ivory Romance), Scott Hall (Scott Free), and last but not least Reginald Harrell, disabled singer and music fan who went to great lengths to hear live music (Thinking of Reggie).
Influential nationally known musicians including Jeff “Tain” Watts (Scent of the City) and Wes Montgomery (Wes is More)also received their propers.
The Moment was a debut performance as well as Ew and Scent Of the City.
The band’s performance was more than stellar, Keith Pray carrying the melodies and frequently exploring variations on the music, Dave Gleason lyrical playing and comping show the latin side of jazz and Jason Emmond’s expert bass lines parallel of supporting the band. Ian MacDonald sat in for “Scott Free”. Needless to say, Joe’s drums set the pace for band, swinging, swooping and swirling with abandon.
As previously mentioned, this was an end and a beginning for Joe Barna personally. This was the penultimate performance for Joe Barna. He announced that he is stepping away from music to go explore other options. This performance seemed to be a fond farewell to his performing career.
The final performance will be on September 22nd @ Alias Coffee in Troy. Joe will be featuring the road version of Sketches. There are only 60 seats. Hope to see you there.
As for Jazz on Jay, it will continue next year, see you in late spring early summer 2025. Thanks to all the sponsors including the city of Schenectady, the Schenectady Foundation, Market 32, Schenectady County Legislature as well as others.
Setlist: Hitting the Mark, The Heights, The Moment, Ivory Romance, EW, Scott Free, The Scent Of The City, Thinking of Reggie
Sketches of Influence: Joe Barna(drums), Jason Emmond(bass), Dave Gleason(piano), Keith Pray(saxophone), Ian MacDonald(piano)
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