Today we’d like to introduce you to Jack Barrett.
Hi Jack, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
Ever since the age of 5, I’ve played the piano. I started out with lessons in classical music and continued with these all through high school. I studied various composers but two of my favorites were Chopin and Bach. In high school and college, I started to be exposed to many different styles of music, participating in jazz bands, orchestras, choirs, and theater. As I played more and more jazz I began to be drawn into the improvisatory nature of the music and the freedom it afforded me.
In college, I met my good friend Charlie Bruber, another local musician. Charlie and I began naturally pushing each other to grow and progress our individual music in terms of both playing and composing. By the time I graduated college with a degree in classical performance Charlie and I were regularly playing and writing jazz together. We set about converting an old chemical vault in an office building in Minneapolis to be a recording studio.
With NO knowledge of what we were doing, we made countless Home Depot trips, went on countless Google wild searches, and cobbled together a halfway decent studio. Once out of school I immediately began pursuing the composition and performance of original music, finding my way as I went. Since I have no formal training in jazz or music business it was rough starting out, I had no idea how to book gigs, how to find or hire other musicians, how to run a band, or how much to ask for payment.
With each gig came massive learning curves, and by 2016 I was playing regular gigs in cover bands and finding a few opportunities to play my originals here and there. One scene that I jumped into immediately was the local improv theater community. At the HUGE theater in uptown Minneapolis, I began providing improvised accompaniment for theater shows and developed a great love for free-flowing improvisation because of it.
Another great moment for me was being a founding member of the group Radiochurch, whose sound is a mix of 90s hip-hop, R&B, and pop. There I learned the joy of diving deep into a groove, appreciating the subtle nuances of repetition as opposed to the wild creativity and complexity of the jazz I had been writing up until that point. Although we eventually parted ways I am very grateful for my time with the band and the effect they had on me as a musician.
In 2018, I organized a concert with fellow pianists Javi Santiago and Kevin Gastonguay featuring all 3 of us on our own grand piano. Staged at Well Pianos under the title of Triptych, it was a huge success and a great affirmation of my own ability to keep up with such amazing talented pianists. I began spending more time back at the studio that Charlie and I had begun in 2014. By now Charlie had made some major renovations and brought in more experienced partners, and the studio was unrecognizable from where I had left it.
Excited and inspired by the new space, I assembled my first really strong band with Charlie Bruber on bass, Murphy Janssen on drums, and Jake Baldwin on trumpet. We recorded a set of 6 tunes I had been writing over the last few years and were able to release them as singles in late 2019, just before the advent of COVID-19. As with anyone, the pandemic represented a massive shift in my life. Up until that point, I had been working as a music teacher in elementary schools, but after the pandemic, I left teaching with no plans of returning.
Now I work solely as a piano player for hire and a private lesson instructor and my mental health has improved vastly as a result. I began working as an instructor at Walker West music academy in St Paul and immediately fell in love with the organization. Walker West is the only black-owned and run music school in the metro area with the goal of serving communities of color and those without regular access to music. It was an honor to be included in such an important mission and an honor to stand side by side with some of the most talented musicians and teachers in the area as colleagues.
In early 2021 I tapped Charlie and Jake again to make another record along with a new drummer, Ben Ehrlich. The album we recorded is set to release this coming month on Aug 23, with an accompanying release show at the Icehouse in Minneapolis. Since those sessions in 2021, I have been down in the studio several times a week, working on several different projects. My latest release is a solo record of small improvisations on the piano titled Ideas. It’s been an opportunity to explore my classical roots and get away from the cerebral proving grounds that my jazz compositions often stray into.
Currently, I’m working on 3 or 4 projects at any given time, as well as expanding my involvement with Walker West to include managing all the pianos in the building and coordinating the piano department. The latest exciting news about Walker West is that I was able to broker the acquisition of 2 beautiful new pianos, a 7-foot and 9-foot Steinway grand. The 9 foot has been played by all sorts of famous musicians including Ethan Iverson, Bruce Hornsby, and (the most exciting to me) Brad Mehldau. Between Walker West, my endeavors in the studio, and various other freelance gigs I keep myself busy these days as a full-time musician.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
One of the greatest struggles for me has been compensating and coming to terms with my lack of traditional jazz training. Initially, this was a source of stress as I was constantly in the dark about fairly common knowledge of the jazz tradition. Knowing the names and lineage of musicians, knowing tunes, knowing the terminology and musical lingo, all these were areas of struggle for me. It led to me suffering from imposter syndrome constantly, always questioning whether anyone would take me seriously or accept my music.
As the years have passed I have come to appreciate that my classical background has given me a unique sound and voice, something I consider far more valuable. I still have many moments where I question myself and the validity of my music but with each year those fade closer and closer to accepting and being truly content with the music and art that I make.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Since 2013 I’ve been writing instrumental music. Much of what I write is a mix of smooth digestible melodies and chords mixed with complex rhythms and patterns. Many of my early compositions are explorations of concepts, highly cerebral and fairly complex. Inevitably a great deal of classical modalities and motifs find their way into my work, something I’ve embraced fully of late.
My 2 greatest influences on the piano are Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett, and you can definitely hear it in my playing and writing. Post quarantine there has been a definite shift in how I approach composing. I’ve started to allow myself to explore much simpler ideas, finding joy in simply making any music that I like the sound of. A great inspiration has been pianist Brad Mehldau, another crossover between jazz and classical.
I’m currently working on a suite of fully composed piano pieces, writing them out note for note as opposed to the broader sketches I’ve used until now. These days I’m moving in several directions, from a stripped-down intimate duo record to a heavily produced jazz fusion record I’m working on.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
The greatest risk I’ve taken so far has been to leave behind the promise of steady income to be a full-time musician. While I was working full-time as a school teacher, that job felt like the only lifeline I had. It felt as though I had only one avenue to financial stability, and I never dreamed that I would be able to sustain myself through freelance work.
Since leaving that profession I think I have grown exponentially, not just through the weight that was lifted off of me but also through the responsibilities that fell to me by virtue of being self-employed. Risks are not always wild gambles, I think they are often just a necessary step away from comfort and stability.
That step is often the catalyst for vital growth both in and out of your profession. If I were still working as a full-time classroom teacher I don’t think I would have the same autonomy and agency I’ve developed. Looking back from the other side, I wish I had taken the risk of leaving my job sooner.
Contact Info:
- Website: jackbarrettmusic.com
- Instagram: @jackbarrettmusic
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-302680121?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Image Credits
Taylor James Donesky and Adam Iverson
