Steve Barry Quartet live at Foundry616 2021

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Steve Barry's recent musical projects are manifold and diverse, from a collaboration with classical chamber group Ensemble Offspring to a new trio based around the Hammond organ.

'…One of Australia's most inventive and accomplished composers/improvisers.' - Loudmouth Magazine

'…Dazzling in his harmonic adventurousness, melodic resourcefulness, switchback rhythmic ideas, and non-bombastic sense of drama.' - Sydney Morning Herald

Born from after-class jam sessions at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where Barry is a lecturer, this quartet features three of Sydney's finest emerging jazz talents and two sets of hot-off-the-press original music.

Dr. Steve Barry is an NZ-born, Sydney-based pianist, organist, composer, and improviser. Steve's creative work reflects his parallel interests in jazz and 20th century classical music, dancing between dense composed structure and free improvisation and reflecting a fascination with harmonic colour and an eclectic palette of influences such as Paul Bley to Elliott Carter.

Steve is the recipient of numerous awards, including;

• the Bell Award for Young Australian Jazz Artist of the Year (2013),

• 2nd place in the National Jazz Awards (2013),

• BBM Travel Scholarship (2011).

He was a finalist in the 2019 APRA Professional Development Awards and a nominee for the 2016 Freedman Fellowship.

Steve's recent release for avant-garde jazz quartet, Blueprints & Vignettes (2018), received a 4-star review in the Sydney Morning Herald and was longlisted for the 14th Australian Music Prize. An album of improvisations in duo with Australian jazz luminary and pianist Judy Bailey (OAM) was released in 2020 and nominated for the Te Kaipuoro Tautito Toa (Best Jazz Artist) at the Aotearoa Music Awards.