Barrett’s Boundless Creative Streak Smashes Genre Boundaries, with Funk Album; Project Mixing Jazz with Electronics; with Other, Different Recordings to Come

“Jazz’s future may very well sound like this… Barrett is an artist of boundless soul and strong rhythmic drive… he’s willing to push his musical identity toward new horizons.”
–DownBeat Magazine

“Exhilarating”
–Jazziz

“Adventurous.”
–All Music

GRAMMY-winning composer/trumpet player/multi-instrumentalist Darren Barrett is in the midst of a surge of boundless creativity, announcing today the release of two albums simultaneously on July 12: The Get Down 4 Real: Step Step Steppin’; and dB-ish: The Path To Our Truth, both via his own dB Studios. Today, he has shared “The Get Down 4 Real,” the first single from the former album, which is a funk album with jazz accents around James Brown-inspired drum backbeats. LISTEN/SHARE.

Picking up where Bitches Brew and Weather Report’s self-titled debut left off, dB-ish: The Path To Our Truth forges a path with effects pedals on his trumpet and synthesizers, abstraction with liquid playing. Barrett has build a substantial following on social media, totaling over 75,000 followers across platforms. His Instagram account, @darrendbee, has 57.7k followers. His YouTube account is a deep dive into experimental territory, entitled All Things Brass and Technology.

Forthcoming albums are planned under different project names: Time For Romance (ballads), Energy In Motion (smooth jazz), Trumpet Vibes (reggae/jazz mix), with other projects to be titled, including albums on micro-tonality, the Electronic Valve Instrument, ‘90s hip-hop and Detroit house music. Last year, he released the straight-ahead jazz album Live And Direct: Blue Harbor in August and the electronic, experimental All Things Brass and Technology in December.

On The Get Down 4 Real: Step Step Steppin’, Barrett makes subtle but effective use of effects pedals on his trumpet, including delay and wah wah. The album’s first single “The Get Down 4 Real” would make the J.B.’s proud. “The Clav Is In Order” conjures Stevie. “Step Step Steppin’” would be at home projecting out across a large jazz festival. “DSYWJ” starts from Bill Withers territory and extrapolates from there. “We Out No Doubt,” finds Barrett informed by hip hop sounds. The album features an incredible support cast: keyboardist Santiago Bosch (Donald Harrison, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Esperanza Spalding); Warren Pettey, who has performed at Newport Jazz Festival, on keys; guitar master Jeffrey Lockhart (Beyoncé, Dido); Clara Moser, who has been featured by Bass Musician Magazine, along with Youngchae Jeong and Paul Reinhold on bass; drummer Julian Miltenberger; and Judy Soberanes on percussion on “Flow Against the Flow.”

Bosch, Pettey, Jeong, Soberanes, and Miltenberger also join Barrett on dB-ish: The Path To Our Truth, with the title track set to be released June 11.

A professor at Berklee College of Music, Barrett credits are impeccable. He played on GRAMMY Award Esperanza Spalding’s GRAMMY Award-winning Radio Music Society. He’s studied with Donald Byrd and performed or recorded with Wayne Shorter, Kenny Garrett, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Elvin Jones, Jackie McLean, Herbie Hancock, Roy Hargrove Big Band, Common, will.i.am, Tabou Combo, D’Angelo, Queen Latifah, and Antonio Hart. He won a GRAMMY for playing on a recording with Esperanza Spalding. His first album as a leader, First One Up, which All Music called “vibrant,” came twenty-five years ago.

Darren Barrett is endorsed by Schilke Musical Instruments.

The Get Down 4 Real: Step Step Steppin’ Track Listing

The Get Down 4 Real
The Clav Is In Order
Flow Against the Flow
Step Step Steppin’
DSYWJ
We Out No Doubt

dB-ish: The Path To Our Truth Track Listing

The Path To Our Truth
Keep Your Ears Open
Walking In Driftwood
Follow Me In the Search Of
As We Seek For The Sun Together