05/29/2026
🎷ARTIST AT LARGE ANNOUNCEMENT🎷
We couldn’t wait til tomorrow so as a little tease, we are so very excited and thrilled to announce that this year our artist at large will be the incredible Eddie Barbash! You may recognize him from playing with Jon Batiste, Cory Wong & Sierra Hull!
We’re excited to see what collaborations arise through the weekend! Eddie is an absolutely incredible player with a deep love of many styles of music including blues, jazz, old-time, irish and bluegrass! We just know there will be some magical sit ins!
Hailed by Jon Batiste as "one of the world’s most important saxophonists," Eddie Barbash was a founding member of the house band for the Late Show With Stephen Colbert and currently tours the world with Cory Wong and the Wongnotes. His unmistakable sound is featured on the Oscar and Grammy-winning soundtrack of Soul. He has performed at venues ranging from Carnegie Hall to Madison Square Garden to the Village Vanguard and has headlined both the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and the Umbria Jazz Festival. Barbash's versatile sound has led him to collaborate with musicians in many styles. At 18 he joined the sextet of legendary jazz drummer Chico Hamilton and the quintet of emerging jazz star Jon Batiste. In his 20's he fell in love with American traditional music and began touring with bluegrass phenom Sierra Hull. He's a frequent guest with funk band Vulfpeck and indie rocker Sam Evian. In 2016 he performed a duet on national TV with Yo-Yo Ma and in 2024 he performed the world premier of "Songs Of Nature," a concerto for saxophone and choir by Pulitzer Prize winning composer Paul Moravec.
Eddie has released 4 albums: "For Murray and Lillian", a collection of crooning melodies dedicated to his late grandparents, arranged by Kyle Athayde for an octet of four strings and jazz quartet; "Eddie Barbash Live Parts 1-4", a selection of the best performances of 6 years of leading bands in NYC; "Live With Jim, Joe, and Dave", a snapshot of one night of improvised music in Brooklyn, recorded directly to tape in one of the borough's hippest local haunts; and most recently "Larkspur", an album of classic fiddle tunes for solo saxophone.
Eddie was born in West Islip, NY and was raised in Oaxaca, Mexico, Atlanta, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He lives in Nashville.
Check his website for more information:
https://www.eddiebarbash.com/
Photo credit Alberto Vargas
