CLMF On Tour: Cooperstown Summer Music Festival

The joyous improvisation and swing of Eddie’s jazz quartet combine with the lush sound of the KASA Quartet to bring you the best of both worlds: an octet that may make you shout with joy or bring you to tears. From soulful American roots music to the vibrant rhythms of Mexico, France, and Brazil, this dynamic double quartet highlights the works of iconic composers such as Duke Ellington, Claude Debussy, and Roy Orbison, all united by a simple shared theme of timeless melody.

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.
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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.
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Eddie was born in West Islip, NY and was raised in Oaxaca, Mexico, Atlanta, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He lives in Nashville.

KASA Quartet, First Prize winner of the 2017 Coltman Chamber Music Competition, was founded in the summer of 2016 by Andy Liang, Aaron Schwartz, Stephanie Price-Wong and Kyle Price. KASA utilizes its fluency in multiple styles to curate fresh, innovative, genre-defying performances that harken the classical standard repertoire and fuse it with favorites of the jazz, musical theater, folk and pop standards. The quartet takes pride in creating and interpreting original arrangements and transcriptions of works by Jacob Collier, Marvin Hamlisch, George Gershwin among others. The ensemble has taught and performed as featured artists for the Ravinia Festival, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Austin Chamber Music Center, Second City Chamber Series, Miami Music Project, and Chamber Music Connection in addition to holding a residency each summer at the Caroga Lake Music Festival since its inception. KASA’s shared passion for bringing multiple genres together for their programming has attracted various audiences and presenters from different musical interests together for memorable performances and projects. KASA released its debut album in 2022, Forever Wild, Vol. 1 with each track featuring guest collaborations spanning a wide array of genres and styles.