Buskirk-Chumley goes top brass with Everyday Magic jazz band led by Rahsaan Barber

Something unusual — that would have been way too expensive — is coming to the Buskirk-Chumley Theater July 19. Something the Bloomington theater could never have afforded, according to new interim executive director Sara Laughlin.

"This jazz band (Everyday Magic) is spectacular," Laughlin said over the phone. And that's not because bandleader Rahsaan Barber, an Indiana University Jacobs School grad, taught Laughlin's son saxophone.

No, saxophonist Barber has been a nationally celebrated jazz artist for more than 15 years. He's also legendary in the Nashville, Tennessee, music scene.

Rahsaan Barber's success becomes our good fortune

Fortunately for Bloomington, Barber received a grant to perform, Laughlin said, and that's what has made it possible for his renowned sextet to play at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.

"(Barber's) normal fees would be way beyond our range," Laughlin said.

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All six band members are notable

Everyday Magic comprises well-known musicians: Rahsaan Barber, Roland Barber, Pharez Whitted, Kevin Beardsley, James Sexton and Matt Endahl.

"They are all spectacular musicians. We are very lucky to have them in Bloomington!"

Look, you have twins!

Trombonist Roland Barber, also an IU Jacobs alum, is Rashaad's twin brother.

Rahsaan Barber has frequently performed with bands in Bloomington in recent years, largely with the American funk rock group called Here Come the Mummies.

"But I haven't played on the (Buskirk-Chumley) stage since my twin brother and I opened for Christian McBride's band 20 years ago!" Rashaan Barber said in a press release.

Rahsaan Barber and Everyday Magic have performed throughout the U.S. since they released (2011) their debut album, "Everyday Magic." It was the first of three albums produced by Rahsaan Barber to win an “Editor’s Pick” by Downbeat magazine. The band’s 2022 schedule  included performances at the Nashville Jazz Workshop, the Jazz Kitchen (Indianapolis), Middle C Jazz Club (Charlotte, North Carolina), The City Winery (Nashville, Tennessee) and the Green Room at Crosstown (Memphis).

They have also played at numerous festivals throughout the South, and have been a featured ensemble for regional educational institutions, most recently as headliner of University of North Carolina-Wilmington’s 2018 JazzFest.

Roland Barber, equally cool twin

The twin Barber brother musicians began collaborating as children. Roland Barber has performed with Jazz at Lincoln Center, Stefon Harris, Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan.

New member is trumpeter Pharez Whitted

The newest member of Everyday Magic is trumpeter and educator Pharez Whitted, jazz director of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and known as one of the most powerful and productive trumpeters of his era. He also comes out of the Jacobs School (and out of Indianapolis). According to Whitted's website, when he was 9, he looked in the closet and discovered a trumpet. He inquired of his brother: How do you play a C major scale? That was that.

Rahsaan Barber's latest ventures

Rahsaan Barber, also a composer and bandleader, debuted in "Downbeat" magazine’s Critics’ Poll for Rising Star Tenor Saxophonists in 2013. He is now coveted as a bandleader, collaborator and educator and has recently played at Carnegie Hall, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center and The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, with musicians including Branford Marsalis, Tito Puente Jr., Brian Blade and Victor Wooten. In March, Rashaan Barber earned his doctoral degree (DMA) at the University of Memphis, while finishing his third year as assistant professor of jazz studies and saxophone at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Visit https://rjbsax.com/ to learn about "MOSAIC," Rahsaan Barber's double album of original music, available online and on CD.

If you go

WHAT: Saxophonist Rahsaan Barber and his Everyday Magic jazz band

WHEN: 7 p.m. July 19

WHERE: Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave.

TICKETS: $15-$20, available at the box office at 114 E. Kirkwood Ave., online at .buskirkchumley.org or call 812-323-3020.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington's Buskirk-Chumley goes top brass with Everyday Magic jazz