Pat LaBarbera is known internationally for his years on tour with the Buddy Rich Big Band, and Elvin Jones’ Jazz Machine. He also performed with the big bands of Count Basie, Woody Herman, and Louie Bellson. He has worked and recorded with musicians such as Chet Baker, McCoy Tyner and Dizzy Gillespie; performed at major international jazz festivals and jazz clubs; appeared in numerous radio and television shows and film documentaries; and recorded over 100 albums.
Pat is also an excellent and highly respected educator. He is much in demand as a national adjudicator and performed at several music festivals, and as a guest lecturer at many Canadian and American universities and colleges. A faculty member of Humber College in Toronto since 1976, Pat teaches advanced jazz improvisation and repertoire, leads various student jazz ensembles and instructs private woodwind students.
Rejoining Elvin Jones’ Jazz Machine in January 2001 for two years, Pat performed and toured North America, Britain, Europe, and Japan. Presently, he continues to write and perform with his own trio and quartet.
His ballads CD Deep In A Dream with Don Thompson, Neil Swainson and Joe LaBarbera featuring lesser-known jazz standards, received both Juno and Jazz Report awards for instrumental jazz in 2000. It is available from Radioland Records at all major record stores in Canada and from www. jazzpromo.com in the United States. His CD From The Heart with George Cables, Rufus Reid, and Joe LaBarbera, features original tunes by Pat and his brother Joe, and some standards. Produced by Justin Time Records, it is available at all major record stores in Canada. Pat’s latest CD crossing The Line was recorded at the Top O’The Senator jazz club in Toronto. It features Brian Dickinson, Neil Swainson, Joe LaBarbera, and special guest, Randy Breckr. It was released in October of 2005 by JazzCompass Records in Los Angeles and is available at jazzcompass.com.
“Pat has tremendous musical ability beyond technical facility. He has great power of concentration to detail and is totally committed with body and soul.” Elvin Jones