Composer, educator, and percussionist Thurman Barker just released his eighth album, Beyond the Curve, on his own record label, Uptee Records. This release, recorded live in New York City in 2012, marks the fourth album by his band Time Factor featuring Guitarist James Emery, Bassist Jerome Harris, and Rob Schwimmer on piano and theremin. The music, which spans across the many genres upon which Barker has left his indelible impression during his 60 years as a professional musician, explores imaginative and compelling works in jazz, funk, blues, and the avant-garde. 

Though a virtuosic shapeshifter of musical styles who has toured the world with celebrated artists for decades, Barker in person is one of the most genuine, thoughtful, and kind human beings you’ll ever meet. His quaint home in Jeffersonville is quite a departure from the South Side of Chicago, where Barker, who just celebrated his 78th birthday, grew up and began his musical craft. 

“Chicago has a special place in my heart,” said Barker, “because of its history, where it lies in the country, and it was important to the music scene, and I was part of that music scene from the early 1960s through 1978.” 

As a young musician, Barker thrived in Chicago’s eclectic music scene, establishing his singular sound that eventually helped him land the gig as house drummer of Schubert Theatre. 

“Chicago really sustained me musically, and I met some really innovative musicians and I surrounded myself with colleagues that were older than I and already had their mind set on what they wanted to do,” he said. 

It was here that Barker joined forces with other forward-thinking musicians like Muhal Richard Abrams to found the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), a nonprofit organization devoted to creating serious, original music. 

Barker was performing regularly with AACM when the great drummers of the era would come through Chicago on tour and hear him play. 

“And I never will forget,” Barker recalled, “[Drummer] Billy Hart said, ‘Man, you sound good, you need to come to New York!’ And I said, ‘Really?’ So that gave me confidence.” 

Jack Dejohnette was another drumming heavyweight that saw young Barker perform in Chicago, and he advised him that, in order to be successful in the music business, he had to make records.

After hearing this advice, Barker, who desired to be among the best, felt that he had outgrown Chicago and set his sights on the promised land of jazz: New York City.

“I knew that there were a lot of great people in New York,” reflected Barker, “but what’s going to establish you and make you different from all the other drummers? You got to make your own music and start writing compositions.” 

In 1978 Barker moved to Yonkers, New York and began writing the music for his debut album, Voyage. He went to City Hall and officially established Uptee Records. It was now time to put together a band.

“[Guitarist] James Emery was my first choice because we had been working together with Anthony Braxton, and also because he added the cutting edge that I needed for avant-garde,” said Barker. 

Emery suggested Rob Schwimmer, “an outstanding pianist” who brought a more traditional sound. Barker rounded out his quartet with Bassist Jerome Harris based on Harris’s tenure in Sonny Rollins’ band and his talent for playing funk and blues. Voyage was released in 1986, and this week, Time Factor’s fourth album hits the shelves (available at upteeproductions.com).

Beyond the Curve came about after Barker was listening to old recordings and came across this performance recorded live at the Community Church of New York. 

“I said, ‘Wow, this piece I wrote signifies exactly what I’m after;’ and that is making music without constant tempo.” 

Barker also realized that the recording represented Time Factor at the height of its virility. “I realized this is the best the quartet has ever played,” said Barker. It also includes the missing piece to a composition entitled “South Side Suite.” What was missing? The blues. 

The album kicks off with “Wahtiki Way,” a drum solo that explores the deep connections between African Rhythms and American Jazz. The titular track, “Beyond the Curve,” then explodes into a highly-accented fusion romp featuring Emery playing the angular melody in unison with Schwimmer, who fills the spaces with beautiful piano glissandos; Emery then launches into a blistering chromatic solo that exudes frenetic splashes of the avant-garde. “South Side Suite 2nd and 3rd Movement,” which lasts over 20 minutes, is a through-composed adventure of straight-8’s jazz and funk interspersed with sections of colorful space and free playing; these open sections give way to a haunting theremin melody that shrouds the mood in mystery and then drops into a funky blues. 

“Time Factor” follows the suite with an epic mixed-meter jazz fusion, and “Obsession” offers the most traditional jazz swing tune of the album. “Too Late for Tears” refreshes the ears with somber and reflective beauty as the musicians outline the cascading ascensions and descensions of its evocative melody. 

The album ends with “Frenzied,” a drum solo that highlights endless variations in syncopation between Barker’s snare drum and high-hat.

A rolling stone gathers no moss, and fresh off a tour with saxophonist Ricki Ford, Thurman Barker is preparing for a trip to his old stomping grounds.

“I’m off to Chicago next week,” said Barker, who will premiere his score for chamber orchestra, “South Side Suite” at DePaul University in early February. 

“This is the first concert where ‘South Side Suite’ is complete because I do have a blues in it this time. The music is not complete until the blues is there, especially if I’m depicting what I grew up hearing in Chicago, so for the first time, it’s being premiered in its entirety. And when I come back, I’m starting to compose my first attempt at a string quartet.”