Richard Barbieri (born 30 November 1957, in
London, England) is the current keyboardist for British progressive rock band, Porcupine Tree.
Biography
Barbieri started his musical career with the group Japan in 1976. Within a year the band was signed to the Hansa/Ariola
label and began work on a debut album, which received severe criticism from the
UK music press on its release. Although
initially perceived as a "hyped" band, Japan went on to record five studio albums culminating in
the groundbreaking Tin Drum which stayed in the UK Albums Chart for a year. The
painstaking approach to synthesiser programming by Richard Barbieri and David Sylvian and the original rhythmic patterns of Steve Jansen and
Mick Karn produced a sound that remains original to this day. They were the one of the most
successful chart bands in Europe and Asia in 1982 despite the increasingly experimental nature of
their music. The band split up at the height of their popularity after a world tour that year.
Beginning in 1983-84 Barbieri has regularly contributed his unique soundscapes and synth textures to David Sylvian's solo
albums, working alongside such innovators as Holger Czukay, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Robert Fripp. Soon after, he started a long
musical association with Steve Jansen, which has produced six collaborative albums to date, initially under the name
The Dolphin Brothers (Catch the Fall, 1987) and later as Jansen &
Barbieri (including Stories Without Borders, 1993,Other Worlds in a Small Room, 1996, and Stone to Flesh,
1997).
The band members reunited in 1989 under the name Rain Tree
Crow, without guitarist Rob Dean, to release just one album for Virgin. The album charted and brought critical acclaim. Again the group parted company shortly
afterwards.
Barbieri formed the Medium Productions label in 1993
with Jansen and Karn, with the objective being to enable the artists to create music and collaborate with fellow musicians on
projects, without record company interference and restriction. They kicked off the label with the Jansen/Barbieri/Karn (sometimes
abbreviated to JBK) release entitled Beginning to Melt. Thirteen diverse albums were released during a ten-year period;
Jansen and Barbieri's collaboration with DJ Takemura on the album Changing Hands being one of the highlights.
During this period Barbieri also made two other collaborative albums, one with his wife Suzanne J Barbieri under the name Indigo Falls, and one
with Tim Bowness from the band No-Man titled
Flame.
Also in 1993 Barbieri joined the progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. Six studio albums and many tours later, they are enjoying chart success around
Europe with sales of over 120,000 for their album In
Absentia. The following studio album Deadwing entered the American
Billboard chart on its first week of release. With the latest Porcupine Tree
release Fear Of A Blank Planet, the band are enjoying even greater levels
of success, with a top 40 entry in the UK album chart. Increased radio airtime and favourable mainstream magazine reviews and
interviews are further increasing public knowledge of the band.
Aside from recording and touring, Barbieri has written articles on analogue synthesis for various publications; composed music
for film; programs for music software and synthesiser manufacturers. He regularly guests with The
Bays, an electronic improvisational group. Recent highlights include two Radio One
sessions for the late John Peel and concerts at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Brighton Dome.
In 2005 he released his debut solo album Things Buried. Although he has made many albums as part of a group, trio or
duo, surprisingly this is his first solo work. The instrumental album also features the distinctive performances of Andy
Gangadeen on acoustic and electronic drums, and Percy Jones on fretless bass.
External link
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