Sam Barsh, Keyon Harrold, & Mark Guiliana

Straight08
Release Date: June 19, 2026
Label: La Reserve

Seldom has a more star-studded and critically acclaimed collaboration set foot in a studio than the likes of keyboardist Sam Barsh, trumpeter Keyon Harrold, and drummer Mark Guiliana. With a camaraderie dating back to their university days and individual multi-platinum discographies of over 400 releases - including Barsh's performance and songwriting credits on cultural phenom albums such as Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly, Anderson .Paak's Malibu, and Kanye West's Donda - the trifecta of Barsh, Harrold, and Guiliana make a highly sought-after reunion with Straight08. Blending straight-ahead jazz with the 808-sound and a core emphasis on collective improvisation, Straight08 bridges traditions and contemporary sound with striking clarity.

The earliest iteration of Straight08 dates back to Barsh and Guiliana's collegiate days at William Paterson University. They, along with guitarist Dan Hindman, were the band The Corrugation - a heavily groove-centered outfit with plentiful improvisation. Shortly after graduation, they were joined by Keyon Harrold at a live gig in New Jersey in which Harrold sat in as a special guest. Barsh, Guiliana, Hindman and Harrold continued developing their separate careers, and would, from time to time, cross paths professionally. Barsh remarks that when he would run into Harrold, Keyon would often mention that they needed to do a Corrugation reunion.

Years later, toward the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Barsh and Guiliana had been well established in the Los Angeles music scene when Harrold moved to the city. True to his intentions, Harrold again mentioned that a Corrugation reunion performance was a necessity, and Barsh and Guiliana began to take it seriously with their newfound proximity. Barsh made good on the opportunity and, with Hindman based in Oregon and unable to be present, booked the band as a trio of trumpet, keyboard and drums at Barsh's regular Tuesday night residency at Shoo Shoo Baby in downtown LA.

The concert was a massive success. The trio had no rehearsal beforehand. They simply picked a few jazz standards and planned on improvising the rest. The show, although only announced less than a week prior to the performance, was, as Barsh describes, “absolutely mobbed.” he continues: “From the first note we played, the vibe was undeniable; it felt like non-verbal communication of the highest order.” Spectators who were fortunate enough to count themselves in the audience that night would continue to approach the band members on separate occasions for over a year after the fact and tell them, excitedly, that they were there that night, and would express their enthusiasm for more.

Following that night, the trio set up a recording date with Shawn Baltazor at Skylight Studios in Long Beach and in an Earth-shattering four hours on August 22nd, 2023, Straight08 was born. The plan was to each bring a few originals, pay apt homage with a few jazz standards, and - true to the band's character - improvise the rest. “Out of the eleven tracks on the album,” Barsh says, “six are totally improvised, and one is all improvised until Keyon quotes the melody to “Green Chimneys” at the end of it, so we called it a reprise.”

The album's title, Straight08, is in itself an elevator pitch summary of the band's concept: a fusion of straight-ahead (give or take some contemporary liberties) jazz with 808 bass. The name, when said aloud, is a play on words for “808,” a term which is synonymous with the deep, hard-hitting sound used for bass and/or kick drum within the R&B, hip hop, and dance worlds. The term “808” is rooted in the Roland TR-808, an iconic drum machine, that has since been emulated and reimagined with countless sonic variations. Barsh explains that the bass sounds used on this project are primarily an amalgamation of 808s that he customized specifically for live performances across multiple settings.

The trio has emphasized that this music is, and cannot be separated from, jazz. This is recognized saliently on the album's first single, which is none other than the band's take on the beloved Freddie Hubbard standard, “Little Sunflower.”

The two other singles for Straight08 are “Todd 4” and “The Earl of Essex County.” The former is an original composed by Harrold, while the latter is one of the band's completely collectively improvised pieces. Between these two tracks and “Little Sunflower,” a listener is presented with a comprehensive summary of the ensemble's personality and style in hearing how they approach standards, originals, and totally uncharted territory. And, above that, each of these tracks are addictively grooving. As Barsh says, “They hit hard from the beginning, which is good when you're trying to get people's attention.”

From start to finish, Straight08 is a compelling statement that underscores why Barsh, Harrold, and Guiliana remain such sought-after collaborators. Each artist is a master in their own right, but it is their shared language and instinctive interplay that elevate the music beyond expectation. With Straight08, the trio has created what is sure to be a cornerstone favorite for decades to come.

BURAK SÜLÜBAZ
DARK BLUE NOTES
"Sam Barsh, who is breathing in the hip-hop ecosystem, teams up with Mark Guiliana—a beat wizard who masters every musical genre from acoustic to electronic with his raw, fiery style—to create one of the “coolest” examples of the urban contemporary genre with their album Straight08. The retro-style cover photo evokes the mixtape aesthetic of hip-hop. It’s a concept you’ll also thoroughly enjoy listening to live." Read the full review in Turkish here.