Appearing at the Cheltenham Center for the Arts on Wednesday March 7th will be saxophonist George Barron and his band, featuring pianist Farid Barron, bassist Tyrone Brown, and drummer Alan Nelson.  George Barron is acclaimed for the warmth and high energy of his tenor and soprano saxophone playing. He has a driving, passionate sound that ranges from smooth to explosive. With influences like Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, it is no wonder that he impressed New York Times jazz critic John S. Wilson, who called him... "A very versatile and polished saxophonist." Nat Hentoff, noted jazz writer, went further to say that, "George Barron has never before been so commandingly, securely himself and yet so vital a part of the collective musical experience .... His fullness of sound, mastery of the whole instrument (both tenor and soprano) and rhythmic sweep should propel George Barron . . .into the front rank of contemporary saxophonists." Barron has been a featured soloist with bands led by Lonnie Liston Smith and Norman Connors. His warm lyrical tone can be heard on Smith's  Flying Dutchman recording "Astral Traveling" and he's also prominent on the subsequent album entitled Cosmic Funk. George's son Farid, is an award winning soloist who has performed with trumpeter Donald Byrd and with Wynton Marsalis' Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra for several years.