PERFORMANCE TIME: 7 p.m. Friday, April 25
Although this year’s Tampa Bay Blueberry Festival is going to be chock full of Southern rock ‘n’ roll, Mark Barrios will be offering something a little different.
Barrios, a Tampa native, is bringing his brand of smooth jazz back to the festival for the first time in a few years. He typically performs at Keel and Curley Winery four or five times a year for the last three years.
He has played music professionally for more than 25 years, at times in other bands, and currently plays shows in support of his 2008 debut album, “West Tampa Style.” In addition to playing a number of shows at the winery, Barrios has played all around Florida — from a few appearances on Melbourne radio station WGRV-The Groove’s Wednesday night jazz series to performing at the Clearwater Jazz Holiday festival last October.
Although Barrios is primarily a smooth jazz artist, he does like to mix things up a bit. The guitarist also works in blues, contemporary Christian, funk and soul music, and incorporates a strong Latin influence into his work. He cites the legendary Carlos Santana as one of his biggest musical influences.
“The first time I heard Santana’s ‘Abraxas’ album on my best friend’s stereo, I knew what I wanted to do with my life,” Barrios says on his website.
The self-released “West Tampa Style” made it into the Top 50 chart on SmoothJazz.com and remained there for more than a a year. It currently is available on both iTunes and Amazon. Barrios also is working on a new album, which he hopes to release sometime in the next few months.
At the show, anyone unfamiliar with his work shouldn’t expect a set of strictly smooth jazz: Barrios plans to let his other styles come out, too.
“I like to start out with some smooth jazz from ‘West Tampa Style,’” he says. “As the show progresses, we like to get the crowd on the dance floor with some old-school, funky music, and I like to feature a few Santana songs.”
And, just like members of the audience, Barrios also is excited to have some off-stage fun at the festival.
“This year, I’m looking forward to experiencing all that the festival has to offer and enjoying all the varieties of wine, besides performing there,” Barrios says.