Higher, the bandleader’s first new recording in six years, merges jazz harmonies and rhythms with classical art song and erudite poetry, and features “Angels, Birds And I ...”—an ambitious song cycle— alongside a few jazz standards.

“I was so gratified by the reaction to this record. I have gotten personal letters from composers, conductors and musicians all over the world, and I do think it gives jazz a larger harmonic palette,” Barber said recently. READ COMPLETE ARTICLE