Tom Barabas was a classical pianist in Budapest before moving (in 1950) to Venezuela, where he completed his composition studies (in 1957) and then (in 1966) in San Diego, California, where he distinguished himself as a jazz pianist and composer of the soundtracks for a famous television series.

From the mid-1980s he developed a grand piano style that assimilates jazz, Latin folklore, and electronics.

Sedona Suite (1992) is an eight-song cycle that underscores a sort of spiritual journey. The first songs are not languid elegies or heartbreaking serenades, but robust meditations/recollections at a relatively brisk pace: the powerful dialectics of More Than Words (against the backdrop of light orchestral counterpoint and soft drumming) leads to the fluent neoclassical language of the solo piano Free Spirit and to the folkish exuberance of Moon Dust. But the festive mood come vanishes in the major pieces that follow: the 12-minute four-part Sedone Suite, which opens with baroque flute and gamelan-like percussion, is a more personal statement, and the eight-minute Sonata In G Minor is not only subdued and plaintive, but also nostalgic. Earthscapes, with a background of shy strings, is not so much doleful as bewildered. The guitar intones the almost religious psalm of Inner Peace, another exception to a mostly piano-dominated album.

Barabas then recorded, among others, an album of Piano Impressions and a couple of collaborations with Dean Evanson.

Mosaic brings his style and manner to maturity, alternating exuberant fanfares such as Spring Fever, Summer Dreams and Dare To Dream, in which his Latin inspiration prevails, affectionate pop melodies like You're The End Of The Rainbow and Melodioso, with the support of the most melancholic trumpet, in which the tradition of the American musical triumphs, lively melodic variations on a Caribbean theme like Between The Lines, and above all classical-style romances like Midnight Affair and Timeless Spirit, melodic and romantic peaks of the work that exalt his Central European training.

Barabas especially boasts a great melodic talent which, when allowed to roam freely, can give rise to the most tender serenades.

Journey Back To Sedona (Soundings Of The Planet, 1996) opens with a series of variations on one of his most memorable melodies, Journey. Visions is another impeccable piano melody (this time enhanced with orchestral touches), while After The Rain and Moon Over Sedona repeat the trick of More Than Words (orchestra, drums). The sonata-like format of Sonata in G Minor is resumed in the lengthy Nuages. Kaleidoscope and Caressed by the Wind are melodic fantasies that accompany the piano improvisation with discrete electronics. There are a few moments of beauty, but this "return to Sedona" cannot boast the same unity and elegance of the first journey to Sedona.