Chris Barber
Trombonist and bandleader Chris Barber spearheaded the Anglo-European trad jazz movement during the late '50s and early '60s and devoted 60 years to the endless celebration of old-fashioned music. Barber initially broke through in the '50s releasing albums like 1954's New Orleans Joys, which spawned the Lonnie Donegan skiffle classic "Rock Island Line. He also scored a Top 20 U.K. hit in 1959 with "Petite Fleur," a cover of the Sydney Bechet song featuring clarinetist Monty Sunshine. But that's only part of his story. Even as he presided over that transatlantic response to the Dixieland revival, Barber went out of his way to make music with U.S. blues legends Big Bill Broonzy, Brother John Sellers, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Otis Spann, Muddy Waters, James Cotton, and Sonny Boy Williamson II. This cross-pollination dramatically affected the lives and careers of budding British rockers such as the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Eric Burdon, Jimmy Page, and John Mayall.
Donald Christopher "Chris" Barber was born on April 17, 1930, in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, just north of London, England. After studying double bass and trombone at London's Guildhall School of Music, he assembled the King Oliver-inspired Barber New Orleans Band in 1949. In 1953 he co-founded a group called the Jazzmen with Ken Colyer, a cornetist who had just returned from New Orleans where he had worked with clarinetist George Lewis. In 1954 the group was rechristened Chris Barber's Jazz Band. Trumpeter Pat Halcox had begun what would amount to a 59-year commitment, banjoist/guitarist Lonnie Donegan now sang songs from the jazz, blues, and folk traditions, and Barber sometimes performed on the string bass while Beryl Bryden stroked a washboard.
Donegan and Barber are credited with having ignited the mid-'50s U.K. skiffle movement with a 1955 cover of Leadbelly's "Rock Island Line" that went gold on both sides of the Atlantic. Another of the band's chart-topping hits was its interpretation of Sidney Bechet's "Petite Fleur," a feature for clarinetist Monty Sunshine that led to the eventual rise of pop instrumentalist Acker Bilk. The year 1955 also saw the arrival of Barber's future wife, vocalist Ottilie Patterson, a blues-based performer who sang duets with Sister Rosetta Tharpe when the gospel/swing star sat in with the band in 1957. Barber's often surprisingly diverse lineup also included Jamaican saxophonists Joe Harriott and Bertie King.
In 1959 Barber went cinematic by generating music for Look Back in Anger, a film noir exercise in kitchen sink realism directed by Tony Richardson and starring Richard Burton as a violently misogynistic, emotionally disturbed confection peddler and part-time Dixieland trumpeter (dubbed by Pat Halcox). Barber made the first of many U.S. tours in 1959, bringing out of the woodwork African-American jazz veterans like pianist Hank Duncan, clarinetist Edmond Hall, trumpeter Sidney DeParis, and rhythm & blues pioneer singer/saxophonist Louis Jordan. Barber's 1960s discography includes air shots from the BBC radio archives and live recordings made in Budapest and East Berlin, with gospel and folk material enriching the already fertile ground of the band's repertoire.
As the years passed, a gradually renamed Chris Barber's Jazz & Blues Band regularly employed blues and rock musicians, blurring the artificially imposed delineations between genres while offering music that was accessible to a wide range of listeners. In 1964, he brought on board blues guitarist John Slaughter as a full-time member. He also recorded a 1972 album with guitarist Rory Gallagher, Drat That Fratle Rat. Barber spent a lot of time performing in Europe during the 1970s, and after the passing of Duke Ellington deliberately sought out some of Duke's key soloists in organist Wild Bill Davis, saxophonist Russell Procope, and singer/trumpeter/violinist Ray Nance.
Throughout the 1980s Barber stayed faithful to his traditional and progressive instincts by teaming up with Louisiana singer, philosopher, and keyboardist Dr. John. Originally from backgrounds as different as could be, the two made several records together, including 1990's On a Mardi Gras Day, and toured a show called Take Me Back to New Orleans. The 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century found Barber carrying the torch of trad jazz into his sixth decade of creative professional activity, often expanding his group to include 11 players while consistently delivering music of unpretentious warmth and historic depth. Barber suffered from dementia in his later years and retired from performing in 2019. He died on March 2, 2021 at the age of 90.
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Twenty-One Chris Barber Classics
Jazz - Released by Twenty-One Classics on 12 Nov 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
40 Years Jubilee at the Operahouse Nürnberg
Jazz - Released by Timeless Records on 1 Jan 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Entertainer
Jazz - Released by Reminisce Music on 17 Mar 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stevedore Stomp
Pop - Released by Vintage Vinyl Records on 10 Jun 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Take Me Back to New Orleans
Chris Barber, Das Große Rundfunkorchester Berlin
Dixieland - Released by Bell Records on 18 Oct 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chris Barber with Zenith Hot Stompers
Chris Barber, Zenith Hot Stompers
Jazz - Released by Timeless Records on 23 Sep 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chris Barber & the Clarinet Kings
Chris Barber, The Clarinet Kings
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Lake Records on 15 Oct 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
At The London Palladium
Jazz - Released by CoolNote on 25 Dec 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Down by the riverside
Dixieland - Released by Bamboodi on 10 Dec 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz After Midnight
Jazz - Released by Silver Classics Jazz on 16 Jun 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vintage Jazz Nº 71 - EPs Collectors, "At The Royal Festival Hall"
Jazz - Released by Vintage Music on 24 Jun 1956
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Best Of Chris Barber (Digitally Re-mastered)
Jazz - Released by CGH Ventures Inc. on 16 Mar 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Chris, Kenny & Mr. Acker
Chris Barber's Jazz Band, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Acker Bilk
Jazz - Released by Firefly Entertainment on 17 Dec 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Acker Bilk and His Jazz Friends
Chris Barber, Kenny Ball, Acker Bilk
Dixieland - Released by Jazz City Records on 1 Nov 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chris Barber & His New Orleans Friends
Jazz - Released by Timeless Records on 23 Sep 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Under the Influence of Jazz
The London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble, Chris Barber
Jazz - Released by Timeless Records on 3 Oct 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz Sessions Vol. 2
Chris Barber, Kenny Ball, Acker Bilk
Jazz - Released by Synergie OMP on 16 Sep 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Outstanding Album
Jazz - Released by Bell Music on 20 Sep 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Chris Barber's Blues Book, Vol. 1
Jazz - Released by CoolNote on 25 Dec 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo