Chris Barber
Encyclopedia
Donald Christopher 'Chris' Barber (born 17 April 1930, Welwyn Garden City
, Hertfordshire
, England
) is best known as a jazz trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz
hit he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson
, who was at one time his wife, and vocalist/banjo
ist Lonnie Donegan
, whose appearances with Barber triggered the skiffle
craze of the mid 1950s and who had his first transatlantic hit, "Rock Island Line", while with Chris Barber's band. His providing an audience for Donegan and, later, Alexis Korner
makes Barber a significant figure in the British rhythm and blues
and "Beat boom" of the 1960s.
father and headmistress mother, Barber was educated at St Paul's School in London
and the Guildhall School of Music.
(clarinet
) formed a band in 1953, calling it Ken Colyer
's Jazzmen to capitalise on their trumpeter's recent escapades in New Orleans: the group also included Donegan, Jim Bray (bass), Ron Bowden (drums) and Barber on trombone. The band played Dixieland
jazz, and later ragtime
, swing
, blues
and R&B
. Pat Halcox
took over on trumpet
in 1954 when Colyer moved on after musical differences and the band became "The Chris Barber Band".
In April 1953 the band made its debut in Copenhagen. There Chris Albertson
recorded several sides for the new Danish Storyville label, including some featuring only Sunshine, Donegan and Barber on double bass
.
In 1959 the band's version of Sidney Bechet
's "Petite Fleur
" spent twenty-four weeks in the UK Singles Chart
s, making it to #3 and selling over over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
. After 1959 he toured the United States
many times.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s Barber was mainly responsible for arranging the first UK tours of blues artists Big Bill Broonzy
, Sonny Terry
& Brownie McGhee
and Muddy Waters
. This, with the encouragement of local enthusiasts such as Alexis Korner
and John Mayall
, sparked young musicians such as Peter Green
, Eric Clapton
and The The Rolling Stones
. British rhythm and blues
powered the British invasion
of the USA charts in the 1960s, yet Dixieland itself remained popular: in January 1963 the British
music magazine, NME
reported the biggest trad jazz event in Britain
at Alexandra Palace
. It included George Melly
, Diz Disley
, Acker Bilk, Alex Welsh
, Kenny Ball
, Ken Colyer
, Sunshine, Bob Wallis
, Bruce Turner
, Mick Mulligan
and Barber.
Barber stunned traditionalists in 1964 by introducing blues guitarist
John Slaughter into the line up who, apart from a break between April 1978 and August 1986, when Roger Hill took over the spot, played in the band until shortly before his death in 2010. Barber next added a second clarinet/saxophone
and this line-up continued until 1999. Then Barber added fellow trombonist/arranger Bob Hunt and another clarinet and trumpet. This eleven-man "Big Chris Barber Band" offered a broader range of music while reserving a spot in the programme for the traditional six-man New Orleans line-up.
A recording of the Lennon/McCartney composition "Catswalk" can be heard, retitled "Cat Call", on The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away
. Written by Paul McCartney
the song was recorded in late July 1967 and released as a single in the UK on 20 October 1967.
and Harry Carney (48 years between 1926 and 1974). Tony Carter (reeds) also left the band at this time. Vic Pitt (double bass
) retired in January 2007 after 30 years with the band. His feature duet with the drummers of the day - "Big Noise From Winnetka" was not only a feature of the Barber concerts, but also his time with the Kenny Ball band immediately before.
At St. Luke's London, on 9 June 2007 Barber appeared in the horn section of Nick Lowe
's band during a concert. In 2008 Barber, along with Eric Clapton
and others, were involved in a new cooperative record company, Blues Legacy. On 23 July 2009, Barber, Bilk, and Ball played a one-off concert at Indigo2 at The O2 in Greenwich. The concert was presented by The British Music Experience. He performed at De Doelen
in Rotterdam
on 12 December 2010.
Welwyn Garden City
-Economy:Ever since its inception as garden city, Welwyn Garden City has attracted a strong commercial base with several designated employment areas. Among the companies trading in the town are:*Air Link Systems*Baxter*British Lead Mills*Carl Zeiss...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) is best known as a jazz trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz
Trad jazz
Trad jazz - short for "traditional jazz" - refers to the Dixieland and Ragtime jazz styles of the early 20th century in contrast to any more modern style....
hit he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson
Ottilie Patterson
Ottilie Patterson was a Northern Irish blues singer best known for her performances and recordings with the Chris Barber Jazz Band in the late 1950s and early 1960s.-Biography:...
, who was at one time his wife, and vocalist/banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
ist Lonnie Donegan
Lonnie Donegan
Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan MBE was a skiffle musician, with more than 20 UK Top 30 hits to his name. He is known as the "King of Skiffle" and is often cited as a large influence on the generation of British musicians who became famous in the 1960s...
, whose appearances with Barber triggered the skiffle
Skiffle
Skiffle is a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, roots and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, it became popular again in the UK in the 1950s, where it was mainly...
craze of the mid 1950s and who had his first transatlantic hit, "Rock Island Line", while with Chris Barber's band. His providing an audience for Donegan and, later, Alexis Korner
Alexis Korner
Alexis Korner was a blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a Founding Father of British Blues"...
makes Barber a significant figure in the British rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and "Beat boom" of the 1960s.
Early life
The son of a statisticianStatistician
A statistician is someone who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. The core of that work is to measure, interpret, and describe the world and human activity patterns within it...
father and headmistress mother, Barber was educated at St Paul's School in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and the Guildhall School of Music.
Music career (1950s and 1960s)
Barber and Monty SunshineMonty Sunshine
Monty Sunshine was an English jazz clarinetist, whose main claim to fame was his clarinet solo on the track "Petite Fleur", a million seller for the Chris Barber Jazz Band in 1959...
(clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
) formed a band in 1953, calling it Ken Colyer
Ken Colyer
Kenneth Colyer was a British jazz trumpeter and cornetist, devoted totally to New Orleans jazz. His band was also known for skiffle interludes.-Biography:...
's Jazzmen to capitalise on their trumpeter's recent escapades in New Orleans: the group also included Donegan, Jim Bray (bass), Ron Bowden (drums) and Barber on trombone. The band played Dixieland
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
jazz, and later ragtime
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
, swing
Swing (genre)
Swing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
. Pat Halcox
Pat Halcox
Patrick John 'Pat' Halcox , is a Jazz trumpet player in England.-Biography:Halcox was born in Chelsea, London. He has been the trumpet player in the Chris Barber Jazz Band since the band took that name on 31 May 1954...
took over on trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
in 1954 when Colyer moved on after musical differences and the band became "The Chris Barber Band".
In April 1953 the band made its debut in Copenhagen. There Chris Albertson
Chris Albertson
Christiern Gunnar Albertson is a New York City-based jazz journalist, writer and record producer.He was born in Reykjavík and educated in Iceland, Denmark and England before studying commercial art in Copenhagen...
recorded several sides for the new Danish Storyville label, including some featuring only Sunshine, Donegan and Barber on double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
.
In 1959 the band's version of Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.He was one of the first important soloists in jazz , and was perhaps the first notable jazz saxophonist...
's "Petite Fleur
Petite Fleur
Petite Fleur is a successful instrumental written by Sidney Bechet and recorded in January 1952 with the Sidney Bechet All Stars.In 1959 it was a big hit for Chris Barber's Jazz Band...
" spent twenty-four weeks in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
s, making it to #3 and selling over over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
. After 1959 he toured the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
many times.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s Barber was mainly responsible for arranging the first UK tours of blues artists Big Bill Broonzy
Big Bill Broonzy
Big Bill Broonzy was a prolific American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s when he played country blues to mostly black audiences. Through the ‘30s and ‘40s he successfully navigated a transition in style to a more urban blues sound popular with white audiences...
, Sonny Terry
Sonny Terry
Saunders Terrell, better known as Sonny Terry was a blind American Piedmont blues musician. He was widely known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers, and imitations of trains and fox hunts.-Career:Terry was born in Greensboro, Georgia...
& Brownie McGhee
Brownie McGhee
Walter Brown McGhee was a Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.-Life and career:...
and Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
. This, with the encouragement of local enthusiasts such as Alexis Korner
Alexis Korner
Alexis Korner was a blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a Founding Father of British Blues"...
and John Mayall
John Mayall
John Mayall, OBE is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years...
, sparked young musicians such as Peter Green
Peter Green (musician)
Peter Green is a British blues-rock guitarist and the founder of the band Fleetwood Mac...
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
and The The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
. British rhythm and blues
British rhythm and blues
British rhythm and blues developed as a major musical movement in the early 1960s in London and other urban centres in the UK as predominately young white male musicians attempted to emulate the style and recordings of African American rhythm and blues artists...
powered the British invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
of the USA charts in the 1960s, yet Dixieland itself remained popular: in January 1963 the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
music magazine, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
reported the biggest trad jazz event in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
at Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...
. It included George Melly
George Melly
Alan George Heywood Melly was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for The Observer and lectured on art history, with an emphasis on surrealism.-Early life and career:He was born in Liverpool and was educated at Stowe...
, Diz Disley
Diz Disley
Diz Disley was an Anglo-Canadian jazz guitarist and graphic designer. He is best known for his jazz guitar playing, strongly influenced by Django Reinhardt, and for his collaborations with the violinist Stéphane Grappelli....
, Acker Bilk, Alex Welsh
Alex Welsh
Alex Welsh was a Scottish jazz musician, who played the cornet, trumpet and sang.-Biography:Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Welsh started playing in the teenage 'Leith Silver Band' and gigged with Archie Semple's 'Capital Jazz Band'. After moving to London in the early 1950s, Welsh formed his own band...
, Kenny Ball
Kenny Ball
Kenny Ball is an English jazz musician, best known as the lead trumpet player in Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen.-Career:...
, Ken Colyer
Ken Colyer
Kenneth Colyer was a British jazz trumpeter and cornetist, devoted totally to New Orleans jazz. His band was also known for skiffle interludes.-Biography:...
, Sunshine, Bob Wallis
Bob Wallis
Robert 'Bob' Wallis was a British jazz musician, who had a handful of chart success in the early 1960s, during the UK traditional jazz boom.-Biography:...
, Bruce Turner
Bruce Turner
Bruce Turner was an English saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader.Born Malcolm Bruce Turner in Saltburn, he learned to play the clarinet as a schoolboy and began playing alto sax while serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II...
, Mick Mulligan
Mick Mulligan
Peter Sidney "Mick" Mulligan was an English jazz trumpeter and bandleader, best known for his presence on the trad jazz scene....
and Barber.
Barber stunned traditionalists in 1964 by introducing blues guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
John Slaughter into the line up who, apart from a break between April 1978 and August 1986, when Roger Hill took over the spot, played in the band until shortly before his death in 2010. Barber next added a second clarinet/saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
and this line-up continued until 1999. Then Barber added fellow trombonist/arranger Bob Hunt and another clarinet and trumpet. This eleven-man "Big Chris Barber Band" offered a broader range of music while reserving a spot in the programme for the traditional six-man New Orleans line-up.
A recording of the Lennon/McCartney composition "Catswalk" can be heard, retitled "Cat Call", on The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away
The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away
The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away was a conceptual compilation album containing the original artist recordings of songs composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the 1960s that they had elected not to release as Beatles songs...
. Written by Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
the song was recorded in late July 1967 and released as a single in the UK on 20 October 1967.
Recent work
The 2010 line up is; Gregor Beck (drums), Dave Green (double bass, January 2007), John Slaughter (guitar), Joe Farler (banjo & guitar), Chris Barber and Bob Hunt (after an 18 month break, rejoined January 2010) (trombones); Mike Henry and Pete Rudeforth (trumpets), Zoltan Sagi, David Horniblow and Richard Exall (clarinets and alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax). Pat Halcox, trumpeter with the Chris Barber Band since 31 May 1954, retired after playing his last gig with the Big Chris Barber Band on 16 July 2008. Halcox and Barber were together in the band for 54 years - the longest continuous partnership in the history of jazz, exceeding even that of Duke EllingtonDuke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
and Harry Carney (48 years between 1926 and 1974). Tony Carter (reeds) also left the band at this time. Vic Pitt (double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
) retired in January 2007 after 30 years with the band. His feature duet with the drummers of the day - "Big Noise From Winnetka" was not only a feature of the Barber concerts, but also his time with the Kenny Ball band immediately before.
At St. Luke's London, on 9 June 2007 Barber appeared in the horn section of Nick Lowe
Nick Lowe
Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...
's band during a concert. In 2008 Barber, along with Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
and others, were involved in a new cooperative record company, Blues Legacy. On 23 July 2009, Barber, Bilk, and Ball played a one-off concert at Indigo2 at The O2 in Greenwich. The concert was presented by The British Music Experience. He performed at De Doelen
De Doelen
270px|thumb|De DoelenDe Doelen is a concert venue and convention centre in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was originally built in 1934 but then destroyed in 1940 during the German bombardment of Rotterdam in May 1940 at the outset of World War II...
in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
on 12 December 2010.
Select discography
- Bestsellers: Chris Barber & Papa Blue's Viking Jazzband, 1954
- Original Copenhagen Concert, (live) 1954
- Chris Barber in Concert, (live) 1956
- Chris Barber Plays, Vol. 2, 1956
- Chris Barber Plays, Vol. 3, 1957
- Chris Barber Plays, Vol. 4, 1957
- Chris Barber in Concert, Vol. 2, (live) 1958
- "Petite FleurPetite FleurPetite Fleur is a successful instrumental written by Sidney Bechet and recorded in January 1952 with the Sidney Bechet All Stars.In 1959 it was a big hit for Chris Barber's Jazz Band...
", 1958 - In Budapest, 1962
- Louis Jordan Sings, 1962
- Live in East Berlin, 1968
- Chris Barber & Lonnie Donegan, 1973
- Echoes of Ellington, Vol. 1, 1976
- Echoes of Ellington, Vol. 2, 1976
- Echoes of Ellington, 1978
- Take Me Back to New Orleans, 1980
- Copulatin' Jazz: The Music of Preservation Hall, 1993
- Live at the BP Studienhaus, 1997
- Cornbread, Peas & Black Molasses, (live) 1999
- The Big Chris Barber Band with Special Guest Andy Fairweather Low: As We Like It, 2009
- Chris Barber's Jazz Band, Chris Barber 1957-58, 2009
- The Chris Barber Jazz & Blues Band, Barbican Blues, 2009
- The Big Chris Barber Band, Barber At Blenheim, 2009
- Chris Barber's Jazz Band with Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Sonny, Brownie & Chris, 2009
- Chris Barber Memories Of My Trip, 2011
External links
- Official website
- Chris Barber Facebook
- Chris Barber Myspace
- Chris Barber Twitter
- Chris Barber Youtube
- [ Chris Barber @ Allmusic]