Chris Barber's Jazz Band - Lonesome (single)

British trombonist Chris Barber is into his 65th year as a bandleader (in 2014), fronting the Big Chris Barber Band on a U.K. and European tour.

In 1953, along with clarinetist Monty Sunshine and vocalist and guitarist Lonnie Donegan, Barber joined forces with trumpeter Ken Colyer in Ken Colyer's Jazzmen. This group, minus Colyer, morphed a year later into Chris Barber's Jazz Band, one of the driving forces behind the "trad jazz" movement in the U.K.

Over the years blues became an important part of Barber's repertoire and the group evolved into the eight-member Chris Barber Blues and Jazz Band. In 2001 three more musicians were added to form the Big Chris Barber Band.

The one Barber record everyone remembers is Petite Fleur, featuring Sunshine's clarinet. This version of a Sidney Bechet composition was a worldwide hit in 1959. The followup single also dipped into the Bechet catalogue for Lonesome (Si Tu Vois Ma Mère [If You See My Mother]), again with Sunshine in the solo spotlight. The MP3 is taken from the original single.

Lonesome



There is a bewildering array of digital releases from Barber's catalogue, with almost all his recordings for Pye and Columbia in the U.K. being available in some form. If you can, sample any downloads before purchasing.

Here's a recording made shortly after the Chris Barber Jazz Band formed in 1953. The personnel is Barber, Sunshine, Donegan, Pat Halcox on trumpet, Jim Bray on bass and Ron Bowden, drums.

Chris Barber's Jazz Band - Wild Cat Blues

Chris Barber was the man who spearheaded the British trad jazz movement (its American equivalent was the revival of interest in Dixieland jazz), beginning in the late 1950s.

Barber's Jazz Band had a worldwide hit in 1958 with Petite Fleur, an update of a much earlier recording by clarinetist Sidney Bechet. The new recording spotlighted Monty Sunshine on clarinet.

On the flip side of Petite Fleur was Wild Cat Blues, a traditional jazz tune written by Clarence Williams and Fats Waller. Sunshine is again featured on clarinet, while Barber puts his normal instrument, the trombone, aside to play the upright bass. Lonnie Donegan, who was backed by the Barber band on his hit recording of Rock Island Line several years earlier, plays banjo. The MP3 is taken from vinyl.

Wild Cat Blues

A plethora of Chris Barber's recordings, including Petite Fleur and Wild Cat Blues, is available via downloads from numerous sources. Best bet on CD for Barber's classic recordings from 1956-58 is The Pye Jazz Anthology. It's out of print but copies are still available in the Amazon Marketplace and elsewhere.

From a Berlin concert in 2011, Barber and the band perform Wild Cat Blues. Barber begins on the upright bass, the instrument he played on the original recording, then switches to trombone. He was 81 years old when this concert took place.