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Donald Christopher 'Chris' Barber (born 17 April 1930, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England) is best known as a jazz trombonist.
Early lifeHe is the son of a statistician father and headmistress mother and was educated at St Paul's School, in London and the Guildhall School of Music.[1] Music careerBarber played trombone with Humphrey Lyttleton in 1949 and began leading his own bands in which he played trombone and double bass in 1950. Barber helped to create the careers of many diverse musicians, most notably the superb blues singer Ottilie Patterson - who was at one time, Mrs Barber. Others include vocalist and banjo player Lonnie Donegan who rose to his own fame during the skiffle music craze of the mid 1950s. He had his first transatlantic hit during his time in Chris Barber's band with the release of "Rock Island Line". In addition to Donegan, Barber also featured Pat Halcox on trumpet from 1954 onwards, once Ken Colyer had moved on after a difference of opinion as to the way the band should develop. The band formed in 1953 took Colyer's name as they thought that his recent spell in New Orleans would be an attraction, with Monty Sunshine on clarinet, Donegan, Jim Bray (Bass), Ron Bowden (drums) and Barber on trombone. In April, 1953, the band made its public debut in Copenhagen where it also recorded several sides for the then new Danish Storyville label. A trio from the band, Sunshine, Donegan and Barber (on bass) also recorded during that trip. Later, back in London, Sunshine and Barber recorded a version of Bechet's "Petite Fleur" that made it to #3 in the UK Singles Chart, spending a total of twenty four weeks therein. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[2] Although the Barber band featured traditional jazz in the New Orleans style, it later also engaged in Ragtime, Swing, Blues and R&B and worked with other artists including Louis Jordan and Dr. John. After 1959 he toured the United States many times. Almost in passing, in the late-1950s and early-1960s, Barber was mainly responsible for arranging the first UK tours of seminal blues artists such as Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee and Muddy Waters. This, along with encouragement from local enthusiasts such as Alexis Korner and John Mayall, sparked the interest of young local prospective musicians such as Peter Green, Eric Clapton and the members of the The Rolling Stones in the Blues and caused the British Blues explosion that in turn resulted in the British invasion exported back to the US in the middle to late sixties. Originally a six piece band, with a back line of drums, bass and banjo, and a front line of trombone, clarinet and trumpet, Barber stunned the traditionalists in 1964 by including blues guitarist, John Slaughter, into the line up. (apart from a break between April 1978 and August 1986, when Roger Hill took over the spot, John is still there). Barber then added a second clarinet/saxophone, making it an eight-piece band, and this continued right up until 1999. With a long time love of the Duke Ellington music, Barber added fellow trombonist and arranger Bob Hunt into the line up, along with another clarinet and trumpet. The band is now known as "The Big Chris Barber Band", boasting an eleven man line-up and a broad range of music, still catering for many tastes but also still having a spot in the concert programme for the original traditional, six man line-up. Also in the early 1960s a recording of the Lennon/McCartney composition "Catswalk" was made. It can be heard, retitled as "Cat Call", on the album The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away. This song was written by Paul McCartney and later given to The Chris Barber Band. The song was recorded in late July 1967 and released as a single in the UK on 20 October 1967. Recent timesThe current line up is John Sutton - drums; Dave Green double bass (January 2007); John Slaughter - guitar; Joe Farler - banjo & guitar, forming the rhythm section. Front line Chris Barber, Bob Hunt (after an 18 month break, rejoined January 2010) - trombones; Mike Henry, Pete Rudeforth - trumpets; Zoltan Sagi and Richard Exall - clarinets, alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax, plus another reedsman still to be confirmed, as Mike Snelling elected to leave at the end of 2009. Recent band members who have moved on: Pat Halcox, trumpeter with the Chris Barber Band since its formation on 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 Ellington and Harry Carney (48 years between 1926 and 1974).[3] Tony Carter (reeds) also left the band at this time.(www.chrisbarber.net) 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 Chris Barber concerts, but also his time with the Kenny Ball band immediately before. Many of the band's classic albums from the 1950s and 1960s can be found on the UK's Lake Records label. At St. Lukes 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, Acker Bilk, and Kenny Ball played a one-off concert at Indigo2 at The O2 in Greenwich. The concert was presented by The British Music Experience. Selected discography
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