About
Chris Barber
CHRIS BARBER�S 50th ANNIVERSARY TOUR BEGINS TO TAKE SHAPEAccolades for an English musician don�t come more exotic than a description of Chris Barber as the �Bix Beiderbecke of British-style jazz� � this, from the pen of musicologist David Boulton back in 1958.
Not that this kind of plaudit about Barber is confined to the past, nor to the jazz world: for instance, this year�s UK Blues Guitarist of the Year, Stan Webb, told the BBC �My first thing I heard about anything to do with British blues? I loved Chris Barber, and have done to this day. He actually has graced the stage with me at the Marquee many years ago.� And staying in the world of blues, the recently published reference work Blues-Rock Explosion emphasises how �Chris Barber, Alexis Korner, Lonnie Donegan and Cyril Davies�..these were the real founding fathers of what became the British 1960s blues-rock explosion.�
Both of these quotes expose an obscured truth about Barber and his Jazz and Blues Band: namely, that without the man who next year celebrates 50 years as a pro band leader, not only would British trad jazz have taken many more years to evolve - but also the British blues and rock scene would not ... show more
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McPherson Playhouse
