Barre Phillips
Encyclopedia
Barre Phillips is a jazz
and free improvisation
bassist
. A professional musician since 1960, he migrated to New York City in 1962, then to Europe in 1967. Since 1972 he has been based in southern France.
He studied briefly in 1959 with S. Charles Siani, Assistant Principal Bassist with the San Francisco Symphony
During the 1960s he recorded with (among others) Eric Dolphy
, Jimmy Giuffre
, Archie Shepp
, Attila Zoller
, Lee Konitz
and Marion Brown
.
Phillips' 1968 recording of solo bass improvisations, issued as Journal Violone in the USA, Unaccompanied Barre in England, and Basse Barre in France, is generally credited as the first solo bass record. A 1971 record with Dave Holland
, Music from Two Basses, was probably the first record of bass duets.
In the 1970s he was a member of the well-regarded and influential group The Trio with saxophonist John Surman
and drummer Stu Martin
. In the 1980s and 1990s he played regularly with the London Jazz Composers Orchestra led by fellow bassist Barry Guy
. In 1991 he worked with Ornette Coleman
on the soundtrack of the motion picture Naked Lunch
.
As a free improviser he has worked with (among many others) bassists Peter Kowald
and Joëlle Léandre
, guitarist Derek Bailey, clarinet
ists Theo Jörgensmann
and Aurélien Besnard, saxophonists Peter Brötzmann
, Evan Parker
and Joe Maneri
, and pianist Paul Bley
.
Barre is the father of rock guitarist Jay Crawford from the band Bomb, and of the bassist Dave Phillips.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and free improvisation
Free improvisation
Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right....
bassist
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...
. A professional musician since 1960, he migrated to New York City in 1962, then to Europe in 1967. Since 1972 he has been based in southern France.
He studied briefly in 1959 with S. Charles Siani, Assistant Principal Bassist with the San Francisco Symphony
During the 1960s he recorded with (among others) Eric Dolphy
Eric Dolphy
Eric Allan Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and bass clarinetist. On a few occasions he also played the clarinet and baritone saxophone. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the 1960s...
, Jimmy Giuffre
Jimmy Giuffre
James Peter Giuffre was an American jazz clarinet and saxophone player, composer and arranger. He is notable for his development of forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating forms of free improvisation.-Biography:Born in Dallas, Texas, of Italian ancestry,...
, Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
, Attila Zoller
Attila Zoller
Attila Cornelius Zoller was a Hungarian born Jazz guitarist. He won Deutscher Filmpreis for Beste Filmmusik in Germany for the film Das Brot der frühen Jahre in 1962.-Biography:...
, Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...
and Marion Brown
Marion Brown
Marion Brown was a jazz alto saxophonist and ethnomusicologist. He is most well known as a member of the 1960s avant-garde jazz scene in New York City, playing alongside musicians such as John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, and John Tchicai...
.
Phillips' 1968 recording of solo bass improvisations, issued as Journal Violone in the USA, Unaccompanied Barre in England, and Basse Barre in France, is generally credited as the first solo bass record. A 1971 record with Dave Holland
Dave Holland
Dave Holland is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for 40 years....
, Music from Two Basses, was probably the first record of bass duets.
In the 1970s he was a member of the well-regarded and influential group The Trio with saxophonist John Surman
John Surman
John Douglas Surman is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music as a basis...
and drummer Stu Martin
Stu Martin (drummer)
Stu Martin was an American jazz drummer.Martin began playing in 1956. He was appearing with the orchestras of Quincy Jones, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Slide Hampton, Maynard Ferguson and with Herbie Hancock...
. In the 1980s and 1990s he played regularly with the London Jazz Composers Orchestra led by fellow bassist Barry Guy
Barry Guy
Barry John Guy is a British composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras in the UK and Europe...
. In 1991 he worked with Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
on the soundtrack of the motion picture Naked Lunch
Naked Lunch
Naked Lunch is a novel by William S. Burroughs originally published in 1959. The book is structured as a series of loosely-connected vignettes. Burroughs stated that the chapters are intended to be read in any order...
.
As a free improviser he has worked with (among many others) bassists Peter Kowald
Peter Kowald
Peter Kowald was a German free jazz musician.A member of the Globe Unity Orchestra, and a touring double-bass player, Kowald collaborated with a large number of European free jazz and American free-jazz players during his career, including Peter Brötzmann, Irène Schweizer, Karl Berger, Fred...
and Joëlle Léandre
Joëlle Léandre
Joëlle Léandre is a double bassist, vocalist, and composer active in new music and free improvisation....
, guitarist Derek Bailey, 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...
ists Theo Jörgensmann
Theo Jörgensmann
Theodor Franz Jörgensmann is a jazz and free-improvising Basset clarinet player and composer. He has been a professional musician since 1975.-Activities:...
and Aurélien Besnard, saxophonists Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann is a German artist and free jazz saxophonist and clarinetist.Brötzmann is among the most important European free jazz musicians. His rough, lyrical timbre is easily recognized on his many recordings.-Early life:...
, Evan Parker
Evan Parker
Evan Shaw Parker is a British free-improvising saxophone player from the European free jazz scene.Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free jazz and free improvisation, and has pioneered or substantially expanded...
and Joe Maneri
Joe Maneri
Joseph Gabriel Esther "Joe" Maneri , was an American jazz composer, saxophone and clarinet player. Violinist Mat Maneri is his son....
, and pianist Paul Bley
Paul Bley
Paul Bley, CM is a pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing.-Biography:...
.
Barre is the father of rock guitarist Jay Crawford from the band Bomb, and of the bassist Dave Phillips.
Discography
- Attila Zoller Quartet: The Horizon Beyond, 1965
- GongGong (band)Gong is a Franco-British progressive/psychedelic rock band formed by Australian musician Daevid Allen. Their music has also been described as space rock. Other notable band members include Allan Holdsworth, Tim Blake, Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle, Gilli Smyth, Steve Hillage, Francis Moze, Mike Howlett...
: Magick BrotherMagick BrotherMagick Brother is the 1970 debut album from Gong, featuring Gilli Smyth and Daevid Allen. It has been rereleased on CD. It has also been listed as Magick Brother, Mystic Sister.- Track listing :Side one...
, 1969 - The Trio featuring John SurmanJohn SurmanJohn Douglas Surman is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music as a basis...
: The Dawn Sessions, 1970 - Music from Two BassesMusic from Two BassesMusic from Two Basses is an album by bassists David Holland and Barre Phillips recorded in 1971 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 5 stars stating "this historic date features the two British bassists engaged while at the top of their...
duets with David HollandDave HollandDave Holland is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for 40 years....
(ECM, 1971) - Terje RypdalTerje RypdalTerje Rypdal is a Norwegian guitarist and composer. Most of his music has been released on albums of the German record label ECM. Rypdal has collaborated both as a guitarist and as a composer with other ECM artists such as Ketil Bjørnstad and David Darling...
: What Comes AfterWhat Comes AfterWhat Comes After is the third album by Norwegian jazz guitarist Terje Rypdal recorded in 1973 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:The Allmusic review awarded the album 3 stars.-Track listing:# "Bend It" - 9:55# "Yearning" - 3:22...
(ECM, 1973) - For All It Is (JAPO RecordsJAPO RecordsJAPO Records was a West German record company that existed from 1970 until 1985, and produced 41 jazz fusion and improvised jazz records for international jazz artists - the majority of them European...
60003) ,1973 - MountainscapesMountainscapesMountainscapes is an album by American jazz bassist Barre Phillips recorded in 1976 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:The Allmusic review awarded the album 3 stars.-Track listing:# "Mountainscape I" - 5:54# "Mountainscape II" - 2:45...
(ECM, 1976) with John SurmanJohn SurmanJohn Douglas Surman is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music as a basis...
, John Abercrombie, Stu Martin - Three Day Moon (with Terje RypdalTerje RypdalTerje Rypdal is a Norwegian guitarist and composer. Most of his music has been released on albums of the German record label ECM. Rypdal has collaborated both as a guitarist and as a composer with other ECM artists such as Ketil Bjørnstad and David Darling...
, Dieter Feichtner und Trilok Gurtu), 1978 - Journal Violone II (with Aina Kemanis und John Surman), 1979
- Call Me When You Get There, 1984
- Naxos (with Jean-Marc Montera und Claudia Phillips), 1987
- Camouflage (Victo, 1989) solo
- Aquarian Rain (with Alain Joule), 1991
- No Pieces (with Michel Doneda Alain Joule), 1992
- Time Will TellTime Will Tell (Paul Bley album)Time Will Tell is an album by pianist Paul Bley, bassist Barre Phillips, and saxophonist Evan Parker recorded in 1994 and released on the ECM label in 1995.-Reception:...
with Paul BleyPaul BleyPaul Bley, CM is a pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing.-Biography:...
and Evan ParkerEvan ParkerEvan Shaw Parker is a British free-improvising saxophone player from the European free jazz scene.Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free jazz and free improvisation, and has pioneered or substantially expanded...
(ECM, 1994) - Etchings in the Air (with Haino Keiji), 1996
- Uzu (PSF, 1997) with Motoharu YoshizawaMotoharu YoshizawaMotoharu Yoshizawa was an influential Japanese bassist known for playing in a distinctive free jazz and free improvisation style, sometimes deploying electronics and using the unusual self-designed five-string bass he referred to as the "Tiritack".Yoshizawa collaborated with innumerable musicians...
- Trignition (with Bertram Turetzky und Vinny GoliaVinny GoliaVinny Golia is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist specializing in woodwind instruments. He performs in the genres of contemporary music, jazz, free jazz, and free improvisation....
), 1998 - Jazzd'aià (with Serge Pesce und Jean Luc Danna), 1998
- Joe ManeriJoe ManeriJoseph Gabriel Esther "Joe" Maneri , was an American jazz composer, saxophone and clarinet player. Violinist Mat Maneri is his son....
: Tales of RohnliefTales of RohnliefTales of Rohnlief is an album by American composer, saxophonist and clarinet player Joe Maneri with bassist Barre Phillips and violinist Mat Maneri recorded in 1998 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:...
(ECM, 1998) - Play 'Em as They Fall, with Emai Kazuo, 1999
- Sankt GeroldSankt Gerold (album)Sankt Gerold is an album by pianist Paul Bley, bassist Barre Phillips, and saxophonist Evan Parker recorded in 1996 and released on the ECM label in 2000.-Reception:...
with Paul Bley and Evan Parker (ECM, 2000) - Journal Violone 9 (Emouvance, 2001) solo
- After You've Gone (Victo, 2004) with Tetsu Saitoh, William ParkerWilliam Parker (musician)William Parker is an American free jazz double bassist, poet and composer.-Biography:Parker was not formally trained as a classical player, though he did study with Jimmy Garrison, Richard Davis, and Wilbur Ware and learned the tradition. Parker is one of few jazz bassists who regularly plays arco...
, Joëlle LéandreJoëlle LéandreJoëlle Léandre is a double bassist, vocalist, and composer active in new music and free improvisation....
; Peter KowaldPeter KowaldPeter Kowald was a German free jazz musician.A member of the Globe Unity Orchestra, and a touring double-bass player, Kowald collaborated with a large number of European free jazz and American free-jazz players during his career, including Peter Brötzmann, Irène Schweizer, Karl Berger, Fred... - The rock on the hill (nato, 2011) trio with Lol CoxhillLol CoxhillLowen Coxhill, generally known as Lol Coxhill is a free improvising saxophonist and raconteur...
and JT Bates