Take Me Back To New Orleans is a double-CD re-issue of a previous LP and CDs of the Chris Barber Band in concert with the Grosses Rundfunkorchester Berlin, recorded in 1986, and issued under the title, New Orleans Symphony. It was the outcome of a collaboration between Chris Barber and composer Richard Hill, with the aim of combining a jazz band and a classical music orchestra in a single performance – a collaboration which was remarkably successful, as both the music and playing on this CD are of a very high standard.

The original LP was released on the Jazz Zounds label, which also issued the first CD of the concert. Another re-issue came from Timeless Records, so this Bell Records edition is the third to appear, although the title has been changed for the current release.

Unfortunately, the CD is not listed in the Bell Records on-line catalogue (www.bellmusik.de), but it is readily available from Amazon, and possibly on eBay, so Chris Barber fans should have little trouble acquiring this new release should they wish to do so.

Music: Blues (Largo) || Immigration Blues || Ragtime || South Rampart Street Parade || Stomp

Ed Jackson, November 2011

This new CD covers almost a complete concert of the present Big Chris Barber Band (What'cha Gonna Do and All Blues are missing). However, not all the recordings are from a single concert: all the recordings were made in January and February 2011 in England, Scotland and Germany. Rebecca Evans, the band's sound engineer, mixed and put together the best ones from several concerts for the CD, supported by the band's banjo player Joe Farler, known as a technical wizard. The sound quality of the live recordings is great.

The CD features the new faces among the band:

• David Horniblow, clarinet & saxes, since March 2010.
• Jackie Flavelle, bass/bass guitar, who joined the band in August 2010, but was formerly on tour with Chris Barber from 1967 to 1977.
• Amy Roberts, saxophone and clarinet - the outstanding young talent joined the forces of the Big Chris Barber Band in January 2011.
• Gregor Beck, drums, started in April 2010 with the band.

Regular listeners to the band will be happy to have a CD that covers the most recent line-up of the Big Chris Barber Band. Different from previous recordings is Chris's singing on Precious Lord, Lead Me On and the current version of Ice Cream, with the singing of Peter Rudeforth and Chris Barber. And of course, I personally miss one musician: blues guitarist John Slaughter, who died much too young in 2010. His blues parts have been taken over by others, for example by Chris Barber on trombone on Black & Tan Fantasy.

Andreas Wandfluh, November 2011

This new compact disc from Lake Records fills in some important gaps in the Chris Barber Band’s recording history, notably between 1961 and 1965. While it is true that full LP recordings continued to be issued during this period, it appears that by the early 1960s the relationship with Denis Preston’s Lansdowne Studios was over, and that recordings from this time were issued independently and more sporadically, on singles and EPs, and some not at all, at least until several years later.

Thus, the tracks on There Were Some Changes Made come from a variety of sources, including selections from an LP that was only available from the World Record Club (e.g., Weary Blues, Black & Tan Fantasy), and later re-issues on compilation LPs (for example, there are several tracks that appeared on a much later Black Lion LP, Chris Barber Special. Finally, others have never before been released (e.g., Georgia Swing, and a novel version of Shout ‘Em Aunt Tillie, on the latter of which Chris plays a muted solo in a way which I have never heard in any earlier or later recordings).

One of the outstanding characteristics of this CD is the very high standard of studio recording, which lends a tight-knot sound to the band, yet leaves space for the listener to hear and concentrate on each of the specific musicians in what was then a six-piece outfit (the CD does not include any vocals by Ottilie Patterson, the seventh member of the band). The other outstanding characteristic of the band is its easy, relaxed manner of playing, due no doubt to the fact that, apart from Ian Wheeler (who seemed to “fit in” from his first day with the band in 1961), there had been no personnel changes since Graham Burbidge joined the band for the first Sister Rosetta Tharpe tour at the end of 1957.

In sum, There Were Some Changes Made is an excellent and welcome addition to the available catalogue and one which many Barber fans will greatly enjoy listening to.

For more information about this period in the Barber Band’s development, go to Chris Barber's Jazz Band with Otttilie Patterson, 1961 to 1964.

Ed Jackson, October 28, 2011

Like the two CD-sets shown immediately below, and particularly Hits From The Golden Era Of Traditional Jazz, this new double-CD, Chris Barber Greatest Hits, is a compilation of forty tracks spanning the Chris Barber Band's earliest recordings in 1954 to those of the mid- to late-1950s. The tracks are drawn from LP and EP records originally published on several labels, including Decca, Pye/Nixa, and Columbia. As such they provide a comprehensive -- if conventional for this sort of compilation -- selection of tracks from roughly the first five years of the band's existence, with a couple of additional "hidden gems" that do not always make it on to compilations of this kind -- for example, Hot House Rag, I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair, and Camp Meeting Blues. As in the case of Hits From The Golden Era Of Traditional Jazz, my assessment is that the current double-CD provides an excellent introductory compilation of the Barber Band's catalogue in the 1950s but that there is little here to appeal to serious collectors of Chris's older recorded output, who most likely have the majority, if not all, of the tracks already in their collections.

Ed Jackson, September 2011

Chris Barber' Jazz Band, High Society and Hits From The Golden Era Of Traditional Jazz (compilation CDs probably released in 2011: the CD data does not provide this information.)

I recently came across these two compilation compact discs for sale on eBay, and decided to purchase them – despite having all of the contents on numerous other CDs, LPs, and EPs – as a service to the website in case they contained anything unusual which might be of interest to avid Barber fans and music collectors, or to the more casual listener and record purchaser. My conclusion is that their appeal is likely to be much more to the latter group of people because, like me, fans who have been following the Barber Band for many years already own most if not all the tracks.

The two CDs are similar in that both draw upon the rich vein of Barber recordings from the band's first studio session for the Decca label (New Orleans Joys, recorded in 1954) to the latter part of the 1960s. High Society is a single disc comprising twenty tracks all drawn from the Pye/Nixa catalogue, encompassing the Chris Barber Plays series of four LPs, plus material from the three Chris Barber In Concert LPs. Hits From The Golden Era Of Traditional Jazz is rather more ambitious: this is a double-CD album with notes in both German and English, with a total of forty tracks. Many of them are the same as those which appear on High Society, but the scope is both narrower (the last track is from 1957) and broader: as well as tracks from the Pye/Nixa label we also have numerous tracks that were recorded for Decca, Storyville and Columbia.

In a sense these two CDs are just two more examples of the many such releases that have appeared during the last decade or more -- compilations designed to recycle early material over and over again. From that point of view they are as good as any of the others, such as for example, the Pye Jazz Anthology which came out in the early 2000s. It's unlikely that they will appeal to serious collectors but, on the other hand, they do provide an excellent introduction to the Chris Barber Band's early recordings. Incidentally, they would make great gifts if one wished to introduce a friend to the early music of Chris Barber.

Ed Jackson, August 2011

The usual thing with any new Chris Barber CD is that in most cases it is an unusual thing! So it is with the brand new double-CD Memories Of My Trip! It does not cover the present programme of the Big Chris Barber Band but, rather, much of the whole musical career of Chris Barber over the last sixty years. It is indeed a "memory of my trip", both for Chris himself and for his many fans who have followed him and loved his music for so long.

Chris dedicates this new CD to the late John Slaughter, the band's outstanding blues guitar player who died in 2010. Many of us deeply miss John's fantastic blues solos: he was an integral part of the Chris Barber Band's music for more than forty years.

The double-CD features Chris Barber and various line-ups of the Chris Barber Band with an impressive array of guests, such as Ottilie Patterson, Rory Gallagher, Jimmy Cotton, Muddy Waters, Dr. John, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Keith Emerson, Mark Knopfler, Albert Nicholas and many, many more.

Disc One is entitled "Blues, Jazz & Gospel". The opening tune is Brownie McGhee's solo rendition of Memories Of My Trip, which provides the title for the album. Brownie sings about his tours with Chris Barber's Jazz Band in the late 1950s.

The first CD is a complete firework of blues, jazz and gospel songs. We especially like the Muddy Waters Blues Band, playing Kansas City with Chris on trombone. Another great song is Diggin' My Potatoes, with Lonnie Donegan. But this is not the well-known 1954 version recorded at the Royal Festival Hall: it is a recording by the Chris Barber Jazz & Blues Band plus Lonnie Donegan in 1987.

Next, a very interesting Weeping Willow is a collaboration between Eric Clapton and Chris recorded in 2010, on which Eric sings and plays acoustic guitar along with members of his own band.

Chris and the band have recorded several times with Van Morrison. On this CD you will find How Long Blues and Goin' Home from 1998, but also a much earlier recording from 1976 entitled Oh Didn't He Ramble. Not only Van is featured here, but also Dr. John on piano. The interesting thing about this track is that Chris owned a copy of the backing track without the vocal. Van sent Chris the respective original vocal track, and here the two separate tracks are combined for the first time!

Many followers of the Barber band particularly like the blues song Goin' Up The River. However, the version here is not by the Barber Band. Chris guested in 2005 with the Canadian group, Jeff Healey's Jazz Wizards, and recorded a remarkable album with this Canadian group which included Goin' Up The River (see the page for the original CD from the Canadian sessions).

The first CD ends with a very touching song called Another Sad One, written and played by the late John Slaughter. A few days before his death he sent this sound file to us as co-webmasters of the Barber website, asking us to post this song on the site and to dedicate it to his wife Brigitta and his three daughters. In his covering email message he also added the words, "It's me playing in a way nobody ever heard me play."

Disc Two is entitled "Jazz & Blues". And the fireworks of the first CD continue here! The opening song is St. Louis Blues / Missouri Special / St. Louis Blues, featuring Ottilie Patterson singing and Edmond Hall playing clarinet. And a great surprise is the duet of Ed Hall and Ian Wheeler, both on clarinet on "High Society". At last this number is now available on CD.

The sound changes dramatically with Rock Candy, a rock-oriented recording from 1966 with Keith Emerson and Chris Barber.

In 1978 the band toured with John Lewis and Trummy Young. The version of Georgia On My Mind on the new CD was recorded in Germany without John Lewis, but Trummy's trombone playing and singing are fantastic. There is also a great alto sax solo played by Sammy Rimington on this track.

Chris Barber continued his work with New Orleans clarinet players over many years. In 1968 the Band filled the traditional Victoria Hall in Geneva, Switzerland with a terrific performance with Albert Nicholas. C-Jam Blues is featured here and I (Andreas) am very happy that at last this tune has been published on CD. I was lucky in 1977 to arrange that the original Geneva tapes were passed on to Chris by Swiss Radio. C-Jam Blues not only features an outstanding solo from Albert, but also a remarkable alto sax solo by John Crocker, who joined the Barber Band only a few weeks before this event.

The third New Orleans clarinettist on this CD is Joe Darensbourg with Rose Room, accompanied by Chris Barber and Pat Halcox, plus Richard Simmons on piano, Terry Knight on bass, and Dave Evans on drums. This recording dates from August 1974.

In 1983 Eddie Durham, the former Count Basie trombonist, played with the Chris Barber Jazz & Blues Band. Here you will find the great blues number Jack Teagarden Blues.

In 2010 members of the present Big Chris Barber band recorded two songs with Jools Holland, Winin' Boy Blues and On The Sunny Side Of The Street.

The CD ends with three tunes by the Chris Barber Jazz & Blues Band together with Mark Knopfler. These songs, originally recorded for the Chris's BBC Radio 2 programme Jazz Diaries, have been cherished as rarities among fans who were lucky enough to record the programme. It's a great pleasure to have the titles now on a commercial CD.

As we said at the beginning, Memories Of My Trip is an unusual double-CD from an unusual and outstanding Jazz, Gospel and Blues man. It is almost impossible to name and pay the respect to all musicians on this double-CD, so we suggest, sit back in a comfortable chair, sip a good drink (or two!), and listen to more than two hours of great music! The double-CD comes with a 24-page booklet, fully packed with information in Chris's own words and, to our knowledge, some very rare photographs.

All in all, this CD is a fitting tribute to Chris Barber and his more than sixty years as a bandleader and one of jazz's great musicians; it surely is indispensable as an item in every Barber fan's collection.

With only a slight variation in the words, the lyrics of Mark Knopfler's lovely song, ‘Til The Next Time I'm In Town, which completes the album, could sum up every Chris Barber fan's gratitude to Chris for his music, both in concert and on record, for many decades:

    It's been something seeing you again
    In this time we've had to spend
    Been so good to be around.
    I thank you for that special thrill
    Keep me going on until
    The next time [you're] in town....

Andreas Wandfluh & Ed Jackson, April 2011

Lake Records LACD 296, released in March 2011.

A new CD with rare recordings as well as previously unissued material has reached the Chris Barber website and archive team at the beginning of March 2011. Paul Adams of Lake Records has compiled a very interesting compact disc, documenting the great musical diversity of Ottilie Patterson between the years 1958 and 1961.

The first twelve titles comprise a complete re-issue of the original Columbia recording Chris Barber's Blues Book, Volume 1, a 12-inch LP recorded and released in 1960. These twelve songs were re-issued by BGO Records in 1997 on a CD together with the 1964 album Good Mornin' Blues; however, they have remained comparatively rare items, so we are very happy to have the complete Columbia recordings once again on a widely available CD.

The original LP

Ottilie Swings the Irish

My personal favourites of the first twelve titles are Kidman Blues and Backwater Blues. Backwater Blues is an absolutely fantastic duet between Ottilie's vocal and Pat Halcox's muted trumpet. Blues Before Sunrise is another great duet, this time with Ottilie and Chris on trombone. Lord it Hurts So Bad and Only The Blues feature – besides Ottilie – Keith Scott on piano, Alexis Korner on guitar, and the Barber rhythm section of 1961 (Eddie Smith, Dick Smith, and Graham Burbidge). Squeeze Me has been recorded several times. This piano/vocal version, however, is slightly different from the previously-issued version (recorded on the same day) and which can be found on Lake CD LACD194, Chris Barber Bandbox, Volume 1.

A wonderful Ottilie EP has also been reproduced. Ottilie Swings The Irish – all four tracks are on this new CD. It is a fond memory for me personally as it was the first "Ottilie only" EP I bought in 1962 in Berne, Switzerland (and I still own it!). Tracks 20 to 23 are versions of songs that have not been issued before. Very interesting are Sobbin' Hearted Blues and Monty Sunshine's Burgundy Street Blues with Ottilie singing!

The sound quality of this CD is excellent: Paul Adams has, as usual, put a great deal of work into carefully restoring this historic material. Thanks Paul – and we look forward to many more reissues from the early Barber catalogue.

Andreas Wandfluh, March 2011

Lake Records LACD 294, released in February 2011.

The original LP Elite Syncopations, (Chris Barber’s Band Box, Volume Two), issued in 1960, featured the Barber Band with its classic lineup of Chris, Pat and Monty, Eddie and Dick Smith, and Graham Burbidge. It was recorded in January and February 1960. The LP was a great success and has been issued and reissued as an LP on various labels. (You may check the original LP cover and sleeve notes here.)

However, it was not until 1995 that Lake Records decided to release the complete LP on a CD, adding four more tunes such as Thriller Rag, Whistlin' Rufus, Tuxedo Rag and Bugle Call Rag (tracks recorded in 1955 and 1956). This CD was soon sold out and remains a rare item. (Please read our review here.)

Now, in February 2011, Paul Adams from Lake Records has again reissued the original LP tracks. What makes this CD so interesting is that the additional tracks are completely different from those on the first CD issue; however, I would not say that the original tunes are not interesting at all. But tracks 11 to 15 have not been previously issued, while the bonus tracks 16 and 17 feature the 1953 Ken Colyer's Jazzmen. Those two bonus tracks are taken from the Lake Records CD From New Orleans to London (LACD 209) (see our review here).

As mentioned above, we have already posted a review of the 1995 CD, so we do not repeat our comments on the first ten fantastic tunes. These tunes have again been carefully re-mastered by Paul Adams. Thanks Paul for this work!

The new CD is a full "ragtime" CD. Track 11 (Hiawatha – A Summer Idyll) features the 1954 line-up re-united in 1994 on the occasion of several 40 years jubilee concerts. Great sound – the 1954 band in full stereo with Monty Sunshine, Pat Halcox, Lonnie Donegan, Jim Bray, Ron Bowden and Chris.

Merrydown Rag (track 12) was recorded in 1967; the opening of the tune features Ian Wheeler in a beautiful solo on clarinet.

Whistlin' Rufus (track 13) has always been a very popular Chris Barber tune which has been issued on numerous EPs, LPs and CDs, but the most common is the 1955 version, which originally appeared on the 10-inch LP, Chris Barber Plays, Volume Two. The version on the new CD was recorded in June 1975, this time with John Crocker on clarinet. John and Pat are featured in a short but great duet.

Harlem Rag (track 14) was recorded in November 2001 with the traditional 8-piece band line-up. This was at the time when the Chris Barber Jazz & Blues Band started to play with the Bob Hunt Ellingtonians, thus finally ending later in the Big Chris Barber Band. Harlem Rag has often been played in concerts and is a typical ragtime number, freshly played by the Chris Barber Jazz & Blues Band.

Maple Leaf Rag (track 15) was recorded at the Playhouse at Whitley Bay in December 1998 and fits beautifully into this ragtime CD. The Chris Barber Band played this tune in the 60s and then again only in 1998.

As already stated, the bonus tracks come from the Ken Colyer CD From New Orleans to London and were recorded in 1953. Cataract Rag and Harlem Rag are the two bonus tracks. It is interesting to compare the versions of Harlem Rag from 1953 and 2001.

I personally like this CD very much as it covers rags played by the Chris Barber Band from 1953 to 2001.

Andreas Wandfluh, February 2011

OK Entertainment Channel / Chris Barber Collection CBJBDVD5001, recorded in November 2008 and released in 2009.

A new video of a complete concert with the Big Chris Barber Band.

Chris Barber fans know that they should always check the CD corner at concerts. Beside "normal" CDs there are often CDs and DVDs for sale that are not available in shops or by mail-order services. This happened with the latest CD, "Chris Barber at Blenheim", as well as now with the new DVD, "In Concert On The Isle Of Wight" (recorded Nov 27th, 2008 at the Medina Theatre, Newport).

This DVD features the present members of the band and it is the first recording with the newest members: Zoltan Sagi (cl, saxes), Pete Rudeforth (tp), and John Service (tb). The complete show was filmed and has been carefully remastered. It is a great document of the current tour – perhaps with one exception: "Ice Cream" is NOT on this DVD! There are no gimmicks, no "bonus tracks" or material to fill the DVD. It's just as it should be, a concert by the Big Chris Barber Band. So sit on your couch, switch on the Television/DVD player, and enjoy 90 minutes of great music.

Andreas Wandfluh, 2009

Chris Barber's Jazz Band with Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Sonny, Brownie & Chris.

Lake Records LACD 278, released in September 2009. Recordings made in 1958; several tracks appeared on the LP by the same title, plus the CD includes rare, and in some cases previously-unissued, bonus tracks.

When I first saw this new CD, I believed it to be a "normal reissue" of old material. But while listening to it, I noticed how carefully Paul Adams has selected the tracks. Collectors who missed Lake CD LACD 87 have a second chance to get the complete content of the original 10-inch LP, "Sonny, Brownie & Chris". But there are more titles with the two blues singers and quite a lot of jazz tunes that have been released here for the first time on CD, including most notably instrumental versions of Just A Closer Walk With Thee and Do Lord. Also previously unissued is the title Blue Bells Goodbye. When You And I Were Young, Maggie is presented here as a straight band version; it was normally played at that time as a solo number by Monty Sunshine.

There are a lot more tunes to name. In the repertoire of the current Big Chris Barber Band is the song Cornbread, Peas & Black Molasses. At concerts Chris always refers to the Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee tour when announcing the title. Here you can listen to the original version by the two great blues singers. (By the way the Sonny Terry/Browne McGhee titles on this CD are not the same versions as are on the "Blues Legacy CDs Lost & Found, Volumes 1 and 2", issued in 2008.)

The CD comes with an eight-page booklet and a great deal of discographical information. Thanks to Linda & Paul Adams for this great CD album.

Andreas Wandfluh, September 2009

The Big Chris Barber Band, Barber At Blenheim (The Big Chris Barber Band At Blenheim Palace)

Chris Barber Collection CBJBCD 4004, Recorded at Blenheim Palace on 1st December 2007, and released in 2009.

Barber At Blenheim was recorded by band sound-man Barry Walker at a private function at Blenheim Palace on December 1, 2007, and later re-mastered for release on compact disc at Classic Media Group, the company responsible for such recent Barber issues as the Lost And Found CD-series and the DVD, As We Like It. Although there have been some personnel changes since the time of the recording, current Barber concert-goers will particularly enjoy this CD as a souvenir of their evening, as the programme of thirteen tracks is a snapshot of a typical Big Chris Barber Band appearance. It features long-time Barber standards such as Bourbon Street Parade, The Martinique, Petite Fleur, and The Saints, as well as several examples of the more recent move in the direction of re-interpreting early tunes by or associated with Duke Ellington (Rent Party Blues, Merry-Go-Round, Jubilee Stomp, and Hot And Bothered).

The regular eleven-man line-up is slightly reduced to ten on this CD as, according to the notes, "John Slaughter was at the time not yet recovered from his serious illness and regular replacement Andy Kuc couldn't make it." Consequently Joe Farler doubles on banjo and guitar. Also, it's worth noting that, to the best of my knowledge, this was the last concert recorded for public release before trombonist Bob Hunt and reedman Tony Carter left the band, and just seven months before veteran trumpeter Pat Halcox retired after 54 years with the band.

Ed Jackson, May 2009

The Chris Barber Jazz & Blues Band, Barbican Blues

Double-LP originally recorded and released in 1982 and reissued in April 2009 on Lake Records LACD273.

One of my personal favourite recordings has been reissued by Paul Adams on Lake Records: the "Barbican Blues" concert of April 20, 1982 from London. It was the first jazz concert at the newly opened Barbican Centre and featured the Chris Barber Jazz & Blues Band with a great mix of different sounds. This CD is a complete reissue of the stereo double-LP on the Black Lion label (BLM 61003/4, issued in 1982).

This is one of those CDs that best demonstrates the musical variety and versatility of the Chris Barber Jazz & Blues Band -- and it also looks ahead to the future development of the band into the present Big Chris Barber Band.

Andreas Wandfluh, April 2009

Music: Barbican Blues || Perdido Street Blues || Spanish Castles