UPDATES
May 12, 2008
There is now a special message board where you can post messages to Pat Halcox, share reminiscences, and so on.
May 11, 2008
Announcement of Pat Halcox's farewell tour (see the top of the menu page).
May 7, 2008
The Big Chris Barber Band at Swinging-Hannover, 2008: Photographs taken by Helge Lorenz at an outdoor concert.
April 30, 2008
Several updates to the website, using recent photographs provided by Andreas Wandfluh:
April 29, 2008
Click here for some great concert photos of the Barber band at Jazzfest Gronau 2008.
April 28, 2008
Here's an item for Chris's Dutch fans: an article from Block magazine about the Lost & Found series of CDs.
April 28, 2008
There are some great informal club photos of the band here.
April 21, 2008
Cover of the rare 12-inch bootleg vinyl LP, Muddy Waters in Concert, 1958; this is the version that came out on Krazy Kat Records in 1982.
April 20, 2008
The Big Chris Barber Band in Switzerland: Photographs by Andreas Wandfluh taken at a concert in April 2008, set to music excerpted from the recennt DVD, As We Like It.
March 31, 2008
Thanks to Keith Scott, we now have scans (plus some related material) of the two EPs that Chris Barber recorded in 1961 with Jimmy Cotton and members of Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated: Chris Barber Presents Jimmy Cotton and Chris Barber Presents Jimmy Cotton 2. There are also two associated items linked to the From the Archives page.
March 30, 2008
Short excerpts from four of the tracks on the new Barber DVD, As We Like It, have been posted on the Music Clips page, and detailed information about the DVD can be found on the As We Like It cover page as well as on the New and Recent Releases page.
March 22, 2008
Several videos related directly or indirectly to the Barber Band have been posted on YouTube. Among the most notable are a two-tune excerpt from 6.5 Special, a BBC-TV programme that looks as if it was originally broadcast in 1957, and a fascinating conversation between George Melly and Ken Colyer. There are quite a lot of other Barber-related videos on YouTube, which you can find by searching for Chris Barber, Ottilie Patterson, Lonnie Donegan, Ken Colyer, and so on.
March 17, 2008
Prompted by the release of the recent Lost & Found CD-set, Owen Adams has written an excellent article on The Guardian's theblogmusic site about the importance of visits to Britain by Muddy Waters and Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the late 1950s.
March 16, 2008
Andreas Wandfluh, one of the three members of the 'team" which maintains this website, has posted photographs of the Band in concert and rehearsal in Lucerne, Switzerland, on March 13th on his own website: The Big Chris Barber Band in Lucerne, 13.03.2008. Also, thanks to Andreas, photos of new trombonist John Service have replaced the temporary ones that have appeared here since John joined the band several weeks ago.
March 12, 2008
There's a good article on The Independent website about Humphrey Lyttelton's retiring as the host of The Best of Jazz on BBC Radio 2.
March 10, 2008
Alex Hosking of Australia has provided us with scans of an autographed ticket from a concert he attended in 1957.
March 6, 2008
The Chris Barber Band, 1964 to 1968: the fifth in a series of pages about particular line-ups of the band.
March 3, 2008
Canadian blues guitarist and trumpeter Jeff Healey, with whose band the Jazz Wizards Chris Barber recorded the CD It's Tight Like That three years ago in Toronto, died yesterday at the age of 41. Tributes have been posted at:
  • www.harpmagazine.com/news/detail.cfm?article=12337
  • jaajaakoom.blogspot.com/2008/03/jeff-healey-dead-at-age-41.html
  • www.nodepression.net/blogs/news/2008/03/jeff_healey_rip.html
  • www.cbc.ca/cp/entertainment/ (This one includes a brief tribute from Chris.)
    • February 27, 2008
    Two documents from the Barber-Purser archives giving detailed accounts of the band's Second North American Tour from September to November, 1959.
    February 18, 2008
    Visit the Official Blues Legacy website and the new Blues Legacy page on the Chris Barber website.
    February 18, 2007
    Read the first review of the Lost & Found 3-CD series of blues masters recordings from Blues Legacy on the Music-News.com website.
    February 11, 2008
    New format for the Links to various sections of the website, plus some minor tweaking to the layout of the Menu page.
    February 9, 2008
    There is a very appreciative essay about the 1961 Ian Wheeler-Joe Harriott duet on 'S Wonderful at wwwoldfogey.blogspot.com/2008/02/s-wonderful-meeting-of-opposites.html.
    February 7, 2008
    Dates for performances in March and April have been added to the On Tour page.
    January 31, 2008
    Promotional video for the As We Like It DVD.
    January 29, 2008
    Trombonist, arranger, and Ellington scholar Bob Hunt has left the band, and is being replaced at the beginning of February by John Service. We wish Bob all the best for the future, and welcome John to the band.
    January 28, 2008
    Advance promotional materials for the forthcoming As We Like It DVD and the 3-volume Lost & Found CD & Download series. You can pre-order the DVD and CDs for delivery one week before the UK release date at www.classicdvdshop.com.
    January 27, 2008
    A new Big Chris Barber Band DVD, As We Like It, and a set of three CDs, the Lost & Found series, are set to be released in the near future. You can watch a promotional video for the Lost & Found CDs on YouTube.
    January 24, 2008
    "The Demon Barber of British Blues": Article published in Record Collector magazine, January 2008.
    January 8, 2008
    You can find dates for 13 performances in the southern part of England in February on the On Tour page.
    January 8, 2008
    A new slideshow has been added to the bottom of the Slideshows page: Chris Barber on Compact Disc, featuring the covers of new CDs and CD reissues, plus music from 1953 to 1957.
    January 5, 2008
    Richard Exall's page has been updated with a biography which Richard himself has written for us.
    January 1, 2008
    Today marks the 53rd anniversary of Ottilie Patterson's joining Chris Barber's Jazz Band. Go to Pages You May Have Missed to see the page that celebrated the 50th anniversary in 2005.
    December 26, 2007
    Thanks to Alan Grubb, we now have scans of a four-page programme from a very early concert -- December 1950 -- by the Crane River Jazz Band and Chris Barber and his New Orleans Jazz Band.
    December 19, 2007
    Chris has provided a photo, plus some notes, of him and pianist Jack Honeybourne, taken at a street parade in Covent Garden in June 2006.
    December 15, 2007
    In addition to an overhaul of the appearance of the Menu Page, a new feature has been added, called Pages You May Have Missed.
    December 15, 2007
    Newspaper reviews of a concert by Van Morrison with Chris in the band, and Nick Lowe's new CD, on which Chris is a featured guest.
    December 15, 2007
    Announcement of a new double-CD reissue, Just About As Good As It Gets.
    December 13, 2007
    Will the "Trad Jacket" make a comeback? Is this the perfect gift for Christmas? We report, you decide.
    December 12, 2007
    On November 24, Chris talked to John Hellings on BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester. A large part of this conversation covered the early days of the band, the split with Ken Colyer, and the beginnings of skiffle.
    December 7, 2007
    Article from Blues In Britain, December 2007.
    December 6, 2007
    Article from The Southern Daily Echo, 5 December 2007.
    December 6, 2007
    On December 2, Chris appeared on Helen Mayhew's show on theJazz, talking about his career and choosing representative recordings to play along with the conversation. You can download or "listen again" to the entire show, including the music, by clicking here and scrolling down the page to the picture of Chris. Only the conversation is available here on the Chris Barber site, on the In His Own Words page.
    December 6, 2007
    Continuing his series of appearances on BBC regional radio stations, Chris joined Walter Love's show, Jazz Club, on BBC Radio Ulster on December 2, 2007. The conversation is posted on the Barber site on the In His Own Words page.
    December 2, 2007
    Programme from a Concert in Brighton, August 1956.
    December 2. 2007
    Tour Programme: Jazz Scene 1957. This programme is particularly interesting as it contains long essays about Big Bill Broonzy and Brother John Sellers, plus a shorter piece about the Barber Band, as well as brief items about Mick Mulligan's Band with George Melly, and Ken Colyer's Jazzmen.
    November 30, 2007
    Chris on Keith Warmington's programme, BBC Radio Bristol, November 21, 2007.
    November 26, 2007
    Article from The Worcester News, 23 November 2007.
    November 24, 2007
    Review of Pete Frame's book The Restless Generation: "How rock music changed the face of 1950s Britain".
    November 23, 2007
    Programme from a concert in Brighton, July 1957.
    November 20, 2007
    Roger Day of BBC Radio Kent chats to guests from the last 50 years of popular music each evening. Click here to listen to an interview in which Roger talked to Chris on 14 November.
    November 20, 2007
    Programme from the Beaulieu Jazz Festival, 1961.
    November 18, 2007
    Toni Ginsel has posted some excellent photos of the Big Chris Barber Band in Stuttgart, November 7, 2007, on his own Chris Barer website at www.tonis-records.de/ChrisBarber_Concerts_2007-Stgt.htm.
    November 16, 2007
    Clips from the British music press: Can't Stop Now and the forthcoming Blues Legacy "Lost & Found Series".
    November 15, 2007
    Photographs by Andreas Wandfluh of the Big Chris Barber Band in Aarberg, Switzerland, on 9th November 2007.
    November 9, 2007
    Programme from the Chris Barber Show, 1957.
    November 6, 2007
    The Case for the NJF: A leaflet published by the National Jazz Federation in 1958.
    November 2, 2007
    Programme from a UK tour by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Chris Barber Band, and Ottilie Patterson in April 1960. This copy of the programme was autographed by all members of the band, Ottilie, and Sister Rosetta.
    October 25, 2007
    BBC Music Magazine's review of the new Barber CD, Can't Stop Now.
    October 25, 2007
    Three tracks from the LP & CD Elite Syncopations have been added to the Music Clips page.
    October 12, 2007
    Twelve new tracks have been added to the Music Clips page, including some rare comparisons between alternative versions of the same tunes recorded in 1964 and 1965.
    October 7, 2006
    There is now a page about the "Chris Barber Archives and Website Team".
    October 5, 2007
    Chris's New CD, Can't Stop Now, due for release next week in the UK, has received a plug and a good review in the October 3rd edition of All About Jazz.
    September 22, 2007
    Photographs page 12 has been added to the site, featuring contact sheets of pictures taken around the end of 1960.
    September 22, 2007
    Although it is not an addition to the Barber website as such, historically-minded Chris Barber fans will enjoy reading his recollections of the influential British blues harpist, Cyril Davies.
    September 13, 2007
    Chris Barber's Jazz Band with Ottilie Patterson, 1961 to 1964: the fourth in a series of pages about particular line-ups of the band. The page includes an introductory text, photos of the band and individual members, selected record covers from the time, and a partial list of tracks recorded then (including links to about three dozen audio clips).
    September 11, 2007
    A link to a very early (1952) British jazz concert programme is shown close to the top of the Tours, Concerts and Special Events page.
    September 10, 2007
    16 more photographs from the Barber-Purser archives at the bottom of Photographs, page 11.
    September 3, 2007
    A few photographs have been added to Photographs page 11.
    September 2, 2007
    Press releases announcing the re-issue of Chris's Can't Stop Now CD and a forthcoming Blues Legacy CD series, Chris Barber Presents...
    September 2, 2007
    On Thursday 30th August, 2007, the Big Chris Barber Band filmed a live concert at Shepperton Studios. Click here to view a copy of Julian Purser's invitation to this exclusive event, plus a set of photographs provided by Ben Williams of Classic T Studio, the company which is re-issuing the band's recent CD, Can't Stop Now.
    August 19, 2007
    Nine tracks have been added to the Music Clips page, linked to an under-construction page for the 1961-1964 Chris Barber Band.
    August 19, 2007
    More covers have been added to the Thumbnail pictures page.
    August 11, 2007
    The Individual Covers Pages section of the site has been re-designed, and about a dozen covers have been added to the Thumbnail pictures page.
    August 6, 2007
    Thumbnail pictures of about 260 covers from LPs, CDs, EPs and single 45-rpm records.
    Note: This is a new version of the previous thumbnails page. It differs from the previous one in that the new graphics are almost twice as large as the previous ones and are therefore much more readable. Since we chose a minimum size and resolution for the scans to be included on the new page, some of the old scans don't appear here. We plan to replace them at a higher resolution in the near future.
    August 1, 2007
    Legend Barber can still cut it with the best: Review of the band's performance at the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival.
    July 22, 2007
    An electric night: Brian Harvey's personal account of the break-up of Ken Colyer's Jazzmen and the beginning of Chris Barber's Jazz Band in 1954.
    July 19, 2007
    Programme from Cavalcade of Jazz, a 1956 concert sponsored by Nixa Records.
    July 3, 2007
    You can now rapidly find everything on the Chris Barber website by going to Search the Chris Barber website close to the top of the menu page.
    June 29, 2007
    A few photographs from the Barber-Purser archives have been added to the bottom of Photographs, page 11.
    June 21, 2007
    Details for two new CDs, Chris Barber 1956 and the Lonnie Donegan Jubilee Concert of 1981 are available on the New Releases page and the Record Covers page.
    June 17, 2007
    The Big Chris Barber Band, 2000 to Today: a detailed page showing changes in the band over the last seven years through photographs, CD covers, and music.
    June 9, 2007
    Photographs of Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee.
    June 5, 2007
    A humorous and informative article from the National Jazz Archive Newsletter, October 2006.
    June 5, 2007
    The Chris Barber Band visits the army, 1967.
    June 5, 2007
    Two publicity postcards -- one from the 1950s, the other from 2006.
    June 4, 2007
    Programme from a Royal Festival Hall Concert by Chris Barber's Jazz Band and the Dutch Swing College Band, 1958.
    June 2, 2007
    Regretfully, we have closed the Chris Barber Guest Book because of an excessive amount of offensive messages and other spam. However, the Message Board is still up and running.
    May 28, 2007
    Ottilie Patterson Publicity Booklet, early 1980s.
    May 27, 2007
    Programme from Rhythm With The Stars, a 6-day package tour of Northern England in March, 1956.
    May 24, 2007
    Programme from a 1959 UK tour by the George Lewis New Orleans Jazz Band.
    May 22, 2007
    Poul Villum of Denmark has sent a set of photographs from a 1960 concert in Aarhus.
    May 19, 2007
    The collection of Chris Barber Club booklets is now complete, with the correction of some previous errors and the addition of Volume 2, Number 5 (thanks to Ivan Spring) and Volume 4, Number 2.
    May 16, 2007
    Programme from the Lonnie Donegan Tribute Concert, 2004.
    May 16, 2007
    Miscellaneous tour and concert posters from the 1990s and 2000s.
    May 11, 2007
    Concert Programme: Brighton, Friday, 25th January, 1957.
    May 8, 2007
    Mike Snelling's page has been expanded with an autobiography, a music clip, and links to some of Mike's own recordings before joining the Big Chris Barber Band.
    May 7, 2007
    Two items have been added at the bottom of the Archives page.
    May 6, 2007
    A slideshow of The Big Chris Barber Band in Zurich, 28 April 2007: Photographs by Andreas Wandfluh; Music from the CD, Can't Stop Now.
    May 2, 2007
    One of the oldest and rarest items on the entire Chris Barber website: a three-page programme for a concert at Birmingham University in 1952.
    May 2, 2007
    The Behind the Scenes page has been updated to welcome new lighting engineer, Bas Meijer, and expanded to give a short account of the vital work that Bas and sound-man Barry Walker do to make sure each performance runs smoothly.
    May 2, 2007
    Toni Ginsel has posted some excellent photographs on his Chris Barber website of last week's concert in Heidenheim.
    April 28, 2007
    1959 concert programme.
    April 27, 2007
    Added a Monty Sunshine concert ticket and authograph to a page featuring drawings by Monty. (Donated by Bill Bibby.)
    April 20, 2007
    The Instrumentalists and Band Evolution pages have been updated to include recent personnel changes in the band.
    April 20, 2007
    The Chris Barber Jazz & Blues Band, 1979 - 1986: the third in a series of pages about particular line-ups of the band.
    April 15, 2007
    A new page of photographs (page 10) has been added to the site.
    April 14, 2007
    Click here to read an article called "Sister Rosetta Tharpe and the British Blues Revival".
    April 10, 2007
    Unfortunately, the new Chris Barber CD, Can't Stop Now, doesn't include any recording or personnel information, but Julian Purser has provided us with discographical details.
    April 9, 2007
    Here is a nice review of the Big Chris Barber Band's recent performance in Middlesbrough.
    April 5, 2007
    The classic Colyer and Barber LPs from 1953 and 1954, New Orleans To London and New Orleans Joys, have recently become available on a single CD.
    April 5, 2007
    Individual cover pages have been added for two new CDs: That Patterson Girl and Can't Stop Now. And, just to refresh your memory about the various sections in the Chris Barber website, appropriate updates have been made to the cover thumbnails page, the new and recent releases page, and the music clips page.
    March 25, 2007
    A slideshow for Ian Wheeler has been added to the website.
    March 15, 2007
    Can't Stop Now, a new limited edition CD by the Big Chris Barber Band with special guest Andy Faiweather Low, has recently been released. Details will follow soon on the New and Recent Releases page.
    March 15, 2007
    Bass player Dave Green, who joined the band in January as a temporary replacement for Vic Pitt, is now a permanent member of the band. A page for Dave will be posted soon in the Big Chris Barber Band section of the website.
    March 12, 2007
    A page to celebrate the 26 years that Ian Wheeler spent with the band.
    March 8, 2007
    Several new tracks have been added to the Music Clips page.
    March 5, 2007
    Pat Halcox's account of the band's third tour of North America in October and November of 1960.
    March 4, 2007
    Three photographs of Chris and Ottilie at Silverstone, 1959. (Thanks to David Drinkwater.)
    March 4, 2007
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 6, No. 12: Monty Sunshine's replacement on clarinet, Ian Wheeler, is introduced in this issue.
    March 2, 2007
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 6, No. 11. This edition is particularly noteworthy for a long account, by Pat Halcox, of the band's third North American tour. It was also the last edition to be published before Monty Sunshine left the band.
    February 17, 2007
    Sixteen photographs by Andreas Wandfluh, taken at a concert in Schaan on 10 February 2007.
    February 13, 2007
    We have added an archive of the Chris Barber and Pat Halcox 75th Birthday Guestbooks.
    February 12, 2007
    Toni Ginsel has posted some great new photos of the Big Chris Barber Band in Ludwigsburg on 4 February on his own Chris Barber website.
    February 9, 2007
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 6, No. 10.
    February 4, 2007
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 6, No. 8.
    January 26, 2007
    Four concert and tour programmes from the 1950s and 1960s.

    January 22, 2007
    After thirty years with the Barber Band (and close to twenty years with Kenny Ball before that!), bassist Vic Pitt has decided to retire. We are sorry to see Vic leave, as he has been such an integral member of the band for so many years. Thanks, Vic, for your wonderful music. We wish you all the best in your retirement, and in whatever endeavours, musical or otherwise, you are planning for the coming years. So far, a permanent replacement for Vic has not been chosen. Meanwhile, well-known British bassist Dave Green, who has played and recorded with such jazz luminaries as Humphrey Lyttelton and Michael Garrick, among many others, will be subbing on bass.

    January 16, 2007
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 7, No. 4.
    January 12, 2007
    The Evolution of the Band page has been completely overhauled, with exact dates for personnel changes, plus scans of most of the recordings made by each line-up of the band.
    January 12, 2007
    New band member Mike Snelling now has his own page, plus some photographs have been added to Richard Exall's page.
    January 12, 2007
    Chris Barber fans who had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Andy Fairweather Low in concert with the band on its Christmas 2005 UK tour will likely be interested in Andy's new CD.
    January 2, 2007
    Over the last couple of weeks, formatting changes have been made to several sections and many specific pages throughout the site. In addition, we have taken this opportunity to add new material, most notably scans of original LP covers and sleeves notes on several of the Covers pages (e.g., New Orleans Joys, Chris Barber International, and Chris Barber Bandbox, Volume 3, Best Yet.)
    December 24, 2006
    Birmingham Concert Programme, 1957
    December 17, 2006
    "Jazz at the Marquee" Programme, 1958.
    December 14, 2006
    Photograph of John Mayall, Eric Clapton, and Chris.
    December 13, 2006
    The Band Evolution page ("From Ken Colyer's Jazzmen to the Big Chris Barber Band") has been re-formatted, and improved by adding record and CD covers to each line-up of the band. (You can find this new page and the one shown immediately below listed on the Jazz Band / Jazz and Blues Band page.)
    December 13, 2006
    A special page for the 1956 lineup of Chris Barber's Jazz Band, with photographs, record covers, and music clips.
    December 9, 2006
    John Defferary has recently retired from the band after eight years in the reed section. We hope to have information soon about his replacement, Mike Snelling, which will be posted via the Big Chris Barber Band page.
    December 9, 2006
    An update and a few minor corrections to the Music Clips page.
    December 7, 2006
    Concert Programme: "The Chris Barber Show 1957"
    December 2, 2006
    A slideshow tribute to Ottilie Patterson.
    November 25, 2006
    Programme from a UK tour by "The Three Bs" -- Ball, Barber and Bilk -- in 1985.
    November 25, 2006
    Programme from the band's first solo concert at the Royal Festival Hall, 28th April, 1956.
    November 24, 2006
    A slideshow of the Big Chris Barber Band in Hamburg, November 2006: photographs by Helge Lorenz.
    November 18, 2006
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 6, No. 5 and Vol. 6, No. 6.
    November 16, 2006
    Programme from a late-1980s tour -- lots of colour photographs and information about the 1986-1988 lineup of the Chris Barber Jazz and Blues Band. The entire text is in English and German.
    November 14, 2006
    The Chris Barber website was recently featured in Record Collector magazine.
    November 13, 2006
    There is a new photo of Barry Walker on the Behind the Scenes page.
    November 13, 2006
    Added a photograph of the band's most recent line-up (thanks to Helge Lorenz) and updated the Band Evolution page.
    November 13, 2006
    Article from a German newspaper, October 2006. (Thanks to Gerd Jordan).
    November 2, 2006
    Some information about the band's newest member, Joe Farler, has been added.
    October 29, 2006
    Article from a German newspaper, October 2006. (Thanks to Toni Ginsel).
    October 21, 2006
    Details of the newest Chris Barber CD, Folk Barber Style. The CD has also been added to the Covers page, and the Music clips page has been updated.
    A special page for the 1986-1988 lineup of the Chris Barber Jazz & Blues Band, with photographs, some CD covers, and music clips.
    October 14, 2006
    Programme from a BBC Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, 1958.
    October 6, 2006
    A slideshow of the Big Chris Barber Band in Germany and Sweden, 2006: photographs by Helge Lorenz and Kjell Wiklund.
    October 1, 2006
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol 6, No. 3.
    September 29, 2006
    Personnel change: Joe Farler has replaced Andy Kuc on banjo and guitar.
    September 29, 2006
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 4, No. 1. [Please see the thread titled "Chris Barber Club booklets" in the Message Board.]
    September 26, 2006
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 5, No. 8.
    September 26, 2006
    Programme from a tour of Switzerland in 1960.
    September 26, 2006
    Programme from a concert in Glasgow, 1961.
    September 26, 2006
    Three items from Jazz News, 1958.
    September 26, 2006
    Programme from a tour of Denmark in 1958.
    September 15, 2006
    Details of the newest Barber CD from Lake Records, Chris Barber 1955.
    September 14, 2006
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 3, No. 3.
    September 13, 2006
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 3, No. 2.
    September 13, 2006
    Chat room added.
    September 12, 2006
    Photo, article, and a short introduction by Chris about a New Orleans Jazz Parade in Covent Garden, June 2006.
    September 9, 2006
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 3, No. 1.
    August 30, 2006
    Here are 21 scans of photographs from the Barber-Purser archives.
    August 18, 2006
    The Instrumentalists pages are now complete, with individual pages for each instrument, plus Ottilie Patterson, as well as guests with the band.
    August 18, 2006
    About two dozen more clips have been added to the Music Clips page since the last update two weeks ago.
    August 11, 2006
    Here's another slideshow, this one to celebtrate the year 1954.
    August 4, 2006
    The Music Clips page is now up to date. Future additions of music to the site will be added to this page.
    August 3, 2006
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 2, No. 8.
    July 29, 2006
    Two new slideshows have been added to the Slideshows page. The first features Chris Barber's Amateur Bands, 1949-1952, while the second focusses on two versions of Petite Fleur, recorded in 1956 and 2002.
    July 28, 2006
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 2, No. 7 .
    July 22, 2006
    Announcement of Chris being awarded an honororay degree of Doctor of Music by Durham University.
    July 22, 2006
    There is now a slideshows page, currently featuring four short slideshows.
    July 21, 2006
    Here's another slideshow, this one about New Orleans Joys and Echoes Of Harlem, and featuring Chris talking about the making of the latter LP.
    July 21, 2006
    Added the slideshow at the top of the menu page. Click here to view a full-screen version.
    July 17, 2006
    Our plan to post all of the Chris Barber Club booklets from the 1950s and early 1960s continues with Vol. 2, No. 3.
    July 15, 2006
    I've been experimenting with slide shows while on vacation. Here's a first attempt at combining some of Chris's words with pictures and music --1953-1954: Ken Colyer's Jazzmen. (Please note that the slide show may take some time to load.)
    June 24, 2006
    Two CDs have been added to the Covers page, Symphony Of Jazz and Great Moments With Chris Barber.
    June 20, 2006
    Winners of the second Chris Barber Competition announced.
    June 17, 2006
    More music has been added to the Music Clips page. Also, you might want to check out the Chris Barber record covers page, to which several covers have been added over the last few months. Finally, the results of the Second Big Chris Barber Band Competition will be announced during the next few days.
    June 10, 2006
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 6, No. 7.
    June 3, 2006
    Concert Programme from a Tour of West Germany in 1961
    May 27, 2006
    Announcement of the Second Big Chris Barber Band Competition
    May 27, 2006
    Photographs of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee added to the Sonny, Brownie And Chris cover page.
    May 27, 2006
    More music added to the Music Clips page.
    May 22, 2006
    Index of all the music clips on the Chris Barber website. [Please note this list is not yet complete: more will be added as time permits.]
    May 20, 2006
    Cover page for Sonny, Brownie And Chris, a rare 10-inch LP record from the 1950s.
    May 14, 2006
    Programme from a concert tour of the UK in 1964. This page also includes excerpts from two tracks recorded by the band in the same year.
    May 10, 2006
    The Jeff Healey/Chris Barber CD has been added to the individual covers pages, with some scans of the jewel box inserts.
    May 6, 2006
    Announcement of a new CD release, It's Tight Like That, by Jeff Healey & The Jazz Wizards, featuring Chris Barber. Go to the New and Recent Releases page for details.
    May 1, 2006
    Photographs from a concert in Kaarst on Pat's birthday, 2006.
    April 14, 2006
    The Big Chris Barber Band Climbs Mountains! -- A diary of the road crew battling snow and ice to get to the next gig, by Julian Purser.
    April 10, 2006
    A new review of an old LP record, Jazz Lips, recorded mainly in 1962.
    April 2, 2006
    Sheet music for Revival and Lonesome, with 60-second excerpts from each recording.
    March 27, 2006
    The Instrumentalists section of the website continues with a feature page on The Trumpeters.
    March 25, 2006
    Article from a British blues magazine, 1988, featuring an interview with Chris Barber.
    March 18, 2006
    The Instrumentalists section of the website continues with a feature page on The Drummers.
    March 18, 2006
    Photographs from a sound check in Düsseldorf, 5th March, 2005.
    March 12, 2006
    Photographs from a sound check in Lucerne, Switzerland on March 5, 2006.
    March 9, 2006
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 6, No. 2.
    March 4, 2006
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 7, No. 3: this one is a special-feature issue about Ottilie Patterson.
    February 19, 2006
    Links to two photography sites on the web: the first shows photos of the Big Chris Barber Band in Denmark, 2004; the second is a commercial site selling photos of the band at a recent concert on the Isle of Wight.
    February 19, 2006
    Here's another selection from the Best Of Both Worlds LP, There'll Be Some Changes Made, featuring Edmond Hall on clarinet.
    February 12, 2006
    A collage of photographs of the Chris Barber Band at the Zurich Jazz Festival, October (?) 1964.
    February 11, 2006
    In the absence of new additions to the site this week, why not listen to Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams? This lovely Pat Halcox solo was recorded on 5th November 1963 and was originally released on the LP, The Best Of Both Worlds. It's never been re-issued on CD.
    February 4, 2006
    More details about the new Vintage Chris Barber (Jazz Sacred & Secular) CD, with some music excerpts, cover scans, and notes by Andreas Wandfluh.
    January 28, 2006
    Announcement of the CD reissue on Lake Records of the classic 1954-55 LP, Jazz Sacred and Secular.
    January 28, 2006
    Chris Barber Club booklet Vol. 6, No. 1.
    January 22, 2006
    Photographs of the Big Chris Barber Band in Hapag-Hallen Cuxhaven, Germany, January 7, 2006.
    January 21, 2006
    Preview announcement of Tight Like That, a new CD by Jeff Healey's Jazz Wizards with Chris Barber.
    January 16, 2006
    The pages for members of the Big Chris Barber Band are now complete with the addition of John Defferary's page.
    January 14, 2006
    At long last, here is a page to celebrate the third-longest-serving member of the band, blues guitarist John Slaughter.
    January 8, 2006
    Tour Programme, probably from 1978. This is a rare programme from a tour featuring the relatively short-lived line-up of the band after Sammy Rimington joined but before John Slaughter left. The programme includes a contribution in both English and German by Humphrey Lyttelton.
    December 18, 2005
    Thanks to Gerard Bielderman, here is the second (and last) magazine from the Dutch Chris Barber Club (1958).
    December 17, 2005
    Band archivist Julian Purser recently came acoss an excellent publicity photo of Chris and the Band taken some time between 1971 and 1973. It's one of the rare pictures to feature banjo player Steve Hammond.
    December 16, 2005
    Two photographs of Andy Fairweather-Low on tour with the Big Chris Barber Band, December 2005.
    December 11, 2005
    An article from the British magazine, Today, published in August 1961 at the height of the "trad boom".
    December 3, 2005
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Volume 5, Number 6 .
    November 28, 2005
    The programme from one of the most famous Chris Barber concerts – a performance at the Royal Festival Hall on 15 December, 1956.
    November 20, 2005
    In this announcement from the opening of the second part of a concert in Denmark in January, 2005, Chris reflects on playing the music from 1954 and introduces the 2005 version of the six-piece Chris Barber's Jazz Band.
    November 11, 2005
    Photographs by Helge Lorenz, taken at the 100 Club in London, December 2004.
    November 11, 2005
    Programme from a British concert tour in the late 1950s.
    November 5, 2005
    German fan and webmaster Toni Ginsel has posted new pages of photos of recent concerts in Dortmund and Stuttgart.
    October 22, 2005
    The website's collection of Chris Barber Club magazines continues with Volume 5, Number 5. This one is notable for some Omega Brass Band photos, featuring Monty Sunshine with Ian Wheeler, and Ken Colyer with Pat Halcox.
    October 16, 2005
    Message board started.
    October 16, 2005
    Review of Chris Barber's most recent CD reissue, Best Yet!
    October 11, 2005
    Booklet from the Dutch Chris Barber Club, 1958.
    October 5, 2005
    Chris's most recent CD, a reissue of the 1962 LP Best Yet! with additional singles and rarities, is shown in the left column. Details to follow soon.
    October 2, 2005
    Rare photos of the band in the late 1960s or early 1970s
    September 24, 2005
    Tour programme from the early 1960s.
    September 18, 2005
    Revisions to the navigation buttons on the menu page.
    September 17, 2005
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Volume 3, Number 4.
    September 11, 2005
    A series of pages about the four Chris Barber Plays 10-inch LPs from the 1950s.
    September 10, 2005
    The Big Chris Barber Band page has been completely re-designed.
    September 10, 2005
    Eight EP covers have been added to the EP covers page.
    August 27, 2005
    Click here for news about a forthcoming CD of Chris's concerts in Toronto with Jeff Healey's Jazz Wizards.
    August 27, 2005
    The Liverpool Concert photos page is now complete, with more than 50 photographs.
    August 21, 2005
    Eight rehearsal photos have been added to the Liverpool Concert photos page, with still more to come soon.
    August 18, 2005
    An additional nine photographs (backstage) are now on the Liverpool Concert photos page.
    August 15, 2005
    Eighteen photographs from the 75th Birthday Concert in Liverpool.
    August 10, 2005
    Sister Rosetta Tharpe 1957 Tour Programme.
    August 7, 2005
    "Blues History" -- a 2005 article reproduced from fROOTS magazine: "Chris Barber formed his first band in 1949, set the scene for skiffle, and in the late '50s was responsible for introducing legendary blues players like Muddy Waters to the UK. Here he reminisces to Dave Peabody about that era, setting right a few myths along the way...."
    Weekend beginning July 29
    Several updates this weekend: (1) New Feature Item: 75th Birthday Concert; (2) Announcement of Chris's visit to Toronto (top of the menu page); (3) Several EP covers added to the EPs page; and (4) Scan of a concert announcement from 1972.
    July 27, 2005
    Julian Purser's article about the Chris Barber 75th Birthday Concert in Liverpool, 6 July 2005. Photographs are not yet available but will be posted here soon.
    July 25, 2005
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Volume 6, Number 4.
    July 23, 2005
    Several more record covers have been posted on the EPs page. Thanks to Poul Villum for many new scans.
    July 18, 2005
    "The Barber of Tradville" -- Photos and an article from a British teen magazine, 1962, at the height of the British "trad boom."
    July 16, 2005
    Programme from the 1958 tour with Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.
    July 9, 2005
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Volume 2, Number 4.
    July 3, 2005
    The EPs section of the website has been significantly updated with more pages and scans, including thumbnail pictures of all covers donated so far by fans. We'd be grateful for scans of any EPs that you own but are not displayed on this page.
    June 25, 2005
    Chis Barber Club booklet, Vol. 7, No. 2: This one is notable for its features and photos about the recording of Chris Barber's American Jazz Band.
    June 18, 2005
    Two additions this week: first, four more EP covers; and second, a 1958 concert programme.
    June 11, 2005
    A newly-scanned set of photographs of Chris Barber and the band has been posted on Photos, page 7.
    June 3, 2005
    We have finally posted a photo of Mike Whalley, newest member of the band's road crew; plus four more EP covers have been added to the EPs page, thanks to Kjell Wiklund.

    May 29, 2005
    Thanks to Kjell Wiklund, several record covers have been added to the EPs page, with more to come soon.

    May 27, 2005
    Programme from the Richmond Jazz Festival, 1962, featuring Chris Barber, Humphrey Lyttelton, Johnny Dankworth, Kenny Ball, and many other notable musicians and bands of that time.
    May 11, 2005
    There is a new interview with former Chris Barber Jazz & Blues Band bass player Jackie Flavelle on his page in the Former Members section of the website.
    May 8, 2005
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 5, No. 4 .
    May 3, 2005
    Thanks to Ivan Spring of Ontario, Canada, who has loaned nine covers for posting on the Barber website, the number of EP covers is now up to 44.
    April 29, 2005
    A new guest book has been added to the site, and you can still read Chris Barber's and Pat Halcox's 75th birthday guest books -- see the bottom of the Menu page.
    April 24, 2005
    Complete list of recordings by Ken Colyer's Jazzmen, 1953-1954, featuring Chris Barber, Monty Sunshine, Lonnie Donegan, Jim Bray, and Ron Bowden.
    April 22, 2005
    Chris Barber's Blues Book, Volume One has been added to the Individual Covers pages.
    April 17, 2005
    HAPPY 75th BIRTHDAY CHRIS, WITH BEST WISHES FROM YOUR FANS ALL AROUND THE WORLD.
    April 17, 2005
    Thanks to Gerard Bielderman, two record covers have been added to the EPs page.
    April 16, 2005
    More records, recent and not-so recent, have been added to the Individual Covers pages.
    April 15, 2005
    Two recent newspaper articles, the first in English and the second in German.
    April 9, 2005
    Please take this opportunity to vote for Lake Records in the BBC Jazz Awards 2005 poll.
    April 8, 2005
    A new feature page: 45 rpm EP records from the 1950s and 1960s.
    April 3, 2005
    Programme from the Take Me Back To New Orleans Tour in the mid-1980s: lots of colour photos, band members' biographies, and articles in English and German.
    April 2, 2005
    The Water Rats Ball page now features a short article by Chas McDevitt , which includes an appreciation of Chris's early and lasting contributions to music in the UK.
    March 25, 2005
    Colin Miller's replacement on drums is John Sutton, formerly of the Pasadena Roof Orchestra.
    March 25, 2005
    One of the longest-serving drummers in the band, Colin Miller, has recently retired. All the best to Colin for the future.
    March 24, 2005
    Thanks to Chas McDevitt, you can see two rare photos of the Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Group from 1954.
    March 19, 2005
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 7, Number 6.
    March 14, 2005
    Photographs from the Water Rats Ball, 2004, where Chris received the "Living Legend" award.
    March 13, 2005
    Programme from a 1971-1972 tour: This booklet is interesting because it is longer than most, contains photos and short essays about each band member, and has the text in three languages -- English, Frech, and German.
    March 6, 2005
    Guestbooks added.
    March 3, 2005
    First announcement (here, at any rate) of a new double-CD from Lake Records, The Classic Concerts (see the details on the New Releases page).
    February 27, 2005
    Diana Gardner was the band's secretary in the mid-1950s, and was therefore responsible for producing the Chris Barber Club booklets in the early years. Now, almost fifty years later, she shares her reminiscences of those days.
    February 26, 2005
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 4, No. 3
    February 25, 2005
    The remainder of the photos taken by Andreas Wandfluh and Julian Purser in Denmark are now available in full-screen size.
    February 19, 2005
    Half of the photos taken by Andreas Wandfluh and Julian Purser in Denmark are now available in full-screen size.
    February 19, 2005
    Thanks to fan Chris Robbins, here is Chris Barber's foreword to a book about skiffle in the 1950s.
    February 17, 2005
    Lake Records has recently re-released the classic 1953 New Orleans To London recordings by Ken Colyer's Jazzmen. Go to the New Releases page for details.
    February 4, 2005
    There is now a Photographs, page 6, which shows pictures taken during the band's short tour of Denmark in January.
    January 30, 2005
    Ray Green of Auckland, New Zealand, remembers the 2000 Down Under Tour by the Chris Barber Jazz & Blues Band and Kenny Ball's Jazzmen.
    January 28, 2005
    A new CD of rare tracks recorded by Ken Colyer's Jazzmen in Denmark in 1953 has recently been released. See the New and Recent Releases page for more details.
    January 22, 2005
    The Great Reunion Concert is the most recent addition to the Covers Pages.
    January 22, 2005
    Programme from a concert in Toronto, Canada, on October 12, 1960.
    January 16, 2005
    The Big Chris Barber Band in Denmark, January 2005: Andreas Wandfluh's account of his eventful trip to Denmark to see the band perform with Sjællands Symfoniorkester.
    January 8, 2005
    Programme from a tour of East Germany, 1965.
    December 22, 2004
    The latest Chris Barber Club booklet to be added is Volume 2, Number 1.
    December 18, 2004
    The website collection of booklets from the Chris Barber Club continues to grow with the addition of Volume 5, Number 7.
    December 15, 2004
    The Big Chris Barber Band in concert, Orwell Park School, 3rd December 2004, reviewed by Jerry Brown.
    December 12, 2004
    A page for Big Chris Barber Band bassist Vic Pitt, with a selection of photos and a brief biography.
    December 11, 2004
    The Big Chris Barber Band shared the bill with Humphrey Lyttelton and His Band at Colston Hall in Bristol on December 10, 2004.
    December 10, 2004
    A page for Big Chris Barber Band trombonist & arranger Bob Hunt, with a selection of photos and a brief biography.
    December 8, 2004
    Announcement of a CD featuring past and present members of the Barber band.
    December 5, 2004
    Thanks to webmaster and archive team member Andreas Wandfluh's work, we can now view the complete booklet that was included along with the six-LP Chris Barber Jubilee Album set of records released in 1974. The booklet includes some rare photographs, brief biographies of the then-personnel, and a lengthy piece by Chris himself. All of the text is in both English and German.
    November 19, 2004
    Jeff Van Horn of Austin, Texas, recently visited Germany, where he not only heard but also met the Big Chris Barber Band. Here is his story of the great evening he spent with the band.
    November 12, 2004
    A page for Big Chris Barber Band reedman Tony Carter, with a selection of photos and a brief biography.
    November 5, 2004
    Two items from Jazz News, July 1961.
    October 31, 2004
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Volume 2, Number 6.
    October 29, 2004
    Swiss newspaper article (14 October, 2004) about the recent Chris Barber in Switzerland 1974/75 double-CD from Lake Records.
    October 23, 2004
    In keeping with the archives team's goal of posting all of the Chris Barber Club booklets from the 1950s, you can now read Volume 3, Number 5.
    October 16, 2004
    Programme from the Floating Festival of Jazz, June 1958.
    October 9, 2004
    Photographs, by Hans Barth, of the Chris Barber Jazz & Blues Band in the Netherlands in 1975. Hans's accompanying text (on Photographs, page 5) is in Dutch and English.
    October 3, 2004
    Meet the men "Behind the scenes" at a Chris Barber concert -- Richard Oliver and Barry Walker.
    October 3, 2004
    Read about Colin Miller, drummer with the Big Chris Barber Band.
    October 1, 2004
    A double-CD and a single CD have been released in the last couple of weeks. You can get all the details either on the New Releases page or the Covers pages.
    September 28, 2004
    Two music books from the 1950s, linked from the "From the archives..." page.
    September 25, 2004
    An article in Dutch, reminiscing about a 1959 Barber recording.
    September 19, 2004
    Programme from a tour of Germany with American clarinettist Edmond Hall in 1962. The text is in German.
    September 11, 2004
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Volume 5, Number 9, is notable for some rare photographs and a detailed account of the second American tour.
    September 5, 2004
    A page for former band member Jackie Flavelle, and another for Johnny Duncan.
    September 4, 2004
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Volume 2, Number 2: this one is particularly interesting for an article by Ottilie about Chris, plus an account of Eddie Condon's visit to England.
    September 1, 2004
    Posters and a programme from Sweden, 1960s.
    August 28, 2004
    Volume One of the Chris Barber Club booklets is now complete on the website, with the addition of Numbers 4 and 5.
    August 22, 2004
    Programme from the 30 Years Tour in 1985, featuring Ken Colyer and Monty Sunshine. The text is in both English and German.
    August 21, 2004
    Entry to the Recordings section of the website has been re-designed to look better and to make it easier to get to the sub-pages.
    August 15, 2004
    Sound-check and offstage photos of the Big Chris Barber Band, by Julian Purser.
    August 14, 2004
    Chapter from a 1960s book, Trad Mad.
    August 8, 2004
    All of the Big Chris Barber Band pages have been updated to reflect the new personnel: Andy Kuc on banjo and guitar, and Richard Exall on reeds.
    August 6, 2004
    Details of a new 6-CD box set, The Nixa Jazz Today Albums.

    August 2, 2004
    New items added over the last couple of weeks include:
    The Chris Barber Story, Part 2.
    A Sunday newspaper magazine article from 1974: three photographs plus six pages of text (linked to the From the archives page).
    The 1954-1994 Reunion Tour: Souvenir booklet and concert programme. This is a nicely illustrated 32-page booklet with numerous photographs in colour and black-&-white, and with text in both English and German.
    Chris Barber Club, booklet Volume 7, Number 5.
    A poster of 117 Chris Barber Band record covers.
    Programme from a 1966 tour of Switzerland.

    July 17, 2004
    Here are 24 photographs from a Washington, DC, parade by members of the Barber Band with the Eureka Brass Band in the early 1960s.
    July 10, 2004
    Two programmes added to the Tours and Concerts page.
    July 5, 2004
    A page to mark the 50th anniversary of the recording of New Orleans Joys, 13 July 1954.
    July 4, 2004
    Paul Sealey and Trevor Whiting are leaving the Big Chris Barber Band, to be replaced by Richard Exall and Andy Kuc.
    July 3, 2004
    Andreas Wandfluh has contributed fifteen excellent new photographs.
    July 3, 2004
    Julian Purser reports on the Lonnie Donegan Tribute Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on Monday 21 June, 2004.
    July 2, 2004
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 1, No. 3.
    June 26, 2004
    Programme from a 1960 Dutch concert tour.
    June 26, 2004
    A Barber fan is looking for rare CDs to complete his collection. Please see the Fan Correspondence page.
    June 25, 2004
    Go to Photographs page 4 for about two dozen newly-scanned pictures from the Barber-Purser archives.
    June 22, 2004
    Two CD covers have been added to the Covers page: That's It Then and Cornbread, Peas And Black Molasses.
    June 20, 2004
    A page for Monty Sunshine, including a short biography, photographs, music, and CD covers.
    June 20, 2004
    Chris Barber Club booklet, Vol. 1, No. 2.
    [Updates from mid-March to mid-June, 2004 have been lost]
    March 16, 2004
    Added a page for former band member Stu Morrison.
    March 14, 2004
    Added a page for former band member Eddie Smith, and some more documents from a concert in New Orleans on October 26, 1959.
    March 11, 2004
    There is now a new sub-section on the Barber website: Former Members of the Band. It's part of the Jazz Band/Jazz & Blues Band section, but you can get to it directly by going to the sub-section home page. So far, the "Archives Team" has compiled just two biographies (Dick Smith and Steve Hammond), but we hope to be able to complete the list as time goes on. Also, there are now more than 160 pictures of record covers on the Thumbnails page.
    March 6, 2004
    A new CD of very early Barber recordings has recently been released by Lake Records. Vintage Ken Colyer includes 22 tracks recorded by Ken Colyer's Jazzmen in Copenhagen in April and May 1953. Details are on the New releases page and elsewhere in the website.
    March 4, 2004
    Several new programmes have been added to the Tours and Concerts page. Also, there is a series of inter-linked pages about the Louis Jordan tour and recordings in 1962. The best place to start is on the Record covers page and follow the links for The Best Of Both Worlds and Louis Jordan & Chris Barber.
    February 27, 2004
    Julian Purser has contributed an illustrated review of two recent concerts by the Big Chris Barber Band: at Swindon on February 23 and Yeovil on February 24.
    February 26, 2004
    There is now an individual cover page for the First Eleven CD. You can get to it directly, or via the Covers page. A notable feature of the new page is the opportunity to compare (in sound clips) the Big Chris Barber Band version of Sweetness with the recording by Vancouver band Sweet Papa Lowdown on which the Barber version was based.
    February 22, 2004
    There are some new programmes on the Tours and Concerts page.
    February 20, 2004
    A few messages have been posted on the Fan Correspondence page.
    FEATURE PAGES
    A page of covers and sleeve notes from EP records from the 1950s and 1960s
    50th anniversary of Ottilie Patterson joining the band on January 1st, 1955
    Welcome to new band members Andy Kuc and Richard Exall
    A series of newspaper articles (in German, but with some introductory text in English) about the Big Chris Barber Band
    50th anniversary of the recording of New Orleans Joys, 13 July 1954 / Vor fünfzig Jahren: Chris Barber's Jazz Band und ihre LP New Orleans Joys
    50th anniversary of the formation of Chris Barber’s Jazz Band and the Chris Barber-Pat Halcox partnership / 50 Jahre Chris Barber's Jazz Band
    50th anniversary of the recording of New Orleans to London, by Ken Colyer’s Jazzmen / Vor fünfzig Jahren: Ken Colyer's Jazzmen und ihre LP New Orleans to London
    Results of the first Big Chris Barber Band competition / Resultate des ersten Wettbewerbes über die Big Chris Barber Band
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