Jazz Articles about Barney Bigard

The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia & RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-66

by Skip Heller
May 28, 2021

Louis Armstrong officially returned to small band leadership May 17, 1947 via a triumphant concert at Town Hall that was less comeback than reaffirmation. It was even the dawn of his second great period, full of recordings that stood tall with his epochal 1920's output, and the subsequently-assembled Louis Armstrong and his All Stars would immediately establish themselves as a staple of the live jazz circuit as well as a powerhouse recording unit. That era--to the purposes of ...

Barney Bigard & Art Hodes: Barney Bigard & Art Hodes: Bucket's Got A Hole In It

by Mike Neely
December 1, 2000

Barney Bigard is one of the outstanding jazz clarinetists of the twentieth century. His bluesy, sensual tone and extraordinary agility graced the albums of the King Oliver, and Jelly Roll Morton before he became Duke Ellington’s regular clarinetist from 1927 to 1942. To top off this incredible career, after the second world war he became Louis Armstrong’s clarinetist from 1947 to 1956. Few musician’s could point to as illustrious a line of employers.

Bigard was in demand partially because of ...