Jazz Articles about Barry Guy

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Barry Guy New Orchestra: Oort-Entropy

by Glenn Astarita
November 23, 2005

Seminal free jazz bassist Barry Guy is responsible for manning some of the finest albums in this rather opaque genre. Aside from his longtime affiliations with saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer Paul Lytton--both of whom are featured here--the bassist is no stranger to leading exploratory ensembles.

Guy's small orchestra equates to a multinational tentet. Sure, he's a killer bassist, but more importantly, this release signifies an autonomous union of like-minded spirits where shape and form play a significant ...

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Barry Guy New Orchestra: Oort-Entropy

by Derek Taylor
October 7, 2005

As a general rule of thumb, the bigger the band, the larger the role of logistics and finances in dictating its survival. In response to just such variables, the London Jazz Composer's Orchestra, one of the most venerable and prolific among large-scale European improvising outfits, underwent a necessary and indefinite hiatus back in 1998. Two years later a pruned down and reconfigured version resurfaced under the mantle of the Barry Guy New Orchestra. Ten pieces might seem a bit slim ...

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Barry Guy/Marilyn Crispell/Paul Lytton: Ithaca

by Ollie Bivens
April 20, 2005

Barry Guy is a British bassist and founder of the London Jazz Composers Orchestra. On his latest album on the Intakt label he, fellow British drummer Paul Lytton and American pianist Marilyn Crispell explore the outer reaches of a style of music - free jazz - that deserves a wider hearing among the American public. Ithaca is a good place to start for the listener who has open ears for a more cutting-edge branch from the many styles of the ...

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Barry Guy/Marilyn Crispell/Paul Lytton: Ithaca

by Glenn Astarita
April 10, 2005

Inspired by two architects and underscored by Irish artist George Vaughn's piece Ithaca, bassist Barry Guy and his bandmates enact various planes and emotive elements on this superb effort. With this outing--and a second trio date for Intakt Records--the trio morphs tumultuous crosscurrents with driving and oddly balanced rhythms.

Guy, pianist Marilyn Crispell, and percussionist Paul Lytton are among the more notable improvisers on the globe. To that end, this band's mark of distinction and clarity of execution ...

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Barry Guy/Marilyn Crispell/Paul Lytton: Ithaca

by A. Henkin
December 7, 2004

In 1968, three Europeans--pianist Irene Schweizer, bassist Peter Kowald and drummer Pierre Favre--privately released Santana , on the surface a traditional piano trio, but in fact a violent refutation of jazz' most dependable format. Laden with a brutality that may have made Cecil Taylor blanche, Santana was another example of European free improvisation cutting the cord from traditional American jazz. Now, 36 years later, another piano trio, comprised of peers of the Santana group (bassist Barry Guy and ...

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Barry Guy: Symmetries

by Mark Corroto
July 4, 2002

Bassist Barry Guy has stepped away from his London Jazz Composers Orchestra to perform in small group settings and perform solo. His associations with the old and the new of the avant-garde have him collaborating with among many, Evan Parker and Mats Gustafsson. His solo recordings for bass, date back to 1976 with Statements V-XI For Double Bass & Violone, Assist (1985), and Fizzles (1993). His 1991 duets with bassist Barre Phillips on this same Maya records is well worth ...

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Evan Parker/Barry Guy/Lawrence Casserley: Dividuality

by Mark Corroto
September 1, 2001

The United Kingdom musicians Evan Parker and Barry Guy have met and collaborated on many a project over the years. From the early days (1960s & 1970s) with the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and London Jazz Composers Orchestra to a myriad of present day projects, they have defined and refined European creative music. In the late 1990s Evan Parker’s interest in electronics brought Guy together on Parker’s Electro-Acoustic Ensemble records, Drawn Inward and Toward The Margins, for ECM records. Parker mixed ...