Jazz Articles about Barry Guy

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Mats Gustafsson/Barry Guy: Frogging

by Mark Corroto
March 1, 2001

Spontaneous creative music, i.e. ‘free jazz,’ usually tends toward high-energy output and daredevil antics. The appeal is like that of theater, generated in the immediacy of the moment and sometimes the physicality of the creation. The charms of spontaneous music are often lost in the conversion from ‘live’ event to recorded disc.

Nothing though seems lost on this recorded duo between Mats Gustafsson and Barry Guy. The Swede Gustafsson has continued to generate excellent recordings these past six years, playing ...

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The Howard Riley Trio with Barry Guy & Tony Oxley: Synopsis

by Glenn Astarita
January 1, 2001

Synopsis represents material originally issued on the “Incus” LP along with one additional and previously unreleased track, performed by the venerable trio of pianist Howard Riley, bassist Barry Guy and percussionist Tony Oxley who also utilizes live electronics on this outing. Essentially, this recording resides within the classic and oft pioneering British free-jazz style of improvisation, and as some of us might surmise, the band delivers the goods in artful and curiously interesting fashion.

Throughout these five pieces, the “Howard ...

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Evan Parker - Barry Guy - Paul Lytton and Marilyn Crispell: After Appleby

by Glenn Astarita
June 1, 2000

After Appleby is a recently issued 2 CD-set from the powerhouse Trio of saxophonist Evan Parker, percussionist Paul Lytton, bassist Barry Guy and here teeming with pianist Marilyn Crispell for what heats up to be a - festive union of bleeding edge improvisational spirits! A supergroup for the – modern music – ages, these esteemed musicians perform a series of works that pretty much skirt the fringes of every conceivable tract of intuitive expressionism imaginable along with hearty injections of ...

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Evan Parker / Barry Guy / Paul Lytton: At the Vortex

by Robert Spencer
July 1, 1998

Evan Parker's last disc for FMP called him “a star of free jazz," and that he certainly is. What's more, Parker / Guy / Lytton are a free jazz supergroup. They rank with Anthony Braxton's quartet with Marilyn Crispell, Mark Dresser, and Gerry Hemingway, as one of the most renowned, oft-recorded, and long-lived ensembles in the “avant-garde." At the Vortex (1996) is their seventh currently-available CD, featuring Parker once again on soprano and tenor saxophones, Guy on bass, and Lytton ...

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Paul Plimley / Barry Guy: Sensology

by Robert Spencer
June 1, 1998

Paul Plimley is a remarkable pianist who can play with as much power as any free player can muster (yes, even as much as Cecil Taylor, whom he echoes here on occasion – although I don't think Plimley has played the tremendous marathons of energy that are Taylor's specialty), as well as with surpassing delicacy and grace (for example, on Joe McPhee's 1995 Sweet Freedom, Now What? with frequent partner on bass Lisle Ellis). Barry Guy, of course, is the ...

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Mats Gustafsson / Barry Guy: Frogging

by Robert Spencer
June 1, 1998

Intriguing. This disc is a counterpart to Obliquities, Guy's 1994 duets with his longtime trio partner Evan Parker. But Mats Gustafsson, who like Parker plays tenor but also baritone sax, flute, fluteophone and French flageolet, is an even more acerbic player than Parker. His playing is even farther removed from conventional reed playing than Guy's more prominent foil, although it clearly shows the influence of Parker: Gustafsson indeed represents the post-Parker generation of reedmen. Meanwhile, this disc highlights how much ...