Jazz Articles about Barry Guy

About Barry Guy

Live Review

Genius Loci 2023 Firenze Complesso Monumentale di Santa Croce 28-30.9.2023 Come ormai accade da sei anni, gli splendidi e suggestivi spazi che circondano la Chiesa fiorentina di Santa Croce --nella quale, come noto, si trovano le spoglie di numerosi artisti e personaggi storici--si sono aperti per ospitare Genius Loci, due giorni di incontri, attività e spettacoli aperti al pubblico, con il contributo, oltre che dell'Opera di Santa Croce, del Comune di Firenze, di associazioni ...

Album Review

Barry Guy: Irvin's Comet

Read "Irvin's Comet" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
October 4, 2021

Unaccompanied might just be the best format in which to appreciate British bassist Barry Guy's playing. This way there are no distractions, no other virtuosi vying for attention. That is often an issue. Although his discography contains occasional solo dates, they are far outnumbered by the entries for the trio with saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer Paul Lytton, other groups and ad hoc meetings. Irvin's Comet, available as an LP or download, helps reduce the deficit by presenting six solo ...

Album Review

Nate Wooley / Liudas Mockunas / Barry Guy / Arkadijus Gotesmanas: Nox

by John Sharpe
April 18, 2021

Nox presents a four-piece uniting two of Lithuania's finest improvisers, reedman Liudas Mockunas and drummer Arkadijus Gotesmanas, with two world class instrumentalists, trumpeter Nate Wooley and bassist Barry Guy. Recorded at the 2019 Improdimensions Festival in Vilnius, the limited edition LP (also available as a download) contains three collectively sculpted tracks, demonstrating a unity of purpose which belies their off-the-wall genesis. Gotesmanas' spare non-metric clatter and acute punctuation plays a defining role, enabling a transparent sound which ...

Album Review

Oliver Schwerdt with Barry Guy and Günter ‘Baby’ Sommer: One for My Baby and One More for the Bass

Read "One for My Baby and One More for the Bass" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
March 21, 2021

There aren't many musicians who've loomed larger in European free improvisation since the 1970s than bassist Barry Guy and percussionist Günter 'Baby' Sommer. In addition to their own work as leaders (the former having much more of a presence in this regard than the latter, admittedly), each has collaborated with the heavyweights of the free music scene, from Peter Brötzmann to Evan Parker to Cecil Taylor. Yet the two had never performed together, until up-and-coming pianist Oliver Schwerdt invited them ...

Album Review

London Jazz Composers Orchestra: That Time

Read "That Time" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
May 26, 2020

Issued to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the London Jazz Composers Orchestra, That Time uncovers a fascinating window on the early years of the pioneering company which are only sparsely documented elsewhere. The first two tracks from Berlin and Donaueschingen date from 1972, some six months after the LJCO's debut album Ode (Intakt, 1996), while the last two were captured in 1980, the same year as Stringer (Intakt, 2006). Engineer Ferran Conangla has done a marvelous job ...

Album Review

Torben Snekkestad / Agusti Fernandez / Barry Guy: The Swiftest Traveler

Read "The Swiftest Traveler" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
May 6, 2020

A trio of exploratory and quick-witted improvisers unite for an exciting and stimulating outing on The Swiftest Traveler. Norwegian reedman Torben Snekkestad and Catalan pianist Agusti Fernandez are comrades of bassist Barry Guy in his The Blue Shroud Band and also the 2020 edition of the London Jazz Composers Orchestra. The three familiars forge an alchemical transformation of disparate sounds into music, abstract in the sense of Miro rather than Pollock, in that its assembly hails from recognizable fragments.

Live Review

London Jazz Composers Orchestra 50 Year Anniversary

by John Sharpe
March 26, 2020

London Jazz Composers Orchestra Alchemia and Manggha Museum Krakow, Poland March 6-8, 2020 Intro Fifty years and counting. One of the most important larger bands in European jazz, The London Jazz Composers Orchestra celebrated its golden anniversary over three days in Krakow which culminated in a triumphant performance of “Harmos." Long a staple of the LJCO repertoire, with its beautiful melody, it's one of leader Barry Guy's most approachable works. This rendition was powerful ...