Home » Jazz Articles » Barry Guy
Jazz Articles about Barry Guy
Barry Guy / Marilyn Crispell / Paul Lytton: Deep Memory
by John Sharpe
Bassist Barry Guy took a key role in pianist Howard Riley's groundbreaking trio in the late 60s, early 70s. And while that early experience has in no way defined him, it means it perhaps comes as less of a surprise that he has increasingly turned to the format in the latter part of his career. One offs apart, the two enduring piano trio vehicles for the bassist are the Aurora Trio with Agusti Fernandez and Ramon Lopez, and the accomplished ...
Continue ReadingBarry Guy: The Blue Shroud
by John Sharpe
In some ways, The Blue Shroud might be Barry Guy's signature work. It's the first to unite his varied interests in Baroque music, composition, jazz and improv at an orchestral scale. To do so Guy assembles a 14-strong crack unit capable of interpreting each aspect to the highest level, including several early music specialists who are also able to extemporize. And Guy's topic is worthy of such endeavor. He takes as his inspiration three interlinked themes, the ...
Continue ReadingBarry Guy / Ken Vandermark: Occasional Poems
by John Sharpe
For British bassist Barry Guy the concert that produced this fine double disc package occurred at the end of a four day intensive residency in Krakow culminating in the premier of an ambitious new work by his Blue Shroud Band. While for Chicago reedman Ken Vandermark, the event was the final episode in two months on the road. But whether relief or exhaustion were the dominant feelings, neither resulted in any lowering of standards or resting on laurels. Occasional Poems ...
Continue ReadingLiving Room, Barry Guy: Live at Literaturhaus
by Alberto Bazzurro
Il trio danese Living Room ospita il glorioso contrabbassista londinese Barry Guy per questo live consumatosi in quel di Copenhagen nel dicembre 2012, e tre anni dopo ne cava fuori un disco. L'incontro era certo meritevole di documentazione, specie per il lustro che può portare al curriculum dei tre giovani danesi (viaggiano tutti attorno ai quaranta, e quindi, oggi come oggi, sono giovani musicisti), tuttavia--com'era del resto prevedibile--ci si muove sul terreno spesso franoso della libera improvvisazione, e quindi le ...
Continue ReadingBarry Guy: Back to the Drawing-Board (Part 3)
by Duncan Heining
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 One of the things which may strike the listener on hearing the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra for the first time is just how much volume Guy is able to draw from just seventeen to twenty players. Some other big bands sound almost insipid in comparison. There is something about the way the composer is able to harness the power of his individual musicians and magnify it to something of symphonic ...
Continue ReadingBarry Guy: A Prophet is Not without Honour (Part 2)
by Duncan Heining
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Barry Guy has been the artistic director and main composer of the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra throughout its now forty-five year history. Recordings and performances since Ode in 1972 have been sporadic but those forty-five years have resulted in eleven albums (including one with Anthony Braxton) and one DVD. In that time, the longest gaps in releases have been between Ode and Stringer (1972-1983) and between Double Trouble Two and ...
Continue ReadingBarry Guy: Ploughs into Swordshares, Part 1-3
by Duncan Heining
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Edgar Varèse's defiant statement in the face of public and critical indifference -"The present day composer refuses to die"—could so easily apply to composer-bassist Barry Guy. He has earned over the years a deep and lasting respect from certain fans and critics, though more so in North America and Europe than in the country of his birth. Nevertheless, the struggles of the creative artist in a world where culture is ...
Continue Reading
