Jazz Articles about Barry Guy

About Barry Guy

Album Review

Barry Guy / Ken Vandermark: Occasional Poems

Read "Occasional Poems" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
April 4, 2016

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 ...

Album Review

Living Room, Barry Guy: Live at Literaturhaus

Read "Live at Literaturhaus" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
March 23, 2016

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 ...

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Barry Guy: Back to the Drawing-Board (Part 3)

by Duncan Heining
February 22, 2016

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 ...

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Barry Guy: A Prophet is Not without Honour (Part 2)

by Duncan Heining
February 21, 2016

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 ...

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Barry Guy: Ploughs into Swordshares, Part 1-3

by Duncan Heining
February 21, 2016

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 ...

Album Review

Barry Guy: Five Fizzles for Samuel Beckett

Read "Five Fizzles for Samuel Beckett" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
April 14, 2015

Not to be confused with Fizzles (Maya, 1993), which contains the first documented version of the titular work along with other pieces for solo bass, Five Fizzles for Samuel Beckett is a 14 minute limited edition EP which does what it says on the tin. Virtuoso British bassist Barry Guy has long drawn inspiration from other art forms, especially writings and visual works. Beckett wrote eight texts between 1960 and 1976, seven written in French (under the title Foirades which ...

Live Review

Barry Guy Blue Shroud Band in Krakow, Poland

by John Sharpe
December 16, 2014

Barry Guy Blue Shroud Band Alchemia Krakow, Poland November 18-22, 2014 Chapter Index The Blue Shroud Krakow Jazz Autumn Small Group Formations Day One Day Two Day Three Polish Musicians Post Script The Blue Shroud From the first notes the audience was spell bound. You could hear the proverbial pin ...