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Barre Phillips

Barre Phillips (born October 27, 1934 in San Francisco,California) is a jazz and free improvisation bassist. Aprofessional musician since 1960, he migrated to New YorkCity in 1962, then to Europe in 1967.[1] Since 1972 he hasbeen based in southern France.He studied briefly in 1959 with S. Charles Siani, AssistantPrincipal Bassist with the San Francisco Symphony Duringthe 1960s he recorded with (among others) Eric Dolphy,Jimmy Giuffre, Archie Shepp, Attila Zoller, Lee Konitz andMarion Brown.[1]Phillips' 1968 recording of solo bass improvisations, issued asJournal Violone in the USA, Unaccompanied Barre in England,and Basse Barre in France, is generally credited as the firstsolo bass record. A 1971 record with Dave Holland, Musicfrom Two Basses, was probably the first record of bass duets.[2]In the 1970s he was a member of the well-regarded andinfluential group The Trio with saxophonist John Surman anddrummer Stu Martin.[1] In the 1980s and 1990s he playedregularly with the London Jazz Composers Orchestra led byfellow bassist Barry Guy. In 1991 he worked with OrnetteColeman on the soundtrack of the motion picture NakedLunch.As a free improviser he has worked with (among many others)bassists Peter Kowald and Joëlle Léandre, guitarist DerekBailey, clarinetists Theo Jörgensmann and Aurélien Besnard,saxophonists Peter Brötzmann, Evan Parker and Joe Maneri,and pianist Paul Bley.Barre is the father of rock guitarist Jay Crawford from the bandBomb, and of the bassist Dave Phillips.

Source: Wikipedia

Marion Brown: Live in Europe 1968 & 1972

Read "Live in Europe 1968 & 1972" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
June 29, 2026

There was not much room in the crowded landscape of the 1960s avant-garde for everyone to receive equal attention. Critics and listeners alike gravitated toward the towering presence of John Coltrane, whose music dominated both record sales and jazz journalism. As a result, visionary figures such as Eric Dolphy, Albert Ayler and Marion Brown often found themselves working in the margins, their contributions receiving widespread recognition only after the fact. Fortunately, their music was documented, preserved, and remains available for ...

Album Review

Barre Phillips, Giancarlo Nino Locatelli: Danze degli scorpioni

Read "Danze degli scorpioni" reviewed by Neri Pollastri

by Neri Pollastri
March 4, 2024

Sebbene arrivi con ben quindici anni di ritardo, è decisamente benvenuta questa documentazione del concerto in duo di uno dei massimi maestri dell'improvvisazione europea, il contrabbassista (in realtà d'origini statunitensi) Barre Phillips, e il clarinettista italiano Giancarlo Nino" Locatelli. Svoltasi in Austria il 2 maggio del 2008, in occasione dell'Ulrichsberger Keleidophon, e interamente improvvisata, la perfromance fu apprezzatissima--come testimoniano la presenza di due bis e le entusiastiche note del danzatore Julyen Hamilton, che di Phillips è stato molte volte partner ...

Album Review

Euphorium_freakestra: Free Acoustic Supergroup

Read "Free Acoustic Supergroup" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
July 5, 2023

Thanks to pianist and director Oliver Schwerdt, the Euphorium_freakestra is and always has been a glorious experiment in organized disorganization. The double CD Free Acoustic Supergroup is the ensemble's seventh release. Schwerdt's experiments began with the single disc Ðal Ngai (Euphorium Records, 2004) and eventually the group's 3-CD Grande Casino (Euphorium Records, 2018). Ðal Ngai included the guest artists Friedrich Schenker and Günter Baby Sommer. Other releases found the ensemble hosting musicians such as Thomas Lehn, Barry Guy, and Bertrand ...

Liner Notes

Heiner Stadler: Brains on Fire

by Howard Mandel
April 14, 2023

Brains on Fire fuels reflection on the past and response in the present. These eight extraordinary extended tracks, recorded in unusual conjunctions of master jazz improvisers instigated by composer/pianist Heiner Stadler for sessions held from 1966 through 1974, are alive with the passions of that era celebrating large, original works stretching the bounds of even the most ambitious music come before. As Stadler and his cadre of fully collaborative, creative interpreters brought immense smarts, skills and sensibilities besides ...

Album Review

Mike Westbrook Concert Band: Marching Song Volumes 1 & 2 Plus Bonus Tracks

Read "Marching Song Volumes 1 & 2 Plus Bonus Tracks" reviewed by Maurizio Comandini

by Maurizio Comandini
June 20, 2022

Mike Westbrook, pianista e soprattutto direttore di orchestra, è nato il 21 marzo del 1936 a High Wycombe, 50 chilometri a nord-ovest di Londra. Dapprima tentato dalla Art School di Plymouth, si dedica poi con decisione alla musica, dalla fine degli anni cinquanta. Nel 1958 forma la sua prima band per la quale gli capita di reclutare il sedicenne John Surman, giovane talento emergente che stava terminando il suo percorso scolastico. Quattro anni dopo Westbrook si sposta a Londra per ...

Album Review

Phillips, Butcher, Solberg: We Met - And Then

Read "We Met - And Then" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
September 30, 2021

Sometimes three is a crowd, but when the company is as empathetic and welcoming as the fertile established partnership of British saxophonist John Butcher and Swedish percussionist Ståle Liavik Solberg, then the addition of veteran American bassist Barre Phillips serves as more of a benediction. Butcher and Solberg only came together in 2015, but the success of that encounter, documented on So Beautiful, It Starts To Rain (Clean Feed, 2016), encouraged further liaison not only as a twosome, ...

Album Review

Barre Phillips/Mike Bullock: At Home

Read "At Home" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
July 13, 2020

With End To End (ECM Records, 2018), Barre Phillips made his final major statement in the solo double bass format he created. In 2019 fellow American bassist Mike Bullock visited him at his secluded mountainside home in France, a 17th century stone house attached to an 11th century stone church. The pair spent a couple of relaxed hours in the Chapelle Sainte Philomène playing solos on Phillips' double bass, each playing a few minutes and passing the instrument back and ...

190

Recording

Barre Phillips: Three Day Moon (ECM 1123)

Source: Between Sound and Space - An ECM Records Resource
March 16, 2011

Barre Phillips Three Day Moon

Barre Phillips bass Terje Rypdal guitar, guitar synthesizer, organ Dieter Feichtner synthesizer Trilok Gurtu tabla, percussion Recorded March 1978 at Talent Studio, Oslo Engineer: Jan Erik Kongshaug Produced by Manfred Eicher

I have said it before and I will say it again: Barre Phillips is one of ECM's most underrecognized treasures. A maverick of the upright bass, his is a mind ...
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157

Event

Barre Phillips Exhibition in France

Source: Michael Ricci
October 20, 2009

The Life and Work of Barre Phillips is the subject of an exhibition at Nice's Bibliotheque Louis Nucra, running from December 11 2009 to February 6 2010. Titled “40 ans de cration musicale", the exhibition looks at aspects of the great bassist's work since moving from America to France in 1969, including documentation of many tours, recordings and more. Films and performance are also part of the programme, with Barre Phillips giving four Saturday afternoon concerts. On December 12, Barre ...
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104

Performance / Tour

Firehouse 12 to Present Dave & Barre Phillips November 30th

Source: Improvised Communications
November 27, 2007

On Friday, November 30th, father and son bassists Barre and Dave Phillips will perform at New Haven's Firehouse 12 as part of their first ever tour together. The pair will also record together as a duo for the first time at Firehouse 12 the following day. Their tour, called “Basfidel, Father & Son," is made possible with support from Chamber Music America and French American Cultural Exchange's CMA/FACE French-American Jazz Exchange Program, and funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, ...
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Website

Basfidel (Barre Phillips/Bass and Dave Phillips/Bass) - Northeast Tour

Source: All About Jazz
November 26, 2007

Basfidel (Barre Phillips/Bass and Dave Phillips/Bass) will be embarking on an east coast tour, which will run from November 28th through December 2nd, 2007. The performances will be held in New York City, New Haven, Ct. and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Basfidel Barre Phillips - Bass Dave Phillips - Bass November 28: Barbe's, Brooklyn NY 8pm 376 9th St. (corner of 6th Ave.) Park Slope, Brooklyn For information Call 718.965.9177 Admisssion $10 8:00 PM November 30: Firehouse 12 ...
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103

Performance / Tour