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Will Barnes

A consummate guitarist, Will’s technical brilliance is matched with an innate and versatile musicality. At home with reggae collectives, gypsy jazz virtuosos or heavy metal riff merchants, Will’s playing always shines with its formidable prowess yet deft touch, and his infectious ability to whip up a fervour. He can effortlessly and delicately put his hand to the most technical solo guitar pieces, or rip it up with super-funky soul inspired groove. His versatility and virtuosity combine to produce solos with unpredictable excitement, as he draws from his rich palate of influences.

To date Will has performed with the likes of Gary Potter, Frank Vignola, Dan Cassidy, Alan Barnes and John Etheridge. Having toured extensively with Classical/Jazz crossover group “Gypsy Fire” will has performed sell-out shows at some of the UK’s top theatres, clubs and festivals including Ronnie Scotts, 606 Club, Royal Albert Hall, Brecon Jazz Festival, Cheltenham Jazz Festival and the International Gypsy Guitar Festival. Will also regularly performs throughout Europe, both with his own ensembles and as a sought-after session guitarist. 

Will’s playing is always in high demand, and in this quartet he explores his love of guitarists such as Grant Green and Wes Montgomery, but expect moments of fire among the chilled out groove!

Three albums that have influenced Will’s playing include:

Night Train, Oscar Peterson Trio (1963) 

Jim Hall & Pat Metheny, Jim Hall and Pat Metheny (1999) 

Midnight Blue, Kenny Burrell (1963) 


Tags

4
Radio & Podcasts

Will Barnes: Jazz Impressions of the Welsh Landscape

Read "Will Barnes: Jazz Impressions of the Welsh Landscape" reviewed by Lawrence Peryer


Today, the Spotlight shines On Will Barnes, leader of the Will Barnes Quartet, who joins me to talk about his life in music and, specifically, his ongoing collaboration with landscape artist Erin Hughes. Their first album together, Source of the Severn (AAB Records), is a 21st-century take on classic bebop-era sounds. Erin's nine original works of art respond to Will and the Quartet's music, using her own hand-marbled papers as a palette to create collages that evoke the ...

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1
Recording

“Traveler” Visits Barnes & Noble, Bossa Novas Onto Billboard Chart

“Traveler” Visits Barnes & Noble, Bossa Novas Onto Billboard Chart

Source: Great Scott P.R.oductions

World beat purveyor Lawson Rollins boosted by in-store play for his newly released album; the virtuoso guitarist to be profiled in Guitar Player magazine. San Francisco, CA: The guitar-guided world music excursions that you hear this month in Barnes & Noble stores throughout the United States come from the recently released Traveler, the critically-hailed fifth album from globetrotting guitarist Lawson Rollins. Debuting upon release in the Top 20 of the iTunes world music chart, the disc produced by Rollins and ...

1
Performance / Tour

The Jazz Bridge "Jazz At The Library,” Third Thursday Concert Series In Willingboro, NJ Presents Bootsie Barnes

The Jazz Bridge "Jazz At The Library,” Third Thursday Concert Series In Willingboro, NJ Presents Bootsie Barnes

Source: Bruce Klauber

The Jazz Bridge “Jazz at the Library,” Third Thursday Concert Series presents saxophonist Bootsie Barnes at the Willingboro Library—220 Willingboro Way in Willingboro Township—on Thursday, December 18. Tickets are $10, $5 for students One show starts at 7:30 p.m. Information: 215-517-8337. Robert “Bootsie” Barnes embodies the spirit and the tradition—past, present and future—of everything that was and is Philadelphia jazz. There likely isn’t a jazz giant who this multi-award-winning tenor saxophonist has not played with. He’s toured the world with ...

Event

Jazz Bridge Second Wednesdays Concert Series In Center City Presents "Bootsie" Barnes

Jazz Bridge Second Wednesdays Concert Series In Center City Presents "Bootsie" Barnes

Source: Bruce Klauber

The Jazz Bridge second Wednesdays, Neighborhood Concerts Series at the Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion Chestnut Street in Center City Philadelphia—presents saxophonist Bootsie Barnes on Wednesday, January 8. Showtime is 7:30 p.m., tickets are $10/$5 for students, and are only available at the door. For info: 215-517-8337. Robert “Bootsie” Barnes embodies the spirit and the tradition—past, present and future—of everything that was and is Philadelphia jazz. There likely isn’t a jazz giant who this multi award-winning tenor saxophonist has ...

Recording

Jazz Singer Cheryl Barnes To Release Debut CD, “Listen To This,” On February 18th

Jazz Singer Cheryl Barnes To Release Debut CD, “Listen To This,” On February 18th

Source: Muse Media

Album Features Remarkable Cast Of Players Including John Beasley, Rahn Coleman, Brandon Fields, John Hammond, Rickey Minor and More Los Angeles, California - “Listen To This,” the debut CD from eclectically-trained Jazz vocalist Cheryl Barnes, is set for release February 18, 2014, via Barnes & Cabasso Music. Highlighting twelve tracks steeped in Jazz and Blues, “Listen To This” was produced by music industry veteran Rahn Coleman, recorded at Mystic Knight Recording Studios in Los Angeles and features a stellar list ...

Performance / Tour

Monkadelphia At The Barnes In Philly On Friday Dec. 21st!

Monkadelphia At The Barnes In Philly On Friday Dec. 21st!

Source: Jim Miller

Monkadelphia (Tony Miceli, vibes; Chris Farr, saxophone; Tom Lawton, piano; Micah Jones, bass; Jim Miller, drums) will be playing at the Barnes Museum, 2025 Ben Franklin Parkway in Philly on Friday Dec. 21st from 6 - 8 PM, which of course is the End of the World according to those who believe in the Long Count Mayan calendar, the Planet X Nibiru or any combination thereof, predicting doomsday (yet again) that very night...What a way to go! Anyway, it just ...

88
Festival

Alan Barnes & William Ellis - Live! Scarborough Jazz Festival, September 25th

Alan Barnes & William Ellis - Live!  Scarborough Jazz Festival, September 25th

Source: Ian Patterson

William Ellis is one of the world's leading jazz photographers and also an informative and highly entertaining speaker who has given talks on his work internationally. In this show, as his photographs are screened, William gives us the story behind each shot, and saxophonist Alan Barnes leads an all-star band performing a piece by each selected musician. Saxophonists Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins and Illinois Jaquet will be spotlighted, and the inclusion of trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Clark Terry ...

41
Event

Sutton Foster Sets May 9th Barnes & Noble in-Store, as Ghostlight CD Earns Raves

Sutton Foster Sets May 9th Barnes & Noble in-Store, as Ghostlight CD Earns Raves

Source: Seth Cohen PR

Sutton Foster Confirms May 9th Barnes and Noble In-Store Performance and CD Signing, as New CD Earns Raves 20-Song Tour de Force 'An Evening With Sutton Foster—Live at the Cafe Carlyle' Available Now on Ghostlight Records Tony Winner Sutton Foster has confirmed a May 9th Live at Barnes & Noble in-store performance and CD signing to celebrate Ghostlight Records' release of her 20-song tour de force An Evening With Sutton Foster—Live at the Cafe Carlyle. In a rave review, USA ...

116
Performance / Tour

Jazz Bridge Presents Bootsie Barnes at the Mt. Airy Presbyterian Church on Thursday January 13th

Jazz Bridge Presents Bootsie Barnes at the Mt. Airy Presbyterian Church on Thursday January 13th

Source: Suzanne Cloud

Appearing at the Mt. Airy Presbyterian Church on Thursday January 13th, 13 E. Mt. Pleasant Ave in Germantown (Philadelphia, PA) will be saxophonist Bootsie Barnes and his band: Duane Eubanks, Lucas Brown, and Byron Landham. $10/$5 for students. One show only. Starts 7:30 p.m. Free refreshments and a Free CD will be given to each person attending! Barnes made his name in the 1960s playing renowned clubs in the area, including South Jersey's Crossing Inn, Dreamland, Cotton Club, Loretta's High ...

134
Book / Magazine

Photographer Juan-Carlos Hernandez's Book "Estelas de Jazz" Now Available in Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Photographer Juan-Carlos Hernandez's Book "Estelas de Jazz" Now Available in Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Source: Juan Carlos Hernandez

After seven years of visually capturing jazz musicians around the world, Juan-Carlos Hernandez has compiled his first book of photos entitled Estelas de Jazz, available worldwide through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Hernandez collaborated with Spanish writer Belen Carmona Moreno whose literary writings accompany 100+ black and white photographs. Though the photographs are in the universal language, the text is in Spanish. Another important detail: Estelas de Jazz is not just about the stars of jazz like Ornette Coleman and ...

68
Economics

Barnes and Noble to Sell Kids "Educational Toys" in the Place of Music - Good Riddance.

Barnes and Noble to Sell Kids "Educational Toys" in the Place of Music - Good Riddance.

Source: HypeBot

In select pilot locations, Barnes and Noble will be eliminating their music sections entirely. Where the CDs once sat, educational toys will be placed. To some, this may seem like a sign of the times, but I respectfully disagree. The reason that Barnes and Noble isn't making good on its CD sales probably has more to do with their sheer neglect of reality than it does the lagging interest of consumers. With just a preliminary scan, any reasonable fan would ...

★★★★

“Barnes’ writing is evocative, intelligent & varied, rooted in the bebop tradition but still sounding very contemporary ”

Ian Mann (The JazzMann)

“They are superlative musicians!”

Adam Walton, BBC Radio Wales

★★★★

“springy deftness… cool precision… serious chops…”

Andy Cowan, Mojo

Immaculately conceived and performed a superb album”

Nick Lea, Jazz Views

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