Greg Abate / Alan Barnes / John Donaldson - Birds of a Feather

Styles: Saxophone And Piano Jazz
Year: 2008
Time: 69:50
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 160,6 MB
Art: Front

( 9:58) 1. Hot House
(10:00) 2. Wong's Way
( 9:44) 3. In The Stratosphere
( 6:59) 4. The Love Of Life
( 6:22) 5. Mr. T.C.
(10:27) 6. The Birdfeeder
(10:45) 7. The 'y' Blues
( 5:33) 8. Be-Bop

Anybody who grew up in a place called Woonsocket probably has to have cultivated a phlegmatic outlook on life, and saxophonist Greg Abate like his fellow Rhode Islander Scott Hamilton clearly believes the long familiar practices of classic bebop and mainstream swing have plenty of musical possibilities and ticket sales left in them.

Like Hamilton, Abate is a regular visitor to the UK and, again like Hamilton, he's the perfect partner for the British straightahead virtuoso Alan Barnes, engaging in a lively dialogue with him throughout this live recording from Leicester's Y theatre in November 2007.

Pianist John Donaldson, bassist Andy Cleyndert and drummer Spike Wells make up the rhythm section. Half of the tunes are Abate's, one is Barnes's and the others are standards including Tadd Dameron's Hot House and Dizzy Gillespie's Be-bop.

Abate's themes are dead right for the idiom, though not particularly memorable, but both saxophonists ingeniously improvise on them, with the amiable mainstream two-sax sound often driving the proceedings.

Donaldson's ebullient trills and churning mid-tempo rhythms glimmer through the music, and grooving blues like Mr TC and The Y Blues revel in the snappily punctuated melodies this style depends on. It's unpretentious swing, played with effortless relaxation.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jan/09/greg-abate-alan-barnes

Personnel: Greg Abate - alto / tenor; Alan Barnes - alto / baritone; John Donaldson - piano; Andrew Cleyndert - acoustic bass; Spike Wells - drums

Birds of a Feather

---

Alan Barnes - Cannonball (20th Anniversary Edition) [Live at Wakefield Jazz Club]

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:52
Size: 165,2 MB
Art: Front

( 8:43)  1. Worksong
( 8:48)  2. Jubilation
(10:00)  3. Clouds
(10:16)  4. Dis Here
( 6:23)  5. Azule Serape
( 7:23)  6. Blue Daniel
(10:31)  7. Dat Dere
( 9:45)  8. Jive Samba

Alan Barnes was born in Cheshire in 1959. He studied at Leeds College of Music and became proficient on alto and baritone saxophones and clarinet. Following graduation in 1980, Barnes led several groups, including Pizza Express Modern Jazz Sextet, and recorded with Dave Newton, Tony Coe, Ken Peplowski, and Warren Vache. He dominated the saxophone and clairnet section of the British jazz awards throughout the '90s and performs at major international jazz festivals. Barnes has also spent time teaching.By Al Campbell https://www.allmusic.com/artist/alan-barnes-mn0000936422

Cannonball (20th Anniversary Edition)

---

Simon Spillett Big Band - Dear Tubby H

Styles: Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2023
File: MP3@128K/s
Time: 68:13
Size: 63,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:28) 1. Dear Johnny B
(5:44) 2. As Close As You Are
(5:46) 3. Take Your Partners For The Blues
(6:21) 4. Fish Soup
(4:04) 5. Star Eyes
(4:56) 6. Soft And Supple
(6:44) 7. Rumpus
(5:15) 8. Peace
(5:22) 9. Seven Steps To Heaven
(3:35) 10. Solweig
(6:33) 11. Blues For Pipkins
(7:19) 12. She Insulted Me In Marrakech

Superlatives along the lines of ‘tour de force’ do little justice to this new recording by the Simon Spillett Big Band; an album of rarely heard, newly rediscovered arrangements from the library of the Little Giant himself ~ Tubby Hayes.

Simon Spillett has long been recognised as the keeper of the Tubby Hayes flame. His life, his work and his legacy may well be residing only in the distant memories of those that were there were it not for Spillett’s tireless efforts to remind the jazz public of his immense contribution to British jazz.

The story of how a pile of dog-eared, yellowing manuscript was ultimately rescued and restored after 50 years is fascinating in itself. The mere fact that these wonderful charts weren’t, at some point along the line, thrown in the bin is a minor miracle! Let’s not think about that. Instead let’s concentrate on this heroic feat of musical archeology.

Spillett’s enthusiasm for Tubby’s work led to him being sent, over the years, all manner of Hayes-related artefacts, information, lost recordings and, eventually, lost big band charts. Enough, as it turned out, to record a full albums-worth of material separate to that found on Tubby’s two recorded large ensemble outings Tubbs Tours and 100% Proof.

Enter Mark Nightingale who not only takes his place in the trombone section but also assumed the Dr Frankenstein role of bringing the scores to life. There were missing parts to consider, various copyist errors and the small matter of the poor quality of the original paper after having languished in a dark corner for so many years. One can only imagine the “it’s alive” moment as the band played the opening bars of the first chart at the first rehearsal.

Enter Pete Cater, ace drummer and bandleader in his own right. Also a permanent member of Simon Spillett’s quartet, Cater’s passion for the project has found him wearing several hats at once – producer, executive producer, record company boss as well as percussionist!

Sixteen of Britain’s finest section players, soloists, bandleaders and arrangers make up the Simon Spillett Big Band. It’s as it should be. Tubby’s band was an equally all-star outfit.

This is not an album that features a solitary star soloist (Spillett) endlessly blowing over a series of brass and reed backing figures. Solo’s are distributed equally and skilfully among the band personnel with Spillett featuring himself on just two of the twelve tracks choosing, instead, to fill the role of conductor and catalyst.

From start to finish the whole album crackles with an infectious energy. The reed passages, at times intricate and snakelike, are delivered flawlessly. The brass offer knockout punches with expert precision one minute and beautifully gentle melodic lines the next. The rhythm section swings relentlessly accenting the brass, at times, for even more impact. Each soloist positively shines. This band sounds like a happy band! The feeling of camaraderie and mutual respect is plainly evident on each and every track.

The music itself manages to sound contemporary and yet ‘of its time’, and in equal measure. Post Swing-era the big band was presented with a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge was to stay as a relevant and vibrant art form outside of the dancehalls that had created it in the first place. The opportunity was to see, free of the shackles of commercialism, how the recent developments in small group jazz could be incorporated into the large ensemble. Many established bandleaders that had enjoyed enormous success during the 1940’s fell into obscurity; left behind by a new generation that grabbed the big band from the brink and reinvented it. Twenty years later the original Tubby Hayes big band began performing these arrangements. Over fifty years later, Spillett and his crew resurrect them; breathing new life into them. There’s something in this story that connects all the dots, completes a chapter in British jazz history and, hopefully, opens up a new one.

Dear Tubby H reminds us of how so many great jazz musicians revelled in a big band setting. None less so than Tubby Hayes himself. Simon Spillett and his orchestra have created something way beyond a tribute or homage to Tubby. It serves more as a love letter to the continuing vibrancy of great big band jazz as much as it honours Hayes himself. It’s an album that is beautifully played and beautifully recorded by all involved; one which deserves to sit proudly on the record shelves of any discerning jazz lover.By Denny Ilett
https://londonjazznews.com/2023/10/07/simon-spillett-big-band-dear-tubby-h/

Personnel: Simon Spillett – musical director and tenor saxophone; Sammy Mayne – alto saxophone/flute; Pete Long – alto saxophone/flute; Alex Garnett – tenor saxophone/clarinet; Simon Allen – tenor saxophone/clarinet; Alan Barnes – baritone saxophone/bass clarinet; Nathan Bray – trumpet/flugelhorn; George Hogg – trumpet/flugelhorn; Freddie Gavita – trumpet/flugelhorn; Steve Fishwick – trumpet/flugelhorn; Jon Stokes – trombone; Mark Nightingale – trombone; Ian Bateman – trombone; Pete North – trombone; Rob Barron – piano; Alec Dankworth – bass; Pete Cater – drums

Dear Tubby H

---

Donald Byrd - Live: Cookin' with Blue Note at Montreux

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2022
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:25
Size: 104,6 MB
Art: Front

( 8:11) 1. Black Byrd
( 7:42) 2. You've Got It Bad Girl
( 9:19) 3. The East
( 2:58) 4. Introductions
(11:50) 5. Kwame
( 5:22) 6. Poco-mania

With the release of his chart-topping, funk-fueled Black Byrd in 1973, Donald Byrd found himself in a volatile place in jazz circles. He was being hailed as having finally stepped out of Miles Davis' considerable shadow, while simultaneously many found the album to be Byrd's selling out his bop legacy for chart success. As most defining artistic moments reveal, a little of both were true.

Produced and arranged by the brothers Fonce Mizelland Larry Mizell, Black Byrd incorporated Motown's universal sense of rhythm and groove with the upfront horns and the then-nascent cosmic sounds of synthesizers and electric pianos. Perhaps it was just a little too much too soon. And perhaps none of this bothered Byrd at all. He just went on about his creative business like true creatives do, determined and undaunted.

So putting a band together and getting the grit before the people was the mission of that summer, and at Montreux Byrd and his small army took the beachhead. With "Shaft" like grooves and urgent funk methodology of equal parts rock insurgency (Sly and the Family Stone), electric Miles Davis, and genre-bending Herbie Hancock, to say the heat starts high and cookin' just about says it all.

Set for first time release on what would have been the trumpeter's 90th birthday (December 9, 2022), Donald Byrd Live: Cookin' with Blue Note at Montreux is a previously unheard, electric, fire breathing set from the Montreux Jazz Festival, July 5, 1973, that blazes in early fusion glory. A fierce and relentless percolation spikes the opening "Black Byrd" and the set simmers close to a boil thereafter. With the Mizell brothers beside him on their respective synths and horns, Byrd leads a ten-piece invasion proving exactly who's who, despite the chit and chatter from the naysaying scholars and pundits. Keeping the groove hot and in place, tenor sax/flutist Allan Barnes and fellow saxophonist Nathan Davis, electric pianist Kevin Toney, guitarist Barney Perry, bassist Henry Franklin, drummer Keith Killgo, and percussionist Ray Armando build on the serpentine, chunka-chunka/chicka-chicka rhythm of "The East" to climax on the high bop centered "Kwami" and frantic "Poco-Mania." Cookin' just about says it all. By Mike Jurkovic Mike Jurkovic
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/donald-byrd-live-cookin-with-blue-note-at-montreux-blue-note-records

Personnel: Donald Byrd: trumpet; Fonce Mizell: trumpet; Allan Barnes: saxophone, tenor; Keith Killgo: drums; Nathan Davis: saxophone; Kevin Toney: piano; Larry Mizell: synthesizer; Barney Perry: guitar; Henry Franklin: bass; Ray Armando: percussion.

Additional Instrumentation: Donald Byrd: flugelhorn, vocals; Fonce Mizell: vocals; Keith Killgo: vocals.

Live: Cookin' with Blue Note at Montreux

---

Clark Tracey & Dominic Galea - The Legacy

Styles: Bop, Piano Jazz
Year: 2022
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:26
Size: 106,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:31) 1. Rainbow At The Five Mile Road
(5:41) 2. November The 15th
(5:40) 3. The Scorpion (F.r.t.s.)
(7:05) 4. Sweet Used To Be
(6:13) 5. At Sunset
(6:13) 6. Baby Blue
(5:24) 7. Birds
(4:33) 8. Cuddly

The legacy referred to in the title of this wonderful release harks back to the friendship between Maltese pianist, Sammy Galea and the UK’s own Stan Tracey, who were both highly respected jazz musicians in their home countries. Through coincidence or fate their sons also became firm friends, and both followed their father’s profession in becoming first class jazz musicians in their own right.

This collaborative album captures both Dominic and Clark at their best in a programme comprising of compositions written by Galea and Tracey Snr. Assembling a top drawer band using the reliable and inventive Arnie Somogyi on bass and the front-line horns of Alan Barnes and Mark Armstrong. All members of the quintet are of the same generation and have played extensively together in various line up over the years. This familiarity with each other’s playing lends an air of maturity and experience to proceeding that shine through in each and every number.

The compositions are all exceptional and delivered with an authority that is immediately attention grabbing and does not let up until the last note fades. That the band mean business is evident from the opening bars of ‘Rainbow At The Five Mile Road’ by Stan Tracey.

After the full steam ahead approach to ‘Rainbow’, Galea follows with ‘November The 15th. Far more relaxed with a controlled vibrancy that yields a lovely solo from Dominic Galea and very different solos from Alan Barnes on alto and the trumpet of Mark Armstrong.

This relaxed state of mind is picked up again on Stan’s wonderful ballad ‘Sweet Used To Be’. Galea’s opening piano is exquisite prior to Alan Barnes’s plangent alto and the burnished sound of Armstrong’s open horn in his finest solo of the set. Lovely stuff!

Sammy Galea had a knack of writing catchy and memorable tunes that swing hard, and a couple such compositions appear here. First up is ‘The Scorpion(F.R.T.S.)’ that has an exuberant and melodic solo from the pianist which is supported unobtrusively by Clark and Arnie Somogyi. ‘At Sunset ‘is another delightful swinger with an unforgettable melodic hook. The tempo and feel of the piece suits Armstrong down to the ground and he gets in a cracking solo. Galea is up next with a brief and concise offering before Barnes gets in on the action, getting in a Parker quotation while trading fours with the drummer.

The saxophonist switches to baritone saxophone for a couple of Stan Tracey compositions ‘Baby Blue’ has a relaxed and nonchalant air about it, and Barnes takes this as his cue to deliver a suitably laconic solo on the larger horn.

The second baritone feature is on Stan’s ‘Cuddly’ that closes the set. Anything but cuddly, this is a hard swinging number producing excellent solos from all and a fitting way to conclude this fine album.By Nick Lea https://jazzviews.net/clark-tracey-dominic-galea-the-legacy/

Personnel: Dominic Galea (piano); Clark Tracey (drums); Alan Barnes (alto & baritone saxophones); Mark Armstrong (trumpet & flugelhorn); Arnie Somogyi (bass)

The Legacy

---

Alan Barnes - A Jazz Christmas Carol

Styles: Jazz, Holiday
Year: 2015
Time: 50:13
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 116,2 MB
Art: Front

(1:15) 1. The Start Of It
(6:08) 2. Bah Humbug!
(5:02) 3. Marley's Ghost
(4:31) 4. The Ghost Of Christmas Past (Portrait Of Belle)
(6:16) 5. The Ghost Of Christmas Present
(5:25) 6. Tint Tim
(2:48) 7. The Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come
(5:10) 8. The End Of It
(4:01) 9. God Bless Us Everyone!
(4:11) 10. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
(5:21) 11. The Christmas Song

Like the Dickens classic itself, Alan Barnes’s “Christmas Carol” has something for everyone.

A family night out that is also a treat for the jazz connoisseur; it will delight anyone who loves music or literature – or just Christmas! This new suite of pieces, touring for the first time this year, takes the audience through the characters and scenes of ‘A Christmas Carol”. Readings from the original Dickens tell the story, and after each scene eight virtuoso musicians bring the characters and scenes to life, switching audiences from hilarity to pathos with a skill that would have done credit to Dickens himself!

A gruff baritone sax plays Scrooge, his lost love Belle is a lyrical alto, his clerk Bob Cratchit a cheery clarinet and Marley’s Ghost walks in the person of a swinging trombone. Just as Scrooge’s ghosts take him on a tour of his life, so the movements of this suite seemed each to have a benevolent presiding ghost, celebrating the spirit of jazz greats past and present. The music and readings inspire the full range of Dickens’s imagination and emotion: from terror and remorse through to love and then irresistible joy: "God Bless Us Every One!"

“Barnes is a true Dickensian. He is a serious reader of the novels. It is a clear blunder of providence that he was born too late to appear in their pages!” Hot News. https://www.alanbarnesjazz.com/a-jazz-christmas-carol

Personnel: Alan Barnes - saxophone, clarinet and bass clarinet; Bruce Adams - trumpet and flugelhorn; Mark Nightingale - trombone; Robert Fowler - saxophones and clarinet; Karen Sharp - saxophones and clarinet;

A Jazz Christmas Carol

---

Alan Barnes - The Sherlock Holmes Suite Disc 1, Disc 2

Album: The Sherlock Holmes Suite Disc 1
Styles: Saxophone And Clarinet
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:28
Size: 151,8 MB
Art: Front

( 0:43) 1. 221b Play On
( 2:28) 2. Narration, Pt. 1
( 5:58) 3. The Game Is Afoot
( 2:40) 4. Narration, Pt. 2
( 7:14) 5. Watson
( 1:04) 6. Narration, Pt. 3
(11:29) 7. The Tiger Of San Pedro
( 2:22) 8. Narration, Pt. 4
(10:28) 9. The Napoleon Of Crime
( 0:48) 10. Narration, Pt. 5
( 7:24) 11. The Dancing Men
( 1:42) 12. Narration, Pt. 6
( 2:46) 13. Grimpen Mire
( 8:16) 14. The Hound Of The Baskervilles

---

Album: The Sherlock Holmes Suite Disc 2
Time: 56:00
Size: 130,1 MB

(0:55) 1. Narration, Pt. 7
(4:21) 2. The Baker Street Irregulars
(3:26) 3. Narration, Pt. 8
(4:41) 4. Quite A Three Pipe Problem
(1:10) 5. Narration, Pt. 9
(5:46) 6. The 7% Solution
(2:15) 7. Narration, Pt. 10
(7:30) 8. Lestrade Of The Yard
(2:41) 9. Narration, Pt. 11
(8:23) 10. Watson's Women
(0:44) 11. Narration, Pt. 12
(7:07) 12. The Sussex Vampire
(1:38) 13. Narration, Pt. 13
(5:19) 14. 221b (Full Version)

Now this is something really different. It turns out that Alan Barnes has been a raving fan of Conan Doyle's writing, and more specifically, his greatest creation, Sherlock Holmes, since the age of eleven. This double album consists of 95 minutes of original music interspersed with narration relative to the plot and well put over by actor Alan Mitchell. Not only did Alan Barnes compose the music, he wrote the script, and jolly good it is as well.

This is all great fun, but more importantly, the music is outstanding, and the playing by this starry cast of musicians, is superb. Barnes chose his men very carefully, including some of his colleagues from groups in the past, and they all come up trumps, including their very talented leader.

The writing for the octet is clever as it leaves plenty of scope for each of them to show their improvisational skills, and they more than justify their selection. In his own liner notes, Alan states that he tried to write in a way that would bring out the unique qualities and strengths of his fellow musicians, and acknowledges that if that method was good enough for Duke, who is he to quarrel.

There are so many good things in these CDs; it is difficult to know what to pick out. Both Stan Sulzmann and Robert Fowler have their share of good moments, and Bruce Adams brings power and invention to the ensemble and to his solos. Mark Nightingale is just terrific in his spots, and especially in Grimpen Mire and The Hound of the Baskervilles. The rhythm section do a fine job throughout, with splashes of inspiration all over the place from David Newton, who swings hard in The Tiger of San Pedro, and then shows his reflective wistful side in The Napoleon of Crime. It doesn't matter a hoot whether you are familiar with the stories or not. The narration gives you the general idea, and the music is excellent. Alan Barnes has delivered an outstanding opus in this CD, great fun, fine production; I'd give it ten out of ten. Strongly recommended. http://www.woodvillerecords.com/Sherlock%20Holmes%20Suite.htm

Personnel: Alan Barnes - saxophones, clarinet; Bruce Adams - trumpet; Mark Nightingale - trombone; Robert Fowler - saxophones & clarinet; Karen Sharp - saxophones & clarinet; David Newton - piano; Simon Thorpe - bass; Clark Tracey - drums

The Sherlock Holmes Suite Disc 1, Disc 2

---

Alan Barnes Octet - Copperfield: A Dickensian Jazz Suite

Styles: Contemporary Jazz
Year: 2022
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:31
Size: 173,7 MB
Art: Front

(6:29) 1. Copperfield Theme
(6:42) 2. Mr Peggotty's Boat House
(3:46) 3. Barkis is Willin'
(4:27) 4. Creakle and Tungay
(3:49) 5. Tommy Traddles' Skeletons
(4:54) 6. Mudstone and Grinby's
(5:56) 7. Mr. Dick Flies his Kite
(6:25) 8. Mr Micawber
(6:21) 9. Little Em'ly
(6:29) 10. Steerforth
(5:46) 11. Uriah Heep
(2:14) 12. Dora and Jip
(7:44) 13. Agnes
(4:22) 14. A New Life

One day, cultural historians may study the link between lockdown and creativity. Meanwhile, with the same line-up and personnel as his 2019 visit here, Alan Barnes returned to a practically full house with his Suite from that time.

There’s a lot to digest in his writing for octet. All the pieces feature changes in tempo, and meter, alternation of unison and harmony, and varied voicing across brass and reeds. Each song is structured into several sections, with interludes of diverse length, and solos are backed in many different ways. Or… you can just sit back and enjoy.

‘Copperfield Theme’, the opening number, depicts David’s home life in three sections. A slow, pretty melody with clarinet lead, gives way to a punchy theme in triple time. Solos from brass and reeds follow, then unison, and harmonised ensemble, before a reprise of the first melody.

‘Mr. Peggotty’s Boathouse’: David is sent off to Yarmouth: an up-tempo piano intro, then a lively jazz waltz, lead on to a trumpet improvisation with skyscraper passages, next a contrasting very relaxed piano solo. Finally the waltz returns, and to end, soft riffs, and a quiet, muted trumpet.

‘Mr. Barkis’: a return home for DC, and a bass feature for Simon Thorpe. He starts with the theme statement, then walks with the orchestra. Some stop time, and trumpet solo, take us to a bass solo with piano and drums accompaniment, before the final ensemble.

‘Creackle and Tungay’: David’s school days, and portraits of teacher (Bruce Adams) and caretaker (Karen Sharp). A Latin intro from the rhythm section goes into a swing feel with fine baritone and trumpet solos. There’s a baritone /trumpet duet, before a final piano note, that slowly rings out to nothing.

‘Tommy Traddle’s Skeletons’: billed as a ‘danse macabre’ for David’s school friend who drew skeletons, the piece starts with the suitably ‘sparse’ sound of Robert Fowler’s clarinet accompanied by bass. Two high register clarinets play a later section, and, after a clarinet solo, complete the song.

‘Murdstone and Grimby’: David is sent to work in the bottling plant of the title: Mark Nightingale plays the first partner, Alan Barnes the second. There’s a virtuoso solo by the leader on alto, with a lot of double time over a ‘two’ feel. More solos follow, and an ensemble with baritone and bass in unison.

‘Mr. Dick Flies His Kite’: back on the coast, we meet a minor jazz waltz, realised by trumpet and trombone. A pretty, but sad melody, leads to, as Barnes explained, a “more uplifting” passage, before “coming down to earth”. Solos are spread across the band. A tinkling piano diminuendo describes the kite’s descent.

‘Mr. Micawber’: A jaunty jazz waltz represents the character who provides lodging for David. Rising and falling baritone lines may suggest Micawber’s mood swings, and solos from the leader on clarinet, and piano take us back to the theme.

‘Little Em’ly’: Barnes’ early career often found him playing Klezmer music: a plaintiff minor melody depicts David’s childhood sweetheart and the arrangement reflects that ethnic tradition. Bruce Adams on plunger-muted trumpet plays her seducer, Steerforth. Rob Fowler gives a most expressive tenor solo, as we move into a medium swing tempo, before a reprise of the mournful theme.

‘James Steerforth’: a stately melody depicts the public face of the character, before a passage on alto gives way to an up-tempo Latin section. Baritone and bass play a repeated unison figure. In turn a swing theme is introduced. Mark Nightingale delivers an agile double-time solo. Piano chords and bass accompaniment end the return of the original slow theme. ‘Uriah Heep’: Barnes’ bass clarinet portrays the oily character David meets, with a slippery, triplet-based theme. Clark Tracey sets up the number by an intriguing high-pitched meandering. A Duke-ish voicing of two clarinets, muted trumpet and trombone provide some background, before instrumental conversations, and bowed bass ending. ‘Dora and Jip’: tempo movements between triple time and 4/4 unfold after the staccatto-ish line begins. Solos on reeds and brass describe the changing fortunes of Dora and David, and her dog, Jip. A “canine cadenza” is cunningly voiced by Bruce Adams, tailing off in a sad whine…

‘Agnes’: a sweet ballad recalls the young Agnes’ devotion to David. A warm statement on tenor is accompanied by responses from the alto. The trumpet picks up the theme, and there are solos around the band. A quicker feel follows, over the same tempo, and moves to a piano solo. Punchy to start with, the solo moves into a locked-hands, Errol Garner-type feel.

‘A New Life’: a fast minor swing is the setting as the Micawbers and other characters emigrate to Australia. There’s a powerful unison passage voiced for the five frontline parts, on the standard 32 bar form, and a switch to Latin for the middle eight. An ensemble where the lead moves between reeds and brass is punctuated by drum fills, followed by a solo from Clark Tracey.

Many thanks to the Jazz in Reading, and Progress Theatre team, for, as Alan Barnes added, “keeping the performing arts alive” in these testing times. Review posted here by kind permission of Clive Downs https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/alan-barnes-octet-copperfield-a-dickensian-jazz-suite-progress-theatre-reading-berkshire-16-12-2022

Personnel: Alan Barnes- alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, composer, arranger; Robert Fowler - tenor saxophone, clarinet; Karen Sharp - baritone saxophone, clarinet; Bruce Adams - trumpet, flugelhorn; Mark Nightingale - trombone; Dave Newton - piano; Simon Thorpe - bass; Clark Tracey - drumsbr />

Copperfield: A Dickensian Jazz Suite

---

Warren Vache, Alan Barnes, The Woodville All-Stars - The London Sessions

Styles: Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:49
Size: 165,7 MB
Art: Front

( 5:51) 1. You'd Be So Nice to Come Home to
( 5:24) 2. My Funny Valentine
( 7:45) 3. The End of a Love Affair
( 6:00) 4. Sophisticated Lady
(11:14) 5. Molasses
( 7:38) 6. Taking a Chance on Love
( 6:57) 7. My One and Only Love
( 6:09) 8. I'll Close My Eyes
( 8:25) 9. A Walkin' Thing
( 6:21) 10. Love For Sale

1977-80 Alan studied saxophone, woodwinds and arranging at the Leeds College of music. In 1980 he moved to London, playing with the Midnight Follies Orchestra and the following year was with the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, touring Europe until 1983. In that year he left to join the hard bop band of Tommy Chase where he attracted considerable attention on the UK jazz scene for the first time. He left Chase in 1986 to co-lead The Jazz Renegades with rock drummer Steve White travelling as far afield as Japan and recording four well received albums. In 1988 Alan was asked to fill the chair recently vacated by Bruce Turner in the Humphrey Lyttleton band where he stayed until 1992. 1987-97 he also found time to lead the Pizza Express Modern Jazz Sextet with Gerard Prescencer and Dave O'Higgins.

Since leaving the Lyttleton band, Alan has concentrated on his freelance career. Alan has enjoyed a prolific career as a sideman, playing and recording for many bands. He broadcast regularly over a ten-year period with the BBC Big Band and Radio Orchestra and has toured and recorded with big band leaders, Dick Walter, Kenny Baker, Bob Wilber, Don Weller, Stan Tracey, Mike Westbrook and John Dankworth. Other bands he has toured and recorded with include the Tina May Trio, Bill LeSage's Genetically Modified Quintet, Spike Robinson's Tenor Madness, Clare Teale, and a sextet with Don Weller playing the music of Cannonball Adderley. Alan has also toured the U.K. with Freddie Hubbard. Alan has long associations with pianist David Newton, going back to their college days, and with blistering be-bop trumpeter Bruce Adams, with whom he has co-led a quintet since the early nineties.

Alan has been featured on many jazz recordings from his first record date as co-leader in 1985 with Tommy Whittle and as leader of his own quartet in 1987 right up to recent record dates with Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache and Harry Allen. He has appeared on the Concord, Fret, Miles Music, Nagel Hayer and Specific labels with various projects. Alan has recorded a large number of sessions with pianist Brian Lemon on the Zephyr label. Amongst these sessions are duet, quintet, sextet and octet sessions with Warren Vache, Tony Coe, KenPeplowski, Gerrard Prescencer and Mark Nightingale. Alan has performed as a member of Clark Tracey's “Tribute to Art Blakey” and was featured on the David Newton/Clark Tracey recording Bootleg Eric.

He has also appeared as a session musician on albums by Selina Jones, Bjork, Van Morrison, Bryan Ferry, Clare Teal, Jamie Cullum and Westlife and can also be found on film and television soundtracks including “Chicago” and jingles such as the Tetley Bitter series of adverts featuring his solo baritone. Alan has appeared regularly as a member of the Laurie Holloway orchestra on television's Michael Parkinson show and Strictly Come Dancing. In 1999 Alan toured America and Europe with Bryan Ferry's band, returning to the U.S.A. in early 2000 to record and tour for ten weeks with Warren Vache's eleven-piece band - a project for which he had written most of the arrangements. He returned to Kansas City in 2001 to perform as a guest soloist at the Topeka jazz Festival. That November he featured on Baritone and clarinet at the Blue Note Clubs in New York and Tokyo with the Charlie Watts Tentet and followed this with a stay in South Africa as a solo artist.

Over the years Alan has won many British Jazz awards in alto, baritone, clarinet and arranging categories. In 2001 and 2006 Alan received the prestigious BBC Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year award and in November 2003 was made a fellow of the Leeds College of Music 2003 also saw the inception of Alan's own record label Woodville Records. Compositions and commissions include “The Sherlock Holmes Suite”, two series of jazz songs written with playwright Alan Plater - “Songs for Unsung Heroes” and “The Seven Ages of Jazz”, “The Mabella Suite”, and settings of E.E. Cummings and other poets arranged for Jazz octet. Latest projects include a clarinet led trio with Jim Hart on vibes and Paul Clavis on drums and an all star octet playing the music of Duke Ellington. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/alan-barnes

Personnel: Bass – Andrew Cleyndert; Bass Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Producer – Alan Barnes; Cornet – Warren Vaché; Drums – Bobby Worth ; Piano – John Pearce; Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet – Andy Panayi; Trombone – Mark Nightingale

The London Sessions

---

Alan Barnes, Brian Lemon - Play Harold Arlen: A Sleepin' Bee

Styles: Contemporary Jazz

Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:45
Size: 154,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:54)  1. My Shining Hour
(5:02)  2. Come Rain or Come Shine
(4:48)  3. Last Night When We Were Young
(5:49)  4. I've Got the World on a String
(6:34)  5. If I Only Had a Brain
(3:22)  6. This Time the Dream's on Me
(4:47)  7. When the Sun Comes Out
(6:41)  8. A Sleepin' Bee
(4:13)  9. As Long as I Live
(4:57) 10. Ill Wind
(5:12) 11. Don't Like Goodbyes
(5:20) 12. Down with Love
(5:01) 13. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Alan Barnes (born 23 July 1959 in Altrincham, England) is an English jazz musician. Between 1977 and 1980 Barnes attended Leeds College of Music, where he studied saxophone, woodwinds and arranging before moving to London. In 1980 he played with the Midnight Follies Orchestra and the following year was with the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, touring Europe until 1983. In that year he left to join the hard-bop band of Tommy Chase, where he attracted attention on the UK jazz scene for the first time. He left Chase in 1986 to co-lead The Jazz Renegades with rock drummer Steve White, with whom he recorded four albums. In 1985 he recorded his first record date as co-leader with Tommy Whittle Straight Eight and as leader of his own quartet in 1987 Affiliation with pianist David Newton, an association that goes back to their days at Leeds College of Music. In 1988 Barnesn was asked to fill the chair recently vacated by Bruce Turner in the Humphrey Lyttelton band where he stayed until 1992. Between 1987 and 1997 he also led the Pizza Express Modern Jazz Sextet with Gerard Presencer and Dave OHiggins. 

After leaving the Lyttelton band, he concentrated on a freelance career. In 1993 he recorded again with Newton resulting in the duo album Like Minds and the quartet, quintet and sextet album Thirsty Work, which featured fellow reedmen Andy Panayi and Iain Dixon. Throughout the 1990s he co-led a quintet with be-bop trumpeter Bruce Adams, recording two CDs Side- Stepping and Lets Face the Music. During 199799, Barnes began to record a large number of sessions with pianist Brian Lemon on the Zephyr label including albums with Warren Vache, Ken Peplowski, Tony Coe, Roy Williams and his own octet and nonet. He performed as a member of Clark Traceys Tribute to Art Blakey and was featured on the David Newton/Clark Tracey recording Bootleg Eric. In 1999 he toured America and Europe with Bryan Ferrys band, returning to the United States in early 2000 to record and tour for ten weeks with Warren Vaches eleven-piece band - a project for which Barnes had written most of the arrangements. A band with Don Weller, celebrating the music of Cannonball Adderley, recorded a live album Cannonball which was awarded album of the year in the 2001 British Jazz Awards.

In the same year he received the BBC Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year award. That November Barnes featured on baritone at the Blue Note Clubs in New York and Tokyo with the Charlie Watts Tentet and followed this with a stay in South Africa as a solo artist. A regular broadcaster over a ten-year period with the BBC Big Band and Radio Orchestra, he has toured and recorded with big band leaders, Dick Walter, Kenny Baker, Bob Wilber, Don Weller, Stan Tracey and Mike Westbrook. Other bands he has toured and recorded with include the Gary Potter quartet, playing the music of Django Reinhardt, the Tina May Trio with Nikki Iles, Bill LeSages Genetically Modified Quintet, and Spike Robinsons Tenor Madness. Barnes has also appeared as a session musician on albums by Selina Jones, Björk, Van Morrison, Bryan Ferry and can also be found on film and television soundtracks and jingles such as the Tetley Bitter series of adverts featuring his solo baritone. Barnes has enjoyed considerable success in The Marston's Pedigree British Jazz Awards, having won both the alto and clarinet sections five times and the baritone section three times. To celebrate this achievement a recording, Below Zero, featuring him on baritone saxophone accompanied by the David Newton Trio, was released by Concord Jazz. http://www.radioswissjazz.ch/en/music-database/musician/753398ce901e6d1637fa5fe563706c4a50318/biography

Play Harold Arlen: A Sleepin' Bee

---

Alan Barnes - Songs for Unsung Heroes

Styles: Clarinet, Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:33
Size: 171,3 MB
Art: Front

(7:21)  1. Blue Note
(5:25)  2. Throwing out the Vinyl Blues
(3:39)  3. Waltz for Sonny
(6:59)  4. Slim's Chicken
(6:28)  5. The Ballad of Miles Davis
(4:33)  6. The Motorway Jump
(5:04)  7. The Power of Prez
(7:52)  8. Love Song for a Slob
(4:59)  9. The Rhythm Method
(5:37) 10. Rhyme Time
(5:03) 11. Dinner Jazz
(4:28) 12. Swallows on the Water
(6:00) 13. Everybody's Got to Be Somewhere

This is the UK sax and clarinet virtuoso Alan Barnes, with lyricist and playwright Alan Plater, on a collection of songs accompanied by a hellraising British octet fronted by singer Liz Fletcher. Plater is a witty writer, and the songs (one of which castigates the elevator-music vapidities of smooth-jazz) are diverting enough. But it's hard not to feel that this fine band left to itself might not have made a more evocatively ambiguous job of conjuring up memories of Lester Young, Sonny Criss etc. Barnes is scaldingly brilliant, trumpeter Bruce Adams unleashes some mind-boggling Maynard Fergusonisms, and the whole ensemble rockets along. Liz Fletcher is a little demure, but those who enjoy a straightahead jazz/cabaret vibe with some fierce playing will get plenty out of it. ~ John Fordham https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/aug/13/jazz.shopping2

Personnel:  Alan Barnes - baritone, bass clarinet; Liz Fletcher - piano; Bruce Adams - trumpet, flugelhorn; Stan Sulzmann tenor alto, flute; Robert Fowler - tenor clarinet; Mark Nightingale - trombone; Brian Dee - piano; Simon Thorpe - acoustic bass, guitar; Clark Tracey - drums, percussion

Songs for Unsung Heroes

---

Ken Peplowski, Alan Barnes - Doodle Oodle

Styles: Saxophone And Clarinet Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:46
Size: 163,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:04)  1. Doodle Oodle
(6:51)  2. Two Funky People
(4:12)  3. Titter Pipes
(9:03)  4. In Love in Vain
(5:39)  5. Evening
(7:02)  6. Bennie's Pennies
(8:45)  7. Shady Side
(6:37)  8. Hanid
(5:40)  9. Vignette
(5:38) 10. Ready Eddie
(7:10) 11. Fajista

Alan Barnes is around the UK jazz circuit so much, in so many different guises, that it's easy to take his virtuosity, professionalism and love of jazz's most accessible song-rooted manifestations for granted, not to mention his standup skills as the MC to his own work. But Barnes's frequent partnerships with American mainstream swingers who sense a kindred spirit (Scott Hamilton is a regular participant) frequently produce sessions that soar above formulaic trots through the evergreens. This one finds Barnes with the US clarinetist and saxophonist Ken Peplowski, aided and abetted by the UK trio of pianist John Pearce, bassist Alec Dankworth and drummer Martin Drew. Typically, the two reedmen pick -swing-era jazz tunes that haven't been done to death, including Billy Byers's title track (at breakneck tempo, with Barnes boppish on alto, Peplowski earthier on tenor), Al Cohn's Two Funky People (a wry, lyrical clarinet duet), Coleman Hawkins's Hanid (baritone sax and clarinet, with a spirited melody and crisp participation from the rhythm section), Barney Bigard's Ready Eddie (a delicious, drifting, two-clarinet pirouette) and Hank Jones's Vignette (typically bright and balletic). It's a swing album with no pretensions, but it's played by experts who love the feel of the style. … we have a small favour to ask. ~ John Fordham https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/dec/11/alan-barnes-ken-poplowski-doodle-oodle

Doodle Oodle

---

Alan Barnes & David Newton - Summertime

Styles: Clarinet, Saxophone And Piano Jazz 
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:55
Size: 152,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:22)  1. Art's Oregano
(5:57)  2. Summertime
(3:45)  3. Freeman of London
(5:56)  4. Di's Waltz
(3:16)  5. The Bluebird of Delhi
(3:36)  6. Tico Tico
(4:35)  7. Street Of Dreams
(5:05)  8. Black and Tan Fantasy
(4:05)  9. Don't Be That Way
(4:40) 10. Early Autumn
(4:07) 11. The Hawk
(4:15) 12. Autumn Nocturne
(2:44) 13. Charlie the Chulo
(5:59) 14. The Haunted Melody
(4:26) 15. Zoot

Alan Barnes was born in Cheshire in 1959. He studied at Leeds College of Music and became proficient on alto and baritone saxophones and clarinet. Following graduation in 1980, Barnes led several groups, including Pizza Express Modern Jazz Sextet, and recorded with Dave Newton, Tony Coe, Ken Peplowski, and Warren Vache. He dominated the saxophone and clairnet section of the British jazz awards throughout the '90s and performs at major international jazz festivals. Barnes has also spent time teaching. ~ Al Campbell https://www.allmusic.com/artist/alan-barnes-mn0000936422

Personnel:  Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Alan Barnes; Piano – David Newton

Summertime

---

Ken Peplowski, Alan Barnes - At The Watermill

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:11
Size: 146.9 MB
Styles: Bop, Swing
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[ 5:00] 1. Tippin'
[ 6:21] 2. Strollin'
[ 5:14] 3. Jubilation
[ 3:57] 4. Luiza
[ 8:54] 5. Together
[ 6:48] 6. Some Other Spring
[ 6:28] 7. Perdido
[ 6:04] 8. Menina Flor
[ 4:57] 9. Jazz Line Blues
[10:22] 10. Pee Wee's Blues

Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Producer – Alan Barnes; Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone – Ken Peplowski; Double Bass – Dave Green; Drums – Steve Brown; Piano – John Pearce. Recorded at the Watermill Jazz Club, 11th October 2010.

Alan Barnes’ Woodville label continues to attract some of the best of mainstream American players this time it’s clarinet and tenor player Ken Peplowoski. Alan takes out his full armoury of instruments for this session which enables the two frontline musicians to mix and match which brings a multitude of possibilities to the sound of the quintet. The backing trio is about as near perfect as you are likely to find in the UK.

Ken Peplowski is one of those musicians who appeared on the scene along with a host of what is known as the new mainstreamers such as Scott Hamilton and Warren Vache and played in much the same style but later became a little more adventurous without losing his basic style. In Alan Barnes he is teamed with his ideal partner as Alan is capable of playing in man styles.

There is much to admre on this album with all members of the quintet on top form with a good spread of instrumental variations. This album comes highly recommended in all departments. ~Roy Booth

At The Watermill mc
At The Watermill zippy

---