John William Barber

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John William Barber

John William "Bill" Barber (born May 21, 1920 in Hornell , New York , † June 18, 2007 in Bronxville , New York ) was an American tuba player.

He gained notoriety through his participation in the Birth of the Cool Sessions of the Miles Davis Capitol Band as well as the projects of Miles and the band leader / arranger Gil Evans .

life and work

Barber studied at New York's Manhattan and Juilliard School of Music . In the second half of the 1940s he played in the bands of Charlie Ventura and Claude Thornhill , in the 1950s in the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra and worked with Pete Rugolo , then with Gil Evans. In his orchestra he took part in projects with trumpeter Miles Davis, such as Miles Ahead 1957, Porgy And Bess 1958, Sketches of Spain 1960, Live At Carnegie Hall 1961 and Quiet Nights 1962. He played in the bands of Gil Evans as a composer his groundbreaking records Great Jazz Standards 1959, Out of the Cool 1960 and The Individualism of Gil Evans (1963/64). He then took part in recordings by Ralph Burns and Urbie Green ( Music for Brass ).

Discography (selection)

  • Claude Thornhill: Tapestry (Affinity, 1937-47)
  • Ralph Burns: Conducts Ralph Burns (Raretone, 1951)
  • Miles Davis Nonet: Cool Boppin ' (Fresh Sound, 1948)
  • Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (Capitol, 1949/50)
  • Eddie Sauter : The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra: Directions In Music (RCA, 1952–58)
  • Johnny Mathis : A New Sound In Popular Song (1956)
  • Miles Davis & Gil Evans Orchestra: Miles Ahead (Columbia, 1957)
  • Miles Davis & Gil Evans Orchestra: Porgy and Bess (Columbia, 1958)
  • Miles Davis & Gil Evans Orchestra: Sketches of Spain (Columbia, 1960)
  • Gil Evans Orchestra: Out of the Cool (Impulse !, 1960)
  • Miles Davis & Gil Evans Orchestra: Lve at Carnegie Hall (Columbia, 1961)
  • John Coltrane : Africa / Brass ( Impulse! Records , 1961)
  • Miles Davis & Gil Evans Orchestra: Quiet Nights (Columbia, 1962)
  • Gil Evans Orchestra: The Individualism Of Gil Evans ( Verve Records , 1963/64)
  • Kenny Burrell : Guitar Forms (Verve, 1964/65) with Gil Evans Orchestra

Lexical entry

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary in The Guardian
  2. John William Barber is listed on the various records and thus also in the common jazz discographies and lexicons as both John Barber (e.g. in Birth of the Cool ) and Bill Barber (e.g. in Africa Brass ). But it is always the same person.