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Trying to find some good records to hear George Barnes' jazz guitar playing, but it's kinda hard to find. Can anyone recommend any?
Thanks!
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10-24-2017 11:41 PM
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I have a bunch of his recordings and I like all of them. Here are some I particularly like:
"Town Hall Concert" Barnes & Kress. My favorite duo recording of all time. (It helps that I was there when it was recorded)
"Ruby Braff & George Barnes Quartet Play Gershwin"
"Blues Going Up"
"Lipstick On Your Collar" Connie Francis (Barnes plays the solo)
Danny W.
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"Country Jazz"
"Tony Bennett w/the Ruby Braff quartet"
George Barnes Carl Kress "Guitars Anyone?"
"Guitars By George"
he's uncredited on a zillion recordings but is instantly identifiable by his precise sound
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"It helps that I was there when it was recorded"
too cool for school Danny, I have the lp but that must've been something
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See if you can find an LP called "Movin' Easy" by the "Jazz Renaissance Quintet," which is led by Barnes, and includes Billy Bauer. While Barnes' distinctive sound is recognizable, it's a bit unique in that this is the only LP I know of where he sounds "modern."
You should also check out the George Barnes Legacy site (georgebarneslegacy.com/) that's operated by his daughter, Alexandra.
John Galich
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A great live album recorded in 1977- George, Duncan James also on guitar, Benny Barth on drums, Dean Reilly on bass. Great sound, too, as one would expect from David Grisman's record label:
Acoustic Disc Online
George was an amazingly facile guitarist, never sounds strained or tense no matter the tempo.
Some stuff on YouTube, too.
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One of my favorites is "George Barnes Plays So Good" on the Concord label. Here's a cut from that recording ...
George Barnes - Plays So Good - Amazon.com Music
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As referenced above Barnes played with Tony Bennett quite a bit. They did an album of Rogers and Hart songs that is beautiful. They leave so much space in their interpretations...they just draw you in. There is so much Django in his playing:
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Roberoo, thanks for that information....I just added that to my basket in Amazon...i got some gift cards at Christmas time...that should be a great recording !
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There is so much Django in his playing
Actually, in an interview with Guitar Player years ago Barnes said that he was NOT influenced by Django because Django sounded "foreign" to him and that his main influences were the clarinet and horn players he heard as a kid in Chicago.
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Originally Posted by Roberoo
Oh, that's beautiful. Does the whole album feature the guitar as much? If so, I'll track it down.
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That is interesting. I had read an interview where he said otherwise... who knows? He certainly sounds Djangoesque with his vibrato, slurs, glissandos, double stops and all kinds of ornamentation. He does not sound horn like as, say, Charlie Christian did with his streams of 8th notes...
Originally Posted by AndyV
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Hi Rob - the album is wall to wall George Barnes. One could study it for years! Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
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when bing crosby was at the top of his game and touring and doing radio broadcasts from all over the usa, he took a residency in chicago and used george barnes as his guitarist..barnes blew bings mind!!!...he featured him in the set, & wanted barnes to join his touring band..but barnes didnt want to leave chicago at the time..there is a broadcast of this around
barnes also arranged bach for electric guitar very early on!
cheers
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Barnes played a lot, and recorded, with Ruby Braff.
I love Ruby Braff's playing. Sort of a swing style horn player. Very melodic and relaxed swing.
Barnes also had a "more trebly" jazz guitar sound throughout his career. I kind of think it as the opposite of Gibson thunkiness. He also seems to have favored a single coil sound, mostly. Great clarity, without sounding thin at all.
He's not exactly unknown...but his studio work kept him busy, and kind of out of sight.
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Tell us more please please Danny Originally Posted by Danny W.
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BARNES INTERVIEW PART 1:
?George Barnes Interview - Guitar Player Magazine February 1975 by Bob Yelin
The words "jazz guitarist" describe George Barnes - but he is also much more. His fantastic versatility has enabled him to play almost any kind of music, and has led to recording dates with such greats as Dinah Washington, Lena Horne, Billy Eckstine, Johnny Mathis, Mel Torme, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra. During the Sixties, Barnes formed the first full-time jazz guitar duo, with Carl Kress, and Barnes' guitar came into its own as a solo instrument.
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When and where were you born?
I was born July 17, 1921 in a Chicago suburb. However, I was raised in Chicago. I come from a family of professional musicians. My father was a guitarist and taught me to play the guitar when I was 9.
Did your father's playing of the guitar make you want to take it up also?
No, not really. At age 6, I began to play the piano and I knew that was the instrument for me. But when the depression came, we lost our piano as well as our house. All that was left for me to play was a little Sears Roebuck Silvertone guitar with action about an inch high. I worked hard at it and when I was 12, I joined the union.
What kind of music were you playing then?
When I was 11, I heard some Bix Beiderbecke records featuring Joe Venuti. I knew then that I wanted to be a jazz musician.
Did any guitarist influence the way you played?
No, there were few guitarists then who soloed. I didn't want to play rhythm; I wanted to play melody. I heard many records by Django (Reinhardt), but I couldn't relate to his playing because he sounded foreign to me. The musicians who influenced my playing the most were the horn and reedmen I played with while I was growing up in Chicago. This was at the time that the Chicago sound in jazz was being formed and was strongly felt in the music world. I was very fortunate to be a part of it. My single greatest influence was a famous Chicago clarinetist, Jimmy Noone. He also greatly influenced Benny Goodman. I was playing with Jimmy Noone when I was 16. His playing gave me a strong direction. Another strong influence was Louis Armstrong.
Did anyone influence the way you played the blues?
When I was young, I hung around with Lonnie Johnson, and he taught me how to play the blues. He played the first 12-string guitar I ever heard. He used to tune it down a whole tone to make it easier to play. George Van Eps does the same thing with his 7-string guitar.
As a teenager, did you mainly sit in with groups or did you work gigs?
At 14, 1 formed my first quartet, the George Barnes Quartet. We did a lot of work. At 16, I made my first record under my group's own name. We recorded "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" and "I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me," for Okeh records: Many guitar players who read Guitar Player magazine have written me that they have that record.
Didn't you start doing a lot of studio work after your first record?
Yes, at 17 I joined the NBC staff in Chicago. There, I became the youngest conductor and arranger they ever had. I stayed with them for nearly five years, until I got drafted in 1942.
Didn't you do a lot of recording dates in Chicago, besides radio work?
Good heavens, I did a ton of recording dates! In 1935, I started recording with the top black blues artists of that time. I made over one hundred blues records with fellows like Big Bill Broonzy, Blind John Davis, and a host of other bluesmen. I was the only white musician on these dates. Hughes Panassie, the French author of the jazz book, Le Jazz Hot, came out with a discography which included me as "the great Negro blues guitar player from Chicago." I did all kinds of recording dates. But I got even more involved with recordings when I moved to New York in 1951.
What made you leave Chicago?
I was working on the Dave Garroway show in Chicago, and he told me that television work was booming in New York and would pay better than the work I was doing. When I first arrived in New York, I immediately got a contract with Decca records. With them, I did just about everything: Conducting, arranging, vocal backgrounds, my own albums, and record dates. Probably the only thing I didn't do was sweep the floors!
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His stuff is hard to find, for me anyway. You tube has a lot of his recordings.
A legendary Australian bebopper Bruce Clarke used to have a label called Cumquat Records that rereleased a lot of his recordings.
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Good interview. Thanks for sharing it.
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I got the Ruby Braff recording with George Barnes playing Gershwin...great recording...thanks for starting this thread...I would never have purchased it without learning of it on this forum.
Thanks !
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The duo he had with Bucky was fantastic. Unfortunately, they didn't record too many things.
I was at the Town Hall 'Guitar Concert' in the early 70s, and they made a double record of it.
Classic Barnes throughout.
I saw them play many times in NY at that time, and once loaded George's Fender Tremolux into the taxi cab for him after a concert at Carnegie Recital Hall. Beautiful concert!
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Gotta agree, that's a great album.. Originally Posted by pcpicker47
Another good one to start out with is "Live At The New School" again with Braff.
Here's the rest of what I have in the George Barnes department shown below.
He's a sideman on Al Caiola's date, but a leader on the rest.
If I can just find the other 98% of the stuff he played on, I'll be all set!
John
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Bob Burford spent some time working with George Barnes and wrote this tune for him. I'm not sure if Bob's still active on youtube but he's probably a mine of info about George.
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George's daughter Alexandra produced this reissue of the original recording of the Bach G minor fugue by Barnes with his Renaissance Quintet. The CD includes all the studio outtakes, flubs and chatter. It's a fascinating portrait of master jazz musicians tackling music that was out of their comfort zone. The recording includes the final 5-6 min version.
Barnes LP Country Jazz was legendary among pickers like Roy Clark and Danny Gatton and was recently reissued on Sundazed. Barnes jazzily's traditional Americana tunes like Old Joe Clark and other classics.
George Barnes - Country Jazz - LP
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