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A friend just sent me this link, I wanted to share it here. I've always dug George Barnes, this is great, it's played so perfect and has a fantastic vibe. Bucky Pizzarelli is the second guitarist. Great photos from the session here as well - Barnes seems like a larger than life character, a real Cat.
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05-23-2013 11:42 PM
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Great!Perfect playing from 1962!
Thanks
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Technically impressive, but I find the performance rather 'mechanical' sounding. Sounds harsh even.
You can hear these cats are used to expressing themselves in a different idiom.
Sorry, it did nothing for me (and I studied and played a lot of Bach back at the Conservatorium, so that's not it).
Thanks for sharing anyway :-)Last edited by Pukka-J; 05-24-2013 at 01:54 AM.
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I've also studied a lot of Bach and I played his works...but I think this recording is great.Recorded at old techonology without mistakes-just recorded takes I think...that is great!
Originally Posted by Pukka-J
And nice arrange of George Barnes...:-)
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All good Pukka - Kris I agree about the old tech/no mistakes, I thought it was a great performance because of that.
To be honest, usually I dislike 'jazzed up' interpretations of Bach, but this one I thought was really cool, with lots of charm and personality.
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Hi, all...I'm George Barnes' daughter, and I'm glad you all enjoyed the music and the video (except Pukka-J, who delivered what I believe to be the very first bad review Dad received in his incredible 44-year career!). I was 8 years old when I watched Dad arrange, perform and produce the Fugue -- and it was exceptionally gratifying for me to cut the video so many years later.
In case any of you are interested in the origins of this recording -- the original session, as well as the re-release I produced in 2010 -- you can find the story at George Barnes < theartofsoundgallery.com ...I included all the outtakes and conversations, knowing that musicians in particular love hearing the entire session, the process among masters. For those of you who missed the mistakes and imperfections, please treat yourselves to a copy of the CD -- they're all there!
Right before I released the CD, I had a great chat with Bucky about the Fugue session, and about their partnership; I'll be releasing that conversation soon.
And if you're interested in the many other aspects of my father's career, I've recently launched The George Barnes Legacy Collection -- The George Barnes Legacy Collection | ?aspects of the truth. -- which is designed to tell the story of his indelible influence on American popular music — from 30′s blues to 40′s swing to 50′s & 60′s rock and country, and jazz throughout, until his death in 1977 — bringing him to new generations of musicians and music lovers. My mother and I are thrilled every day by the positive response to the Collection from guitarists, fans, and collectors around the world.
All my best to you all,
Alexandra Barnes Leh
www.linkedin.com/in/alexandraleh
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Hi, all...I'm George Barnes' daughter, and I'm glad you all enjoyed the music and the video (except Pukka-J, who delivered what I believe to be the very first bad review Dad received in his incredible 44-year career!). I was 8 years old when I watched Dad arrange, perform and produce the Fugue -- and it was exceptionally gratifying for me to cut the video so many years later.
In case any of you are interested in the origins of this recording -- the original session, as well as the re-release I produced in 2010 -- you can find the story at George Barnes < theartofsoundgallery.com ...I included all the outtakes and conversations, knowing that musicians in particular love hearing the entire session, the process among masters. For those of you who missed the mistakes and imperfections, please treat yourselves to a copy of the CD -- they're all there!
Right before I released the CD, I had a great chat with Bucky about the Fugue session, and about their partnership; I'll be releasing that conversation soon.
And if you're interested in the many other aspects of my father's career, I've recently launched The George Barnes Legacy Collection -- The George Barnes Legacy Collection | ?aspects of the truth. -- which is designed to tell the story of his indelible influence on American popular music — from 30′s blues to 40′s swing to 50′s & 60′s rock and country, and jazz throughout, until his death in 1977 — bringing him to new generations of musicians and music lovers. My mother and I are thrilled every day by the positive response to the Collection from guitarists, fans, and collectors around the world.
All my best to you all,
Alexandra Barnes Leh
www.linkedin.com/in/alexandraleh
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Hi Alexandra, nice to see you here! You sound like a very proud daughter, and rightly so! 44 years is a long career indeed and that without even one bad review!
(why is there no 'wink' smiley?)
I wouldn't call my opinion a bad review though! It's actually not even an opinion, just a matter of taste.
No disrespect intended towards your father or his playing at all!
See, I studied and taught classical music most of my musical life and Bach always played a large role in that. I also usually dislike jazzed up classical music. For me it's a totally different idiom. Just like it is notoriously hard to translate poetry I think jazzing op Bach is hit or miss, and for me more often miss than hit. Just like having a classical orchestra playing Straight no Chaser would probably just not swing hard enough.
Even within the world of classical music orchestra's in general don't even play much Bach (if at all), there are orchestra's that specialize in baroque music that usually do a much better job with his music (though I must confess that nothing sounded more 'mechanical' than the early specialized Baroque orchestra's).
I played, heard (and even directed, for choirs) a lot of Bach performances and your fathers interpretation is just not my favorite.
But that's just me and my own little personal preference and I do hope that one day my daughters will be as proud of me as you are of your father
Last edited by Pukka-J; 05-24-2013 at 06:19 AM.
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If you know everything tell me why Keith Jarrett recorded music of Jan Sebastan Bach? Originally Posted by Pukka-J
Hi Alexandra, nice to see you here! You sound like a very proud daughter, and rightly so! 44 years is a long career indeed and that without even one bad review! (why is there no 'wink' smiley?)
I wouldn't call my opinion a bad review though! It's actually not even an opinion, just a matter of taste.
No disrespect intended towards your father or his playing at all!
See, I studied and taught classical music most of my musical life and Bach always played a large role in that. I also usually dislike jazzed up classical music. For me it's a totally different idiom. Just like it is notoriously hard to translate poetry I think jazzing op Bach is hit or miss, and for me more often miss than hit. Just like having a classical orchestra playing Straight no Chaser would probably just not swing hard enough.
Even within the world of classical music orchestra's in general don't even play much Bach (if at all), there are orchestra's that specialize in baroque music that usually do a much better job with his music (though I must confess that nothing sounded more 'mechanical' than the early specialized Baroque orchestra's).
I played, heard (and even directed, for choirs) a lot of Bach performances and your fathers interpretation is just not my favorite.
But that's just me and my own little personal preference and I do hope that one day my daughters will be as proud of me as you are of your father
and is his interpretations swinging or not?...:-)
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Hi, Pukka-J...what a kind welcome, and a very sensible and respectful response! And I completely understand your perspective -- I believe it's true for me, too, when it comes to jazz guitarists. Where you are trained to hear classical music in a very particular way, so have I been trained to hear jazz guitar by listening from birth to my father's style of playing. So, my appreciation of any other jazz guitarist's playing is tempered by the way my ear is tuned. Which is, I suppose, how anyone's musical taste is born.
I don't know if you've ever heard any of The George Barnes Octet recordings from the late 1940's -- Dad composed and arranged incredibly intricate and sophisticated pieces for an octet of rhythm section and woodwinds, comprised of musicians from the Chicago Symphony. My mother says the biggest challenge for him was to get the players to swing -- but, of course, he did
I've heard dozens of renditions of "the little fugue" -- this one captures my heart with the extra joy in its swing, but it's also a very personal thing -- to have watched the process, from the many times he listened to Eugene Ormandy's version, to the writing in the wee hours (when I'd be awakened by the scent of his cigar and his unamplified guitar, and the skritching of scoring pencil on paper) -- and the rehearsals with his best friends, all five of them consummate professionals who were the cream of New York studio musicians, who could play anything with confidence and soul and precision and joy. These were the guys who played a toothpaste jingle in the morning, a Sam Cooke session in the afternoon, and a Barbra Streisand date at night, five or six days a week! New York in the 1950's and 1960's was an exceptional place, and a remarkable time -- and we were all family. So I obviously take that into consideration when listening to the music produced by these amazing people -- one of whom happens to be my dad
Cheers to you in the Netherlands from me in Los Angeles!
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Hi Alexandra - thanks for putting together that clip with the photos, you did a great job. I'll be sure to check out the website - it's not everyday we have the daughter of the first ever electric guitarist posting on this forum!
Pukka - given your background I can dig where you're coming from. Personal taste is obviously very subjective, for example I can't stand this interpretation of Ton Koopman's...
Bach & the modern orchestra? yeah, I get what you mean, but Gould loved Stokowski's Bach arrangements lol, they're pretty epic!
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I must know in advance: are you asking me as mortal Pukka-J or as the Big Swing Oracle? Originally Posted by kris
If you know everything tell me why Keith Jarrett recorded music of Jan Sebastan Bach?
and is his interpretations swinging or not?...:-)
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Most kind of you, 3625 -- yes, come see the legacy (it's a work in progress), and please tell me what else you'd like to know about GB
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Ah, Ton Koopman, yes, there's a very good example of what we would call a 'bombastic sewing machine' rendition
And Stokowski...but that is nostalgia, before we knew better (huge wink!).
And Alexandra, you seem to have beautiful and vivid memories of these early days. Great to read!
I will give the Bach fugue another listen. There must be something to it if so many people enjoy it. Perhaps it is exactly my lack of jazz idiom that made me miss it
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I have to practise today Bach two part inventions arranged by Barry Galbraith for two guitars. Originally Posted by Pukka-J
I must know in advance: are you asking me as mortal Pukka-J or as the Big Swing Oracle?
It is great staff and I do not worry is it swing or not.
Recomended!
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Yes, I know these well. Great music indeed!
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+ 1 Originally Posted by Pukka-J
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great stuff from a great player...kudos for posting it...
I have a few arrangements of Georges ... don't play them enough...
Bach needs to be played well and it takes time to learn..thanks to musical notation we can...
time on the instrument...
If wine is the music that fills the cup....please see that my cup is always filled...
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Finally checked out this thread that is a great arrangement and recording. Thanks for posting.
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Interesting to hear Bach played on two instruments which were not invented yet when Bach lived - electric guitar and clarinet (the clarinet developed from the shalm and became popular in Mozarts time).
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Loved it...it swings!
Classical and jazz work...people always play up the American, blues influence in jazz.. but that's only one part of the soup.
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Pukka, that's one of the reasons I'm producing the GB Legacy Collection -- there's so much more to the music than making it. Aside from genetics and time+place, the life behind the music informs the quality and the content. The fact that GB is my father makes it easy for me to access those delicious details -- the informal recordings of him talking with his master students about his early days, and the life of a professional musician are especially wonderful. But, as a professional writer and producer, I'm always looking for the story everyone *thinks* they know, and revealing the untold aspects -- so I'd be working on this, anyway. His career, from the time he first plugged into his brother's handmade amp, until his last untimely breath, had (and still has) an impact and an influence on virtually every genre of American popular music. The younger players -- those who were born after Dad died -- prove it time and again. That's the living legacy. And these conversations would make Dad, and his brilliant departed colleagues, so happy that they continue to delight and inspire.
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