At The Darktown Strutters Ball
Texas Moaner Blues
Stevedore Stomp
Immigration Blues
Extension 345
Heavy Henry
St Louis Blues
We Sure Do Need Him Now
Over The Waves
Sideways
Ain't Misbehavin'
Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None Of My Jelly Roll
On The Sunny Side Of The Street
Petite Fleur
Sweet Georgia Brown
Down By The Riverside
Chris Barber (trombone, vocals, trumpet); Pat Halcox (trumpet, vocals); John Crocker (clarinet, alto sax. tenor sax): Sammy Rimington (alto sax, clarinet,
flute): Roger Hill (electric guitar): Johnny McCallum (banjo, guitar): Vic Pitt (double bass, bass guitar): Pete York (drums)
Recorded December 1978 at Birmingham Repertory Theatre
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The Barber band paid an annual Christmas visit to the Repertory Theatre in Birmingham and this reissue of its 1978 gig gives us a reminder of its always
appealing approach to song selection and arrangements. It also captured one of those little pivotal moments in the band’s history when personnel change
took place, in this case the arrival of electric guitarist Roger Hill to replace John Slaughter. With the front line of Barber, Halcox and John Crocker now
established and augmented by Sammy Rimington the feel was as good as ever.
The repertoire is not superficially broad, but the approach is. A solid singer like At The Darktown Strutters’ Ball has plenty of ear-catching
counter-voicings and a good range of dynamic variance, something at which the Barber band was especially proficient. The slowly loping Texas Moaner Blues is a fine vehicle for Halcox’s tightly muted interjections, the leader’s tailgate trombone and the dovetailing of alto sax and
clarinet, as well as Hill’s fine solo. I agree with Paul Adams’ notes about the forward thinking in Ellington’s rarely-encountered Immigration Blues – to me it could almost be a Carla Bley arrangement. Extension 345, by contrast, is a drum feature and a bit of a trial
at pushing twelve minutes. Far better is the funky fusion engendered in Heavy Henry and the Chicago-style blues guitar solo onSt Louis Blues. A familiar Gospel brings variety, whilst the first disc closes with Rimington playing homage to George Lewis in Over the Waves, via his New Orleans swoops, decorations, embellishments and tonal variety. The Barber band was good at jump-swingers, much as
Humph was, and Halcox excels in his taut solo on Sideways. The quotation level increases in this second half, Barber being especially outrageous
in Aint’ Gonna Give. This is an acquired taste, and I’ve yet to acquire it. Halcox takes a Louis-derived, but independent-minded solo and vocal on On the Sunny Side of the Street and there’s a good Pops Foster-styled arco bass solo from Vic Pitt. The humour of Sweet Georgia Brown is
probably more of the ‘you had to be there’ variety – it sounds a bit cringe-worthy now – but it certainly gets the crowd going.
This is certainly an enjoyable set; not outstanding, it’s true, but full of customarily good things.
Jonathan Woolf
CD Reviews
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