Chris Barber Dead At 90
Chris Barber, was one of the ‘Three Bs’ – along with Acker Bilk and Kenny Ball – who are considered to have defined traditional British jazz and led the ‘Trad’ revival of the 1950s and 1960s – and he died “peacefully in his sleep” after suffering with dementia, his record label The Last Music Company confirmed in a tribute post on its website.
A post was also made on the official Twitter account of The Last Music Company, which read: “BRITISH JAZZ GIANT CHRIS BARBER DIES AT AGE 90”.
“Chris Barber died peacefully in his sleep on 1st March 2021. He had been suffering from Dementia for the last couple of years. We are saddened by his loss.”
BBC News
By Mark Savage
image captionBarber was one of the UK s most influential jazz musician
One of the leading figures in British and European jazz, the trombonist Chris Barber, has died at the age of 90.
A champion of trad jazz, he also laid the foundations for the 60s rock scene by covering Leadbelly s Rock Island Line with Lonnie Donegan in 1954.
The song sold a million copies and popularised the British skiffle scene that inspired the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton.
He died peacefully in his sleep after suffering with dementia. Without a doubt, he transformed the music scene in the UK and unlocked the door for a new generation of musical adventurers who in turn, continue to inspire, wrote his record label, The Last Music Company, on Facebook.
Chris Barber obituary theguardian.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theguardian.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
norman lebrecht
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LONDONâBorn in 1930, Chris Barber was one of the leading figures in European jazz. Together with Kenny Ball and Acker Bilk, he was one of the âThree Bâsâ who defined traditional jazz in Britain and spearheaded the âTradâ revival of the late 1950s and early 1960s. His interest in jazz began while he was evacuated from London during World War II, and he began collecting 78 records of his American heroes, becoming an expert on the early days of recorded jazz. He formed his first band in London after the war, playing a trombone that he bought for £5 from the trombonist in Humphrey Lyttelton’s band. His first records were made at the end of the 1940s, but it was when he and the clarinettist Monty Sunshine formed a co-operative band in 1953 under the leadership of Ken Colyer that his career took off.