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Alan Barnes

1977-80 Alan studied saxophone, woodwinds and arranging at the Leeds College of music. In 1980 he moved to London, playing with the Midnight Follies Orchestra and the following year was with the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, touring Europe until 1983. In that year he left to join the hard bop band of Tommy Chase where he attracted considerable attention on the UK jazz scene for the first time. He left Chase in 1986 to co-lead The Jazz Renegades with rock drummer Steve White travelling as far afield as Japan and recording four well received albums. In 1988 Alan was asked to fill the chair recently vacated by Bruce Turner in the Humphrey Lyttleton band where he stayed until 1992. 1987-97 he also found time to lead the Pizza Express Modern Jazz Sextet with Gerard Prescencer and Dave O'Higgins. Since leaving the Lyttleton band, Alan has concentrated on his freelance career. Alan has enjoyed a prolific career as a sideman, playing and recording for many bands. He broadcast regularly over a ten-year period with the BBC Big Band and Radio Orchestra and has toured and recorded with big band leaders, Dick Walter, Kenny Baker, Bob Wilber, Don Weller, Stan Tracey, Mike Westbrook and John Dankworth. Other bands he has toured and recorded with include the Tina May Trio, Bill LeSage's Genetically Modified Quintet, Spike Robinson's Tenor Madness, Clare Teale, and a sextet with Don Weller playing the music of Cannonball Adderley. Alan has also toured the U.K. with Freddie Hubbard. Alan has long associations with pianist David Newton, going back to their college days, and with blistering be-bop trumpeter Bruce Adams, with whom he has co-led a quintet since the early nineties. Alan has been featured on many jazz recordings from his first record date as co-leader in 1985 with Tommy Whittle and as leader of his own quartet in 1987 right up to recent record dates with Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache and Harry Allen. He has appeared on the Concord, Fret, Miles Music, Nagel Hayer and Specific labels with various projects. Alan has recorded a large number of sessions with pianist Brian Lemon on the Zephyr label. Amongst these sessions are duet, quintet, sextet and octet sessions with Warren Vache, Tony Coe, KenPeplowski, Gerrard Prescencer and Mark Nightingale. Alan has performed as a member of Clark Tracey's "Tribute to Art Blakey" and was featured on the David Newton/Clark Tracey recording Bootleg Eric.

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Album Review

Alan Barnes All Stars: The Marbella Jazz Suite

Read "The Marbella Jazz Suite" reviewed by Jack Bowers


All Stars they're labeled, and All Stars they are. Saxophonist Alan Barnes leads eight of Great Britain's most accomplished post bop musicians through their paces on the Marbella Jazz Suite, a series of scenic sketches drawn by Barnes to honor the Spanish city where he and the band performed at the Marbella Jazz Festival in May, 2004.

Believe it or not, every song on the album--even “Freddie Green --alludes to some aspect of the city of Marbella, the festival, or ...

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Recording

The Sax Section: Oh Gee!

The Sax Section: Oh Gee!

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

From time to time, I post on albums that showcase saxophone sections. What can I say, I'm a sucker for reeds. The last time I posted on such an album was in June, when I wrote about Jay Cameron's International Sax Band from 1955 and provided a long list of my favorite sax section albums (go here). Here's the list thus far... Woody Herman's Four Brothers band (1947), Gene Roland's Boppers (1949), The Brothers!—Al Cohn, Bill Perkins and Richie Kamuca ...

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Festival

Alan Barnes & William Ellis - Live! Scarborough Jazz Festival, September 25th

Alan Barnes & William Ellis - Live!  Scarborough Jazz Festival, September 25th

Source: Ian Patterson

William Ellis is one of the world's leading jazz photographers and also an informative and highly entertaining speaker who has given talks on his work internationally. In this show, as his photographs are screened, William gives us the story behind each shot, and saxophonist Alan Barnes leads an all-star band performing a piece by each selected musician. Saxophonists Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins and Illinois Jaquet will be spotlighted, and the inclusion of trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Clark Terry ...

226

Event

The Jeremy Monteiro Trio with Special Guest Alan Barnes at The Living Room from May 18-22, 2010

The Jeremy Monteiro Trio with Special Guest Alan Barnes at The Living Room from May 18-22, 2010

Source: Michael Ricci

The Living Rooms reputation for showcasing high caliber international jazz musicians is well-deserved. The walls of this sophisticated lounge bar may well be decorated with the black and white images of the jazz greats of yesteryear but it is the living legends of the jazz world that take to the stage. In May, The Living Room is thrilled to welcome the Jeremy Monteiro Trio with special guest, the renowned British saxophonist, Alan Barnes. Performing for just 5 nights from May ...

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Event

Alan Barnes' All-Stars ‘Swinging Down Broad Street’

Alan Barnes' All-Stars ‘Swinging Down Broad Street’

Source: All About Jazz

The city of Birmingham is to host to an array of jazz events this summer as part of the Urban Fusion events programme.

The Urban Fusion ‘Summer of Jazz’ brings together some of the genre’s leading entertainers at various events across the city. Performers range from up-and-coming contemporary jazz artists such as Gwyneth Herbert and Soweto Kinch to veteran jazz legend Andy Hamilton. The line-up also boasts American superstars Joey De Francesco, the Hanna Richardson Trio and the Red Holloway ...

Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Doodle Oodle

Woodville Records
2008

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The Marbella Jazz...

Big Bear Records
2005

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