[Dixielandjazz] More on Chris

[Bill Haesler]

> Steve Voce <stevevoce at virginmedia.com> wrote [in part]:

> This piece is from the current Jazz Journal on lne.
> My memory of first hearing a Barber band would be that it was in 1949, but the reference books suggest it must have been 1950.  Whenever it was, there were two trumpets – were they Dickie Hawden and Ben Cohen? And Alex Revell was on clarinet. The music was far more wide-ranging than it later became...

Dear Steve,
In my tribute to pianist David Stevens (to be published in the September 2019 'Just Jazz' magazine) I included the following, based on biog information given to me by David some years ago:

"David joined and recorded with John Haim's Jelly Roll Kings, where he met and befriended clarinetist Paul Simpson. Haim died far too young in January 1949 and David began rehearsing with Chris Barber's King Oliver-styled group. It was shambolic and he gave up and worked and recorded with the visiting French Rene Franc and his quartet. A year later the piano-less Barber Jazz Band (the one the public knows) successfully launched itself full blast onto the London scene."

'Jazz. The Rough Guide' (Carr, Fairweather,Priestley) confirms Ben Cohen and John Chilton ('Who's Who') confirms Alex Revell.
Congratulations on your excellent memory. 
Kind regards,
Bill.