[Dixielandjazz] Bob Barnard

[ROBERT R. CALDER]

Bob Barnard

 
 
 
   
Bob Barnard
 We turn our attention to the music of Aussie trumpet player Bob Barnard over the month of April, 2018. Hear from...   
It's crap calling anybody a retro artist.  
The link should find some pictures, and the reference to Bob having retired reminds me of an early interview in which he spoke of first travelling to Europe. The phrase was "a long way."

He came to Edinburgh with his band in 1983, and I've mentioned before on this list the amazing gig with Henri Chaix on piano, Al Casey on guitar, and Earle Warren in addition to playing alto pretty well taking over from Bob as leader.  Bob was presumably as delighted as were several others when Warren at the end of Chaix's solo on "Take the A Train" had him take another without the drummer and Bob's brother on bass. There was no loss of impetus, and following the stride method of soloing by reassembling fragments of the main theme Chaix produced a second and different triumph. 
Warren's head swung round when Bob took up a solo of decent duration, he was literally shocked by the quality of Bob's performance. I mentioned this to Jake Hanna and Jake said that was perfectly understandable, Bob was after all one of the greatest.  The 1983 gig ended with Earle Warren glowering in disgust that the audience were not all on their feet and roaring when the veteran hand was extended to hail the master trumpeter. 
I think it was 2005 when the new slim-line Bob (something nasty removed from his abdomen, said Humphrey Lyttelton) delivered some ballad playing to an Edinburgh audience with many rampant sex-agenarians which was pretty well matchless for the near enough jeweller style shaping of notes, in a show with a lot of "It's Trad, Dad" raucousness. 
One of the very great, said Jake Hanna, and very true.

Robert R. Calder