Guy Jeffrey Barker, (born 26 December 1957) is an English

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

trumpeter and composer.

Early life

Barker was born in Chiswick, London, the son of an actress and a stuntman. He started playing the trumpet at the age of twelve, and within a year had joined the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. At the age of 15 he was playing with the Crouch End Allstars along with Wally Fawkes and Bob Nadkarni.

Later life and career

After lessons from Clark Terry in 1975, Barker went on in the 1980s to play with

John Dankworth Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE (20 September 1927 – 6 February 2010), also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores. With his wife, jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, he ...

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(with whose orchestra he toured and recorded in 1983), Lena Horne, and

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. Barker was a member of Clark Tracey's quintet from 1984 to 1992. As a sideman he has played with Ornette Coleman, Carla Bley,

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, James Carter, Mike Westbrook, Frank Sinatra,

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, Alphaville,

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, Swing Out Sister,

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, Sting, Bucks Fizz,

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, Cleo Laine,

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, and

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. Previously, his own band has featured an international mix of musicians – Perico Sambeat (alto saxophone; Spain),

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(piano; Portugal), Geoff Gascoyne (bass, United Kingdom), and Gene Calderazzo (drums; United States) More recently he has toured the Guy Barker Jazz Orchestra – a 15 piece

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

featuring Rosario Giuliani (alto saxophone; Italy) and Per Johansson (tenor saxophone; Sweden) – performing DZF, a reworking of Mozart's ''Magic Flute'' with

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narrating the story as a Raymond Chandler-style novel, retold by Robert Ryan. Barker was music director and arranger for the opening gala concert "Jazz Voice: Celebrating a Century of Song" at the

London Jazz Festival The London Jazz Festival is a music festival held every November. It takes place in London venues such as the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall and in smaller jazz clubs, such as Ronnie Scott's and the Vortex Jazz Club. It is produced by Ser ...

annually from 2008 to 2014. He was also music director and arranger on a number of BBC Radio 2 Friday night is music night shows featuring the Guy Barker Jazz Orchestra with the BBC Concert Orchestra, celebrating the music of

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

/ Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn /

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

, Aretha Franklin and

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, pop and dram ...

/ Jazz Royalty to celebrate the

Wedding of William and Kate The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton took place on Friday, 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, England. The groom was second in the line of succession to the British throne. The couple had been in a relationship since ...

Barker was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to jazz. He was awarded the

BASCA The Ivors Academy (formerly the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy exists to support, protect, and campaign for the interests ...

Gold Badge in 2013. He also recorded with Gordon Haskell a new version of the latter's hit single, " How Wonderful You Are". A samba version of the track is on ''The Cat Whose Got The Cream'' album (2020).

Discography

*1991: ''Isn't It?'' *1994: '' Into the Blue'' *1996: ''Timeswing'' *1998: ''What Love Is'' *2001: ''

Soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

'' *2007: ''The Amadeus Project'' With Mike Westbrook *'' The Cortège'' (Original Records, 1982)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Guy Bebop trumpeters Post-bop trumpeters English jazz trumpeters Male trumpeters English jazz composers Male jazz composers English male composers 1957 births Living people People from Chiswick English session musicians Members of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century trumpeters 21st-century British male musicians National Youth Jazz Orchestra members

Early life

Later life and career

Discography

See also

References

External links