Barry Phillips is a musician, arranger and producer of many recordings of Celtic, world and American folk music on the Gourd Music label.

Life and career

Phillips received a Masters of Music degree in composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 1990. Since graduating, besides recording on his own, Phillips has concertized and recorded with fiddler Alasdair Fraser, guitarist

Martin Simpson Martin Stewart Simpson (born 5 May 1953) is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in Britain, Ireland, America and beyond. He builds a purposeful, often upbeat voi ...

, harpist Aine Minogue, sitarist

Anoushka Shankar Anoushka Shankar (born 9 June 1981) is a British-American sitar player, producer, film composer and activist. She was the youngest and first woman to receive a British House of Commons Shield; she has had 7 Grammy Awards nominations and was th ...

and the legendary British rock group

Camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. ...

, playing cello on their 1999 album

Rajaz Rajaz (, literally 'tremor, spasm, convulsion as may occur in the behind of a camel when it wants to rise') is a metre used in classical Arabic poetry. A poem composed in this metre is an ''urjūza''. The metre accounts for about 3% of surviving ...

. Phillips was a student of

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...

from 1996 until Shankar's death in 2012 and assisted him in the composing of a cello sonata and a quartet for sitar, cello, harp and tabla for Mstislav Rostropovich. In 2002 he assisted in the composition of Ravi Shankar’s Arpan for the ''

Concert for George The Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 29 November 2002 as a memorial to George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death. The event was organised by Harrison's widow, Olivia, and his son, Dhani, and arran ...

'' (George Harrison celebration) at the Albert Hall, playing cello in the Ravi Shankar Orchestra and also in the string section that played along with

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. On ...

, Eric Clapton,

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

and others. In addition to remastering much of Ravi Shankar's early recordings, Phillips received a Grammy Award in 2013 for producing Shankar's final album before his death, " The Living Room Sessions Part 1." Phillips lives in Santa Cruz, California and is married to fellow musician and teacher Shelley Phillips. His son is the photographer Nathan Phillips.

Discography

* ''Simple Gifts'' (Gourd Music, 1990) - instrumental arrangements of melodies of the American Shakers * ''Wondrous Love'' (Gourd Music, 1992) - instrumental versions of "Shape Note" tunes * ''The World Turned Upside Down'' (Gourd Music, 1992) - colonial American folk and classical * ''Tree of Life'' (Gourd Music, 1993) - instrumental arrangements of melodies of the American Shakers * ''Music On The Mountain'' (Gourd Music, 1996) - instrumental arrangements of melodies of the American Shakers * ''Cello'' (Gourd Music, 2000) * ''Tråd'' (Gourd Music, 2005) * ''Colonial Christmas'' (Gourd Music, 2009) * ''Summer of Cello'' (Barry Phillips Music, 2011) * ''Raga and Raj'' (East Meets West Music, 2013)

References

External links

* * much of Ravi Shankar's early recordings, Phillips received a Grammy Award for producing Shankar's posthumous album The Living Room Sessions Part 1.