Emile Barnes (18 February 1892 – 2 March 1970) was a

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

ist. Barnes studied under Lorenzo Tio Jr.,

Alphonse Picou Alphonse Floristan Picou (October 19, 1878 – February 4, 1961) was an important very early American jazz clarinetist, who also wrote and arranged music. He was born and died in New Orleans, Louisiana. Early life and education Alphonse Picou w ...

George Baquet George Francis Baquet (July 22, 1881 – Jan. 14, 1949) was an American jazz clarinetist, known for his contributions to early jazz in New Orleans. His father, Theogene V. Baquet, eminent New Orleans musician and educator, was also a clarinetis ...

, and

Louis Nelson Delisle "Big Eye" Louis Nelson Delisle (January 28, 1885 – August 20, 1949) was an American Dixieland jazz clarinetist in New Orleans, Louisiana. He also played double bass, banjo, and accordion. Early life and education Nelson Delisle was born into a ...

(also known as "Big Eye" Louis Nelson). Active professionally in New Orleans by 1908, he was long well regarded locally for his bluesy and distinctively individualistic style. He played with the Chris Kelly band in from the late 1910s through the 1920s. Barnes did not become widely known to jazz fans outside of New Orleans until he made recordings during the revival era for

American Music Records American Music Records is a jazz record company and label that was established by Bill Russell in 1944. Russell produced new recordings and reissues, concentrating on New Orleans jazz musicians such as Bunk Johnson, George Lewis, Baby Dodds, a ...

. He performed at the opening night of

Preservation Hall Preservation Hall is a jazz venue on St Peter Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. The building is associated with a house band, a record label, and a non-profit foundation. History of the jazz hall In the 1950s, art de ...

and also in his later years. In the 1930s he played with

Wooden Joe Nicholas Wooden Joe Nicholas (September 23, 1883 – November 17, 1957) was an American jazz trumpeter and cornetist, active on the early New Orleans jazz scene. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Nicholas began playing professionall ...

, and in the 1940s with

Kid Howard Avery "Kid" Howard (April 22, 1908, New Orleans, Louisiana - March 28, 1966, New Orleans) was an American jazz trumpeter, associated with the New Orleans jazz scene. Howard began on drums at about age fourteen, but switched to cornet and then tr ...

. Barnes was featured on several

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...

New Orleans compilation albums during the 1950s, and again in the early 60s as a solo artist. When British trumpeter

Ken Colyer Kenneth Colyer (18 April 1928 – 8 March 1988) was an English jazz trumpeter and cornetist, devoted to New Orleans jazz. His band was also known for skiffle interludes. Biography He was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, but grew up ...

jumped ship and visited

in 1953, he recorded with a pick-up band including Barnes. Emile Barnes' younger brother Paul "Polo" Barnes was also a noted professional clarinetist.

References

Leonard Feather Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914 – 22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer, who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. Biography Feather was born in London, England, into an u ...

and

Ira Gitler Ira Gitler (December 18, 1928 – February 23, 2019) was an American jazz historian and journalist. The co-author of ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'' with Leonard Feather—the most recent edition appeared in 1999—he wrote hundreds of ...

, ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Music''. Oxford, 1999, p. 39. 1892 births 1970 deaths Dixieland clarinetists American jazz clarinetists Jazz musicians from New Orleans 20th-century American musicians {{US-clarinetist-stub