Danny Barker (January 13, 1909 – March 13, 1994), born Daniel Moses Barker, was a jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th century American popular music. Its West African pedigree banjoist Categories: Lists of musicians by instrument | Banjoists, singer Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can either be sung a cappella or accompanied by musicians and instruments ranging from a single instrumentalist to a full, guitarist A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing, songwriter A songwriter is one who writes the lyrics or music for songs . One who writes only lyrics may be called a lyricist, while one who writes only music may be called a composer. Although songwriters of the past commonly composed, arranged and played their own songs, more recently the pressure to produce popular hits has tended to distribute, ukelele player and author An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work from New Orleans New Orleans (pronounced /njuː ˈɔrliənz/ or /ˈnjuː ɔrˈliːnz/, locally [nuː ˈɔrlənz] or [ˈnɔrlənz]; French: La Nouvelle-Orléans [la nuvɛlɔʁleɑ̃] ) is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area, (New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner) has a, founder of the locally famous Fairview Baptist Church Marching Band. He was a rhythm guitarist Rhythm guitar is the use of a guitar to provide rhythmic chordal accompaniment for a singer or other instruments in a musical ensemble. In ensembles or "bands" playing within the country, blues, rock or metal genres (among others), a guitarist playing the rhythm part of a composition supports the melodic lines and solos played on the for some of the best bands of the day, including Cab Calloway Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader, Lucky Millinder and Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King In 1958, he performed with Billie Holiday at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival throughout the 1930s.

On September 4, 1945 he recorded with Ohio The government of Ohio is composed of the executive branch, led by the Governor; the legislative branch, which comprises the Ohio General Assembly; and the judicial branch, which is led by the Supreme Court. Currently, Ohio occupies 18 seats in the United States House of Representatives. Ohio is known for its status as both a swing state and a's native jazz pianist—Sir Charles Thompson—a date that included saxophonists Categories: Saxophonists | Lists of musicians by instrument Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and actor. He is considered one of the first bebop tenor players. A famous photograph by Herman Leonard of Gordon smoking a cigarette during a set at the Royal Roost in New York City in 1948 is one of the most iconic images in the history of jazz and Charlie Parker Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird, or Yardbird was an American jazz saxophonist and composer.[1] Barker's work with the Fairview Band was pivotal in ensuring the longevity of jazz in New Orleans, producing generations of new talent. Brothers Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis is an American trumpeter and composer. He is among the most prominent jazz musicians of the modern era and is also a well-known instrumentalist in classical music. He is also the Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. A compilation of his series of inspirational letters to a young jazz musical student, named Anthony, and Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis is an American saxophonist, composer and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque. His brothers Jason Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, and Delfeayo Marsalis, and father both played in the band as youths. One of Barker's earliest teachers in New Orleans was fellow banjoist Emanuel Sayles, whom he recorded with. Throughout his career, he played with Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer, Baby Dodds, James P. Johnson James Price Johnson [also known as Jimmy Johnson] was an American pianist and composer. With Luckey Roberts, Johnson was one of the originators of the stride style of jazz piano playing, Sidney Bechet Sidney Bechet was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer, Mezz Mezzrow, and Red Allen. He also toured and recorded with his wife, singer Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can either be sung a cappella or accompanied by musicians and instruments ranging from a single instrumentalist to a full Blue Lu Barker.

Contents

Biography

Jazz musicians Kermit Ruffins and Danny Barker (right), French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest and most famous neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré ("Old Square" in French) as it was known then. While the area is Festival.

Danny Barker was born to a family of musicians in New Orleans New Orleans (pronounced /njuː ˈɔrliənz/ or /ˈnjuː ɔrˈliːnz/, locally [nuː ˈɔrlənz] or [ˈnɔrlənz]; French: La Nouvelle-Orléans [la nuvɛlɔʁleɑ̃] ) is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area, (New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner) has a in 1909, the grandson of bandleader Isidore Barbarin and nephew of drummers Paul Barbarin and Louis Barbarin; he first took up clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument that is a part of the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino (meaning a type of trumpet), as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed. In jazz contexts, it and drums A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person (drummer) before switching to a ukelele that his aunt got him, and then a banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with, typically, four or five strings, which vibrate a membrane of plastic material or animal hide stretched over a circular frame. Primitive forms of the instrument were fashioned by enslaved Africans in Colonial America, adapted from several African instruments. There are several ideas on where the name banjo from his uncle or a trumpeter named Lee Collins.[2][3][4]

Barker began his career as a musician in his youth with his streetband the Boozan Kings and also toured Mississippi Mississippi is bordered on the north by Tennessee, on the east by Alabama, on the south by Louisiana and a narrow coast on the Gulf of Mexico and on the west, across the Mississippi River, by Louisiana and Arkansas with Little Brother Montgomery. In 1930 he moved to New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over global commerce, finance, media, culture, art, fashion, research, education, and entertainment. As host of the and switched to the guitar. On the day of his arrival in New York his uncle Paul took him to the Rhythm Club, where he saw an inspiring performance by McKinney's Cotton Pickers. Ironically, that was also their first performance in New York as a band.[5] During his time in New York he frequently played with West Indian The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America musicians, who often mistook him for one of them due to his Creole Zydeco is a form of American roots or folk music. It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 19th century from forms of Creole music. The rural black Creoles of southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas still sing in Louisiana Creole French style of playing.[6]

Barker played with several acts when he initially moved to New York New York City, which is geographically the largest city in the state and most populous in the United States, is known for its history as a gateway for immigration to the United States and its status as a financial, cultural, transportation, and manufacturing center. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, it is also a destination of choice, including Fess Williams, Billy Fowler and the White Brothers. He worked with Buddy Harris in 1933, Albert Nichols in 1935, Lucky Millinder from 1937 to 1938, and Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King In 1958, he performed with Billie Holiday at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival in 1938. From the years 1939 to 1946 he was frequently recording with Cab Calloway Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader, and started his own group featuring his wife Blue Lu Barker after leaving Calloway. In 1947 he was performing again with Lucky Millinder, and also with Bunk Johnson Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson was a prominent early New Orleans jazz trumpet player in the early years of the 20th century who enjoyed a revived career in the 1940s. He returned to working with Al Nichols in 1948 and in 1949 rejoined efforts with his wife in a group. During the 1950s he was primarily a freelance Fields where freelancing is common include journalism, book publishing, journal publishing, and other forms of writing, editing, copy editing, proofreading, indexing, copywriting, computer programming, web design and graphic design, consulting, tour guiding and translating musician, but did work with his uncle Paul Barbarin from 1954 to 1955. In the mid-1950s he went to California California's geography ranges from the Pacific coast to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the east, to Mojave desert areas in the southeast and the Redwood–Douglas fir forests of the northwest. The center of the state is dominated by the Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world. California is the most to record yet again with Albert Nichols.[7]

...I had certain teachers that really inspired me, like Danny Barker, and John Longo.

Wynton Marsalis[8]

Sometime in the early 1960s he formed a group he called Cinderella. He performed at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by the jazz impresario George Wein, prompted by socialite Elaine Lorillard, whose wealthy husband helped finance the festival's startup with Eubie Blake James Hubert Blake was an American composer, lyricist, and pianist of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. In 1921, Blake and long-time collaborator Noble Sissle wrote the Broadway musical Shuffle Along, one of the first Broadway musicals to be written and directed by African Americans. Blake's compositions included such hits as, "Bandana Days&. In 1963 he was working with Cliff Jackson, and then in 1964 appeared at the World Fair Universal Exposition or Expo is the name given to various large public exhibitions held since the mid-19th century. They are the third largest event in the world in terms of economic and cultural impact after the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games.[citation needed] They have been organized for more than one and a half centuries — longer than leading his own group.[9]

In 1965, Barker returned to New Orleans and took up a position as assistant to the curator Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections. The object of a traditional curator's concern necessarily involves tangible objects of some sort, whether it be inter alia artwork, collectibles, historic items or scientific collections. More recently, new of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. In 1972 he found and led a church-sponsored brass band A brass band is a musical group generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert bands, wind bands or wind ensembles for young people—the Fairview Baptist Church Marching Band—which became popular. In later years the band became known as the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. During this time he also led the French Market Jazz Band.[10]

It was the earnest and general feeling that any Negro who...entered the hell-hole called the state of Mississippi for any reason other than to attend the funeral of a very close relative...was well on the way to losing his mentality, or had already lost it.

Danny Barker in reference to touring with Little Brother Montgomery in Mississippi Mississippi is bordered on the north by Tennessee, on the east by Alabama, on the south by Louisiana and a narrow coast on the Gulf of Mexico and on the west, across the Mississippi River, by Louisiana and Arkansas quoted in Escaping the Delta by Elijah Wald[11]

The Fairview band also launched the careers of a number of professional musicians who went on to perform in both brass band A brass band is a musical group generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert bands, wind bands or wind ensembles and mainstream jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th century American popular music. Its West African pedigree contexts, including Leroy Jones, Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis is an American trumpeter and composer. He is among the most prominent jazz musicians of the modern era and is also a well-known instrumentalist in classical music. He is also the Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. A compilation of his series of inspirational letters to a young jazz musical student, named Anthony,, Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis is an American saxophonist, composer and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque. His brothers Jason Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, and Delfeayo Marsalis, and father, Kirk Joseph, and Nicholas Payton. As Joe Torregano—another Fairview band alumnus—described it, "That group saved jazz for a generation in New Orleans."[12]

Barker played regularly at many New Orleans venues from the late 1960s through the early 1990s, in addition to touring. During the 1994 Mardi Gras Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a Carnival celebration well-known throughout the world season Barker reigned as King of Krewe du Vieux. He also published an autobiography An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person and many articles on New Orleans and jazz history.

Barker also authored and had published two books on jazz from the Oxford University Press Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as OUP's chief executive and as its major representative. The first was "Bourboun Street Black" in 1973, which was followed by "A Life In Jazz" in 1986. He also enjoyed painting and was an amateur landscape artist An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only. The term is often used in the entertainment business, especially in a business.[13]

Living during a period when segregation Crime of apartheid · CERD · CEDAW · CDE · ILO C111 · ILO C100 · ILO C169 · Protocol No. 12 ECHR was still common practice in the United States, Barker faced many obstacles during his career.[11] Barker suffered from diabetes throughout most of his adult life, and was often in general poor health.[14] He died of cancer in New Orleans on 13 March 1994 at age 85.

Discography

A very incomplete listing of Barker's recordings includes:

Year Album Leader Label
1945 "Charlie Parker: Every Bit Of It 1945" Sir Charles Thompson Spotlite Records
1947 "Creole Reeds " Sidney Bechet Riverside Records
1955 "Paul Barbarin And His New Orleans Jazz" Paul Barbarin Atlantic Records
1957 "Broadcast Performances, Vol. 3: Radio And TV Broadcasts (1956–1958)" Billie Holiday ESP Disk
1958 "Mainstream" Vic Dickenson Atlantic Records
1958 "LaVern Baker Sings Bessie Smith" Phil Moore Orchestra Atlantic Records
1959 "A Girl And Her Guitar" Mary Osborne Quintet Apollo Records
1960 "Ham And Eggs / Liza Little Liza Jane" Leroy Parkins Bethlehem Records
1961 "Things Ain't What They Used To Be" "The Swingville All Stars" Swingsville Records

Awards

References

  1. ^ "Ibid"; Levin, Floyd
  2. ^ "Ibid"; Levin, Floyd
  3. ^ Parsonage, Catherine (2005). The Evolution of Jazz in Britain. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. p. 111. ISBN 0754650766.
  4. ^ Gillis, Frank (1989). Oh, Didn't He Ramble: The Life Story of Lee Collins as Told to Mary Collins. University of Illinois Press. p. 44. ISBN 0252060814.
  5. ^ DeVeaux, Scott (1997). The Birth of Bebop: A Social and Musical History. University of California Press. p. 209. ISBN 0520216652.
  6. ^ Bolden, Buddy. "New Orleans Jazz and Caribbean Music". http://www.prjc.org/roots/nojazzandcarribe.html. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
  7. ^ Chilton, John (1985). Who's Who of Jazz: Storyville to Swing Street. Da Capo Press. p. 20. ISBN 0306762714.
  8. ^ "Wynton Marsalis Interview Transcript". http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=2264. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
  9. ^ "Ibid"; Chilton, John
  10. ^ Koster, Rick (2002). Louisiana Music: A Journey from R&B to Zydeco, Jazz to Country, Blues to Gospel, Cajun Music to .... Da Capo Press. p. 64. ISBN 0306810034.
  11. ^ a b Wald, Elijah (2004). Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues. HarperCollins. p. 84. ISBN 0060524235.
  12. ^ Burns, Mick (2006). Keeping the Beat On the Street: The New Orleans Brass Band Renaissance. Baton Rouge: LSU. p. 16.
  13. ^ Levin, Floyd (2002). Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians. University of California Press. p. 191. ISBN 0520234634.
  14. ^ Balliett, Whitney (2000). Collected Works: A Journal of Jazz 1954-2000. St. Martin's Press. p. 268. ISBN 0312270089.

See also

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Categories: African American banjoists | African American guitarists | African American singer-songwriters | American jazz guitarists | American jazz singers | Louisiana Creole people | Musicians from New Orleans, Louisiana | Jazz musicians from New Orleans, Louisiana | People from New Orleans, Louisiana | 1909 births | 1994 deaths

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