George Barnes

Appearances

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Complete Rodgers & Hart Songbook
#8002548
Various Artists
Number of Discs: 3

The classic songs of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart are rendered on this outstanding three-disc set, which features vocalists like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, [more]

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Complete Cole Porter Songbooks
#8002511
Various Artists
Number of Discs: 3

This is not and cannot be the Complete Cole Porter Songbooks, but it's a marvelous collection of 48 timeless jazz interpretations drawn from the Verve catalog. [more]

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Progressions: 100 Years of Jazz Guitar
#8006624
Various Artists
Label: Columbia/Legacy
Number of Discs: 4

This expansive four-disc anthology essentially covers the recorded history of the guitar in the 20th century, beginning with the ragtime banjo that set the [more]

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Jelly Roll's Jazz/Louis' Hot 5's and 7's
#8012073
Lawson-Haggart Jazz Band
Label: Membran
Number of Discs: 1

Trumpeter Yank Lawson and bassist Bob Haggart, both of whom had significant careers, also had a long-time musical [more]

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Pete Fountain Presents the Best of Dixieland
#20416955
Louis Armstrong
Number of Discs: 1

Pete Fountain has spent a lifetime playing and promoting Dixieland jazz, making it possible for people who otherwise have little awareness of it to [more]

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To Fred Astaire with Love
#21897845
Ruby Braff
Label: RCA

The final recorded collaboration between cornetist Ruby Braff and guitarist George Barnes (in a quartet with rhythm guitarist Wayne Wright and bassist Michael Moore) [more]

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Viper Mad Blues: 25 Songs of Dope and Depravity
#21523604
Various Artists
Label: Jass
Number of Discs: 1
Available in U.S. only.
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Very Best of Louis Armstrong [Universal]
#21882333
Louis Armstrong
Number of Discs: 2
Available in U.S. only.
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Six Star Treats
#21654295
Artie Shaw & His Gramercy 5
Number of Discs: 5
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And the Good Book/Louis & the Angels
#21898059
Louis Armstrong
Number of Discs: 1
Available in U.S. only.
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Biography

  • Born Jul 17th 1921 in South Chicago Heights, IL
  • Died Sep 5th 1977 in Concord, CA

A major player who has always been underrated, George Barnes was one of the first to record on electric guitar (accompanying blues singers) and was a top studio guitarist during much of his career. His style was very much based in the 1930s, and his single-note lines predated Charlie Christian, although he had much less of an impact. A professional by the time he was 13, Barnes was working on the staff of NBC by 1938. Based in Chicago, he recorded with Big Bill Broonzy, Washboard Sam, and other blues performers. After a stint in the military during World War II, Barnes resumed his studio work and recorded radio transcriptions with his unusual octet. Although he performed in many types of settings in the 1950s, Barnes did not gain much recognition until he teamed up with fellow guitarist Carl Kress (whose sophisticated chord voicings perfectly complemented Barnes' solos) in the early '60s. After Kress' death in 1965, Barnes often collaborated with the younger guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, but it was his period as co-leader of a quartet with cornetist Ruby Braff (1973-1975) that gave Barnes his greatest fame, shortly before his death. He recorded as a leader for OKeh (two numbers in 1940); Wolf; and Keynote (with his octet on a posthumously released Hindsight LP); commercial sides for Decca and Mercury; with Kress (and in one instance Bud Freeman) for Stash, United Artists, and Audiophile; with Pizzarelli for Columbia and A&R; and in the 1970s for Famous Door and Concord. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide