30.10.2024 | Artist

Barre Phillips at 90

The great bassist Barre Phillips turned 90 earlier this week. A heroic model of creative independence, Barre has been shaping the music on his own terms for as long as any of us can remember. After playing with Eric Dolphy, Jimmy Giufrre, Archie Shepp, and the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein in the first half of the 1960s, California-born Barre headed for Europe and gave important impulses to the emergent free music and new jazz scene.

In London he recorded the first-ever solo bass album Journal Violone, and in 1971 arrived at ECM with Music from Two Basses, joining Dave Holland in what was likely the first album devoted to bass duets. His 1976 album Mountainscapes, with John Surman on reeds, Stu Martin on drums and Dieter Feichtner on synthesizer is a still-thrilling classic of the era. Since then Barre has appeared on ECM recordings with Terje Rypdal, Alfred Harth, Paul Bley, Evan Parker, Joe and Mat Maneri, Robin Williamson and more, as well as albums under his own name.

Among recent releases, End to End (2018) was a recording to document the conclusion of Barre‘s solo bass investigations. It was followed by Face à Face (2022), on which he improvises with electronics player György Kurtág Jr., opening up a lively new world of sonic possibilities.

Thanks for the music, Barre!