Bass legend, RIP
RIPThe US jazz bassist Barre Phillips, resident in France for more than half a century, died in New Mexico at the weekend at the age of 90.
Founder of the European Improvisation Centre, he was a regular member of Barry Guy’s London Jazz Composers Orchestra and a sought-after bass soloist on numerous recordings.
The French cellist Emmanuel Cremer writes: ‘Yesterday, the world lost an extraordinary musician and human being, Barre Phillips. Barre was not only a maestro, a master of music and a pioneer in the world of sound, but also a dear friend and colleague. His life devoted to music left an indelible mark on the world and profoundly shaped my own journey, not only as a cellist, but also as a person. He taught me so much, enriching my life in a way that I will always cherish. His footprints will guide me forever, and his legacy will resonate through every note we play and every moment we cherish. My love, my friendship and my best thoughts to his family and to EMIR (Compagnie Barre Phillips).’
Here’s an in-depth appreciation by Richard Williams, who interviewed Barre in his prime.
Loss to the music world
Barre Phillips was an exponent in the “free music” world, a sea of banalities dominated by very noisy, stuck-up saxophonists, and roaring percussionists, some of them very skilled musicians indeed but many unskilled charlatans as well, where (if you are lucky) you can find a very few, small paradisiac islands. One of these lands is called “Aquarian Rain”, an ECM disc with music by Mr Phillips that I listened to by chance in the earely 90’s, and acquired an exemplar immediately (I still have it, unplayed since many years, maybe I will listen to it later today).
Thoughts do nothing. Prayers always help. R IP
RIP brother