When Monty Sunshine suddenly quit the band at the end of 1960, many fans and critics thought that the writing was on the wall for Chris Barber's Jazz Band. What they underestimated was Chris's dedication, determination, and excellence, not only as one of Britain's leading jazzmen by this point, but also as a bandleader. Too, the personnel change just happened to coincide with the first murmurings of a widespread public interest – not to say fanaticism – in Britain in traditional jazz: what quickly came to be known as the "Trad Boom". Although Chris's band never quite matched Kenny Ball’s Jazzmen or Mr. Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band in terms of chart success (I’m not even sure that Chris tried that hard for hits, disdaining the word "trad" and steering clear of the novelty tunes recorded by the likes of Terry Lightfoot and Bob Wallis) or ephemeral popularity, the band was unquestionably among the top three in the UK at the time. Together they soon became known as "The Three B's" – a moniker that survives to this day whenever the bands tour or play a concert together, as well as in numerous CD re-issues.

Another factor that shouldn't be overlooked in the band's continuing success was its tightness as a unit. Between the time that Graham Burbidge replaced Ron Bowden on drums (December, 1957) and the addition of electric blues guitarist John Slaughter (July, 1964), Ian Wheeler's taking over the reed spot from Monty was the sole personnel change over an astonishing six-and-a-half-year period. Partly as a result of this unprecedented stability in the world of British traditional jazz at the time, many of the band's early-1960s recordings reflected a more arranged sound that was also somewhat more mellow – but no less exciting – than during the Sunshine era. Listen, for example, to Jazz Lips or Original Charleston Strut to hear what I mean, or to any of the recordings with guests Edmond Hall (Dardanella; There'll Be Some Changes Made) and Louis Jordan (I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town; Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby?), as well as the more mainstream-styled arrangement of 8:20 Blues.

Equally important to the band's continuing success, in my view, was Monty's replacement on clarinet. Ian Wheeler had briefly formed a band with Ken Sims, formerly of Acker's band, prior to which he had spent several years as the reed man in Ken Colyer's Jazzmen. He had even played and recorded a session with the Barber band (minus Chris) back in August of 1954, but this was never released.

Ian's inventiveness, his warm and woody tone, and his additional skills on alto and soprano saxes (and even, occasionally, on harmonica) stimulated an entirely new set of directions and possibilities for the band. You can hear Ian's lovely clarinet sound on Sweet Lorraine, a highlight of his first studio recording with the Barber outfit. It was issued on a "feature EP" which, thanks to Paul Adams and Lake Records, has recently been re-released on compact disc. Ian's sax playing was occasionally featured in solo efforts such as Yvette, and was a marvellous counterpoint to Ottilie Patterson's vocals, as on Basin Street Blues.

Ian's first LP recording with Chris was made at a poll-winners' concert at the London Palladium: a wildly successful event and LP (Chris Barber International Volume 3: Chris Barber At The London Palladium, now available on a Lake CD as part of The Classic Concerts) that owed much to Ian's amazing contributions (Fidgety Feet; Lord, Lord, Lord), including a sparkling duet with modern saxist Joe Harriott on 'S Wonderful.

On the rest of this web page you will find photographs of the 1961-1964 Chris Barber's Jazz Band with Ottilie Patterson, as well as each individual member. There are also examples of record covers from the period, and finally a list of the band's publicly available recordings, with links to audio excerpts from almost three dozen tracks.