(Updated Mai 2021)

As a “companion” to the main page about the Big Chris Barber Band and its current members, here is an additional page that charts the eight-year history (so far!) of the expanded line-up. As the photographs below illustrate, the Big Chris Barber Band stemmed from Chris’s decision to continue indefinitely what was originally (in 2000) a temporary three-man expansion of the front line of the existing eight-piece Chris Barber’s Jazz & Blues Band. The new configuration became permanent in 2001, and the band has since then remained at a complement of eleven musicians (three reeds, two trumpets, two trombones, and the four-man rhythm section of bass, drums, banjo/guitar, and electric guitar.

Not surprisingly, there have been a few personnel changes since the band expanded (John Crocker, for example, left in 2003 after a 35-year tenure, while Vic Pitt came to the end of his 39 years as the band’s bassist early in 2007). Trombonist and arranger Bob Hunt, too, left in early 2008. The most important personnel change was the retirement of Chris Barber’s Jazz Band founder member Pat Halcox in July 2008 after fifty-four years with the band. However, the band continues with renewed vigour, with replacement trumpeter Peter Rudeforth, and Zoltan Sagi on reeds replacing Tony Carter, who left on the same day as Pat.

Each new member has made his own special contribution to the continuing excellence of the band. Sometimes this has involved charting new territory (Tony Carter’s -- and now Zoltan Sagi's -- interpretation of Miles Davis’s All Blues, for example, as well as Bob Hunt’s arrangements of such Duke Ellington classics as Misty Morning, Jubilee Stomp, and Hot And Bothered). At the same time, the band’s history and tradition still take centre stage on CDs and at concerts.

We hope you will find this overview of the Big Chris Barber Band enjoyable and informative: it includes photographs of each successive line-up plus pictures of each individual member, past and present; links to four compact discs and a DVD; and more than thirty music clips.

The Band(s)
Here is a pictorial story of the Big Chris Barber Band, from the collaboration with Bob Hunt in 2000 to the current line-up (August 2008). At each change in personnel, new members are identified in bold font.
The "Misty Morning" Band: Chris Barber's
Jazz & Blues Band with Bob Hunt's Ellingtonians

Chris Barber's Jazz & Blues Band, left to right: Vic Pitt, John Defferary, John Crocker,
Pat Halcox, Colin Miller, Paul Sealey, John Slaughter, and Chris Barber
Inset, left to right: Nick Payton, Bob Hunt, and Mike "Magic" Henry
The "First Eleven" Band in 2001
Back row: Vic Pitt, Colin Miller, John Defferary, John Slaughter, and Paul Sealey
Front row: Tony Carter, John Crocker, Chris Barber, Bob Hunt, Pat Halcox, and Mike Henry
The "Jubilee Stomp" Band at a sound check in Worcester, December 2003
Left to right: Trevor Whiting, Paul Sealey, Tony Carter, Vic Pitt, John Defferary,
Pat Halcox, Colin Miller, Mike Henry, Bob Hunt, John Slaughter, and Chris Barber
The Big Chris Barber Band in September 2004
Left to right: John Defferary, Andy Kuc, Vic Pitt, Richard Exall, Pat Halcox,
Chris Barber, John Slaughter, Mike Henry, Tony Carter, Colin Miller, and Bob Hunt
The Big Chris Barber Band in March 2006
Left to right: Richard Exall, Tony Carter, John Sutton,
John Defferary, Pat Halcox, Mike Henry, Bob Hunt, and Chris Barber
Not visible: Vic Pitt, Andy Kuc, and John Slaughter
The Big Chris Barber Band in Hamburg, 17 November, 2006
Left to right: Richard Exall, Tony Carter, John Defferary, Vic Pitt, Chris Barber,
Bob Hunt, Mike Henry, John Sutton, Joe Farler, Pat Halcox, and John Slaughter
The Big Chris Barber Band in January 2007
Left to right: Richard Exall, Tony Carter, Mike Snelling, Pat Halcox, Mike Henry, Bob Hunt, and Chris Barber
Inset: John Sutton, Joe Farler, and John Slaughter
(Vic Pitt is on bass, behind Mike Henry)
The Big Chris Barber Band in Zurich, 28 April, 2007
Left to right:
Richard Exall, Tony Carter, Dave Green, Mike Snelling, Pat Halcox,
John Sutton, Mike Henry, Joe Farler, Bob Hunt, John Slaughter, and Chris Barber
The Big Chris Barber Band in Lucerne, 13 March, 2008
Left to right:
Richard Exall, Tony Carter, Mike Snelling, Dave Green, John Sutton,
Pat Halcox, Mike Henry, John Service, Joe Farler, John Slaughter, and Chris Barber
The Big Chris Barber Band in Aarberg, Switzerland, November 7, 2008:
Dave Green (bass), Zoltan Sagi (reeds), Richard Exall (reeds), Mike Snelling (reeds), John Sutton (drums),
Peter Rudeforth (trumpet), Mike Henry (trumpet), Joe Farler (banjo & guitar), John Service (trombone),
John Slaughter (electric guitar), and Chris Barber (trombone).
[Photograph by Andreas Wandfluh; used by permission]
The Members of the Band 2009
Chris Barber John Slaughter
Mike "Magic" Henry Richard Exall John Sutton
Mike Snelling Joe Farler Dave Green
John Service Peter Rudeforth Zoltan Sagi
Former Members of the Chris Barber/Bob Hunt Band and the Big Chris Barber Band
Nick Payton John Crocker Trevor Whiting Paul Sealey
Colin Miller Andy Kuc John Defferary Vic Pitt
 
Bob Hunt Tony Carter Pat Halcox  
Recordings
As well as several recordings on which Chris has been a guest (for example, It's Tight Like That, with Jeff Healey's Jazz Wizards, and a CD by the Dutch Swing College Band), four compact discs have been issued featuring the expanded band. Click on each CD cover for complete details about each recording.
Music Clips: All the following clips are also available elsewhere in the Chris Barber website, along with many other excerpts: see the Music Clips page.
From the CD, Misty Morning
  C Jam Blues
 

Creole Love Call

  It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing
  Misty Morning
From the CD, The First Eleven
  Chimes Blues
  Goin' Home, clip 1
  Goin' Home, clip 2
  Sweetness, clip 1
  Sweetness, clip 2
  When The Saints Go Marching In
From the CD, Jubilee Stomp
  All Blues
  Battersea Rain Dance
  Black And Tan Fantasy, clip 1
  Black And Tan Fantasy, clip 2
  Devaluation Blues, clip 1
  Devaluation Blues, clip 2
  Freeze And Melt
  Jubilee Stomp, clip 1
  Jubilee Stomp, clip 2
  Misty Morning
  Spell Of The Blues
From the CD, Can't Stop Now
  Can't Stop Now
  Hot And Bothered
  The Martinique
  Worried Man Blues
From the DVD, As We Like It
  C Jam Blues
  Rent Party Blues
  Watcha Gonna Do
  Wild Cat Blues
Unreleased recordings from a concert in Dortmund, 14th of September 2008
  All Blues (featuring Zoltan Sagi)
  Ice Cream (featuring Peter Rudeforth)
  Merry-Go-Round
  Precious Lord (featuring the 2008 version of the six-piece band, with Mike Henry on trumpet and Mike Snelling on clarinet).
  Hot And Bothered
  Wild Cat Blues (featuring Mike Snelling)
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