There is no need to introduce Chris Barber to British jazz fans. The crisp, incisive and ever lively sound of the band has attracted a very large following. One of the band's greatest achievements is to have produced a brand of jazz which owes no obvious allegiance to any American style; the music it produces might honestly and justly be called British jazz. This is emphasized by their very successful treatment of Bobby Shaftoe, a Dixieland equivalent of Spike Hughes' earlier experiments with Irish folksongs.

Chris Barber himself is a consummate musician, a serious student of music, and as excellent a bass player as he is a trombonist. He formed his first band in 1949 and a second in 1950. But it was the present band that brought his greatest success largely through the LP New Orleans Joys (LF1198) from which a number of titles are included in this present selection.

In Monty Sunshine he has one of the best clarinettists in the country and a strong lead cornet in Pat Halcox. Lonnie Donegan, the banjoist on these sides, has now gone on to become a musical star in his own right.

In addition to the selection from the first LP made on July 13, 1954 we have excerpts from two notable traditional jazz concerts presented by the National Jazz Federation at the Royal Festival Hall, London, one on October 30, 1954 and the other January 9, 1955. The first introduced a great jazz musician, Bertie King, who played in a few numbers with the band on alto. The second concert introduced one of the greatest blues singer that the British Isles has ever had. The magnificent handling of the blues by a petite girl from Ireland, Ottilie Patterson, was one of the musical surprises of recent years and the critics were quick to acclaim her work.

This is a fine feast of music and conclusive evidence of the revival and resurgence of British jazz, the credit for which is in no small part due to the talent and ideals of Chris Barber.