Barre Phillips obit

RIP Barre Phillips (1934-2024)

With tributes from Eve Risser and Olie Brice

 not on the list.

Musicians remember bassist Barre Phillips, who died this weekend at the age of 90. Evan Parker writes “Barre was a wise head and a great bass player and I was privileged to play with him.”

From a younger generation, French composer/pianist Eve Risser expresses intense gratitude: “You summed up a lifetime’s work in two sentences and since then I’ve never stopped thinking about it.” English bassist Olie Brice describes him as “the first improvising bassist whose recorded work I fell in love with.” In sadness.

Evan Parker: I first met Barre when he came to live in London. I think it was towards the end of 1967.

He lived in Holland Park and was immediately part of the scene. He played at the Little Theatre Club with John Stevens and me, at the Old Place with John Surman and Chris McGregor.

He recorded the first of his solo records in London with Bob Woolford, the engineer who also recorded my first record.

After playing at the Little Theatre Club we would walk home, me to Kilburn and Barre to Holland Park, so we could walk a good part of the way together. I remember a particularly wet and cold night with gusting wind and heavy rain, somewhere like Edgware Road as we went our separate ways Barre, dripping wet from head to foot said, “I dig weather.”

Needless perhaps to say how significant for me it was to play with him at that early stage of things.

I knew of his playing with the final version of the Jimmy Giuffre Trio, and knew the Newport record with Archie Shepp.

Stu Martin came over to form the trio (The Trio) with John and Barre. They shared a house in Belgium.

Later when we made the first record with Paul Bley for ECM another story comes to mind.

On the third day for editing and mixing Steve Lake, who produced the record, greeted Barre and me at breakfast to say “Paul says goodbye, he’s gone home, he’s happy for us to put it together.”

Barre and I jumped on the chance to add one more track of duo.

There were some regular meetings where we were both part of Barry Guy’s LJCO and one gig where he depped for J.F.Jenny Clark on one gig in an epic 29 date tour with a Kenny Wheeler quintet.

The last time we played and spent some time together was in Parma, before the covid interlude.

We played solo/solo/duo in the Teatro Farnese. At that point he was planning his return to the US.

Barre was a wise head and a great bass player and I was privileged to play with him.

Eve Risser (*): Dear Barre Philips. It was during a concert by your trio with Jacques Demierre and Urs Leimgruber at the Festival Fruits de Mhere in 2001 (thanks to Isabelle Duthoit, Jacques Di Donato and Joris Rühl), that I decided to devote the rest of my life to music that was outside of the repertoire (majestic too, but not the right home for me). I often sent you thoughts wherever you were, and only heard from afar, but I never forgot.

You used to say, ‘What is improvisation? It’s listening’. And ‘love is also about listening’. In brief, you summed up a lifetime’s work in two sentences and since then I’ve never stopped thinking about it. Thank you for your courage and your indispensable existence, for almost the century through which you have lived. I’ll listen to love, and I’ll love listening. I will try. Thinking of you always! Bon voyage

Olie Brice: I didn’t know Barre Phillips personally, and sadly never managed to hear him live, but his music has been a massive influence on me and he was the first improvising bassist whose recorded work I fell in love with. Starting with the work with John Surman – my Dad’s favourite and in steady rotation in my childhood home – ‘Mountainscapes’ and ‘The Trio’ blew me away and made me want to play the double bass.

He was such a huge part in the development of what the instrument could be – the first solo recording and then a whole life of developing a solo voice, a series of astonishing duets with the likes of Dave Holland, Barry Guy & Peter Kowald, the wonderful bass quartet of ‘For All It Is’, sublime collaborations with Archie Shepp, Joe & Mat Maneri, Joe Morris, Evan Parker and countless others – Barre Phillips opened so many doors into the potential of the double bass, and always with beautiful musicality, warm humour and a gorgeous tone.

(*) From Eve Risser’s Facebook page and reproduced with her permission.

Born San Francisco, California, 27 October 1934. Died Las Cruces, New Mexico, 28 December 2024