Barry Guy

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Barry Guy (born 22 April 1947 in London) is an English composer and double bass player. He works across free improvisation, free jazz, early music, classical and contemporary music, and has played with many orchestras in the UK and Europe. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music under Buxton Orr and later taught there.

Guy first gained attention as an improvisor in a trio with pianist Howard Riley and drummer Tony Oxley. He also played with John Stevens’ ensembles, including the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. In the 1970s he joined Iskra 1903 with Derek Bailey and Paul Rutherford, a group later revived with Philipp Wachsmann. He formed a long-running partnership with saxophonist Evan Parker, which led to a widely known trio with drummer Paul Lytton in the 1980s and 1990s. He briefly played with the Michael Nyman Band in the 1980s, including on The Draughtsman’s Contract soundtrack.

A major project was the London Jazz Composers’ Orchestra (LJCO), created to perform Guy’s piece Ode in 1972. It grew into a large European improvising ensemble. In the late 1980s Intakt Records documented the band with ambitious albums such as Zurich Concerts, Harmos, Double Trouble, Theoria, Portraits, Three Pieces and Double Trouble Two. The group slowed in the mid-1990s but had a one-off revival in 2008.

In the mid-1990s Guy started the Barry Guy New Orchestra. He has written for other large improvising groups like NOW Orchestra and ROVA; Witch Gong Game was inspired by Alan Davie’s images. His recent improvisations include piano trios with Marilyn Crispell and Agustí Fernández. He has recorded several albums for ECM, including work with Evan Parker’s Electro-Acoustic Ensemble and his own Ceremony.

Guy also did session work in pop; he played double bass on “Nightporter” from Japan’s Gentlemen Take Polaroids. He is married to early-music violinist Maya Homburger. They lived in Ireland for a while and now live in Switzerland, where they run the Maya label, releasing free improvisation, baroque, and contemporary music. In 2016 he was named Honorary Professor at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, where he leads workshops.

Guy’s playing uses a wide range of techniques—bowing and pizzicato under the bridge, plucking above the left hand, beating strings with mallets, and preparing the instrument with sticks. His improvisations can be very percussive and unpredictable, but can also be melodic and expressive in dialogue with others. His composed works mix challenging, extended forms with joyful melodies. Notable pieces include Flagwalk for string orchestra and Fallingwater – Concerto for Orchestra. Some works use graphic notation with cue cards to guide performers.

Much of his music is published by Chester Novello.