Barre Phillips (October 27, 1934 – December 28, 2024) was an American jazzbassist. A professional musician since 1960, he moved to New York City in 1962, then to Europe in 1967.[1] From 1972 he was based in southern France, where in 2014 he founded the European Improvisation Center.
Phillips' 1968 recording of solo bass improvisations, issued as Journal Violone in the US, Unaccompanied Barre in England, and Basse Barre in France on Futura Records, is generally credited as the first solo bass record.[2] A 1971 record with Dave Holland, Music from Two Basses, was probably the first record of improvised double bass duets.[3]
In the 1970s, he was a member of the well-regarded and influential group "The Trio", with saxophonist John Surman and drummer Stu Martin.[1] In the 1980s and 1990s, he played regularly with the London Jazz Composers Orchestra, led by fellow bassist Barry Guy. He worked on soundtracks of the motion pictures Merry-Go-Round (1981), Naked Lunch (1991, together with Ornette Coleman) and Alles was baumelt, bringt Glück! (2013).[4]
Barre was the father of the rock guitarist Jay Crawford from the band Bomb; of the bassist Dave Phillips; and of singer Claudia Phillips, who was a one-hit wonder in France in 1987 with "Quel souci La Boétie".
Phillips died on December 28, 2024, at the age of 90.[5]
