Who is George Barnes?

Chicagoan George Barnes (1921 - 1977), was the first professional electric soloist in jazz guitar. In the first half of the Thirties, using an amplifier and pickup handbuilt for him by his brother, he was already experimenting the possibilities of the electric instrument and, still a teenager, he joined the Musicians' Union as a professional player. In 1940 he recorded his first sides as a leader, which showed not only a mature and complete soloist but also a skilled and advanced arranger. Inspired by clarinet players, Barnes' style is totally personal and shows no influence deriving from Christian or Django. Barnes' career has been one of the busiest in the music business, mainly as arranger, producer and studio musician. Unfortunately, 'business' work put in shade his jazz side: Barnes' records are hard to find and only few of them are on Cd. In this video we see him in 1974 together with Ruby Braff on cornet, Wayne Wright on rhythm guitar and Michael Moore on bass (I decided to cut Braff's solo to concentrate on Barnes' one). Notice the 'old school' down picking, the way he holds the pick and the abundance of blues feeling. In case you've never heard of George Barnes, I hope this will make you want to know more about him.