Barry HarrisThe method

People Barry talks about

216 musicians and composers who come up in Barry’s classes, talks and interviews: what he says about each, every moment they are mentioned, and who is speaking.

Sorted by how often they come up.Colour: the part of the method they come up in most

  1. Charlie ParkerAlto saxophonist and leader of bebop, whom Barry heard and sat in with as a young man in Detroit, mostly at dances, and whose disciple he called himself.40 mentions
  2. Frederic ChopinPolish Romantic composer and pianist whom Barry counted among the classical improvisers that jazz continues, and whose music he used to show his scales; Barry once played Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude at a recital he shared with Tommy Flanagan, when both studied with the same teacher.40 mentions
  3. Thelonious MonkPianist and composer whom Barry befriended in New York through the Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter, and who spent his last ten or so years living in her Weehawken house with Barry.40 mentions
  4. Bud PowellBebop pianist whose records, starting with “Webb City”, taught the teenage Barry how to solo, and whom Barry ranked above every other pianist of his generation.39 mentions
  5. Miles DavisTrumpeter and bandleader (1926–1991) who lived in Detroit for a time in the early 1950s, when Barry played with him at the Bluebird; later Barry said he did not believe Miles was the greatest thing in the world and thought Miles and those who followed had corrupted the music.33 mentions
  6. Coleman HawkinsPioneering tenor saxophonist with whom Barry worked in New York in the 1960s until Hawkins’s death in 1969, living with and caring for him at the end.32 mentions
  7. Tommy FlanaganDetroit pianist, Barry’s contemporary and close friend from their teens, who shared his classical teacher and whose hands Barry watched to learn chords.27 mentions
  8. Johann Sebastian BachGerman Baroque composer and organist whom Barry called probably the best jazz musician of his time, and whom he counted among the classical improvisers whose line he believed jazz continues.25 mentions
  9. Hank JonesPianist (1918–2010) who grew up in Pontiac, Michigan, the eldest of the Jones brothers; for Barry he was one of the older Detroit-area pianists his generation learned from, and the two became NEA Jazz Masters in the same year.22 mentions
  10. Dizzy GillespieTrumpeter and a founder of bebop, whom Barry ranks with Bird as the music’s innovators; Barry played with him at times but turned down an offer to join him at Birdland.20 mentions
  11. Lester YoungTenor saxophonist known as Prez, whom Barry accompanied for a week as house pianist at the Rouge Lounge near Detroit in the 1950s, and whom he counted among the beboppers.20 mentions
  12. Charles McPhersonCharles McPherson, an alto saxophonist who grew up in Detroit, began studying with Barry at about 15 and became one of his best-known students; the two later worked and recorded together in New York.17 mentions
  13. Yusef LateefYusef Lateef was a tenor saxophonist and flautist who came up in Detroit, some nine years older than Barry; he came to Barry’s house, took lessons from him, and was a bandmate both in Detroit and later in New York.17 mentions
  14. Arnold SchoenbergAustrian composer and theorist whose book Barry cites for the rule that lowering each note of a diminished seventh chord gives four dominant seventh chords, a rule Barry says he knew years before he read it there.16 mentions
  15. Art TatumVirtuoso pianist from Toledo, Ohio, the towering pianist of the 1930s, whom Barry saw in person at the Rouge Lounge and admired, though his own generation learned from Bud Powell instead.16 mentions
  16. John ColtraneTenor saxophonist (1926–1967) who, Barry says, came to his house in Detroit to hear what he was teaching; Barry later complained that every tenor player tried to sound like Coltrane.16 mentions
  17. Max RoachMax Roach was a bebop drummer and bandleader; Barry joined his band in 1956, after Clifford Brown and Richie Powell were killed, and toured with it for a few months.16 mentions
  18. Sonny RollinsSonny Rollins, the tenor saxophonist, played alongside Barry and Donald Byrd in Max Roach’s band in 1956, a group Barry remembers as very good but never recorded.15 mentions
  19. Donald ByrdDonald Byrd was a Detroit trumpeter, a slightly younger peer who came to Barry’s house to jam and learn, and Barry’s bandmate in Max Roach’s group in 1956.14 mentions
  20. Duke EllingtonSwing-era pianist, bandleader and composer; for Barry a composer to learn from, one of the bands people danced to when he was young, and the dedicatee of a waltz he wrote.14 mentions
  21. Paul ChambersBassist who grew up in Detroit and played in Miles Davis’s band in the late 1950s; Barry says Chambers learned to play at his house.14 mentions
  22. Cannonball AdderleyAlto saxophonist and bandleader from Florida; Barry joined his band in 1960, which took him from Detroit to New York for good and brought him to Riverside Records, though he stayed only a few months.13 mentions
  23. Lonnie HillyerLonnie Hillyer was a Detroit trumpeter, Charles McPherson’s boyhood friend, who studied with Barry as a teenager and later played with him in New York.13 mentions
  24. Leroy WilliamsDrummer from Chicago who came to New York around 1967 and was Barry’s regular drummer from the late 1960s on; Barry says Leroy knows him best.12 mentions
  25. Marian McPartlandBritish-born pianist (1918–2013) who hosted NPR’s Piano Jazz; Barry was her guest in 2002, talking with her and playing solos and two-piano duets.12 mentions
  26. Sir Roland HannaDetroit-born pianist (1932–2002), known as Sir Roland Hanna; a younger Detroit contemporary who, as Barry tells it, climbed the stairs to Barry’s house with Sonny Red to learn chords.12 mentions
  27. Charles MingusBassist, composer and bandleader; Barry barely mentions him in the sources, where he appears mainly as the leader that Charles McPherson and Lonnie Hillyer, from Barry’s Detroit circle, went on to play with.11 mentions
  28. Jimmy SlydeRhythm tap dancer known for his bebop-based tap; Barry called him one of the greatest tap dancers in the world, and he danced at Barry’s Jazz Cultural Theater, on his big concerts and with his trio.11 mentions
  29. Kenny BurrellDetroit guitarist of Barry’s generation; Barry ranks him with Tommy Flanagan as the most advanced young bebop players in their Detroit circle, says he learned from them, and names him first president of the city’s music society.11 mentions
  30. Ludwig van BeethovenGerman composer and pianist of the Classical and early Romantic era; Barry names him with Bach and Chopin as classical masters who improvised and whose line he believed jazz continues.10 mentions
  31. Baroness Pannonica de KoenigswarterJazz patron born into the Rothschild family, not a musician, who supported many bebop players; Barry calls her the benefactress who helped them all, became friends with Monk through her, and lived with Monk in her house in Weehawken, New Jersey, where he went on living for decades.9 mentions
  32. BoudewijnA music theorist in Holland whom Barry names only as Boudewijn (heard as Badweyn, Bodwin, Bobwin); Barry called him ‘my theorist’, said he studied with him, and credited him with the saying that when improvisation stopped in Europe it started in the USA. His full identity is unclear.9 mentions
  33. Elvin JonesDrummer from the Detroit area, the youngest of the Jones brothers with Hank and Thad; a friend and bandmate of Barry’s in Detroit, where they had a trio after Elvin’s Army service, and later the drummer on Barry’s trio record Preminado.9 mentions
  34. Joe HendersonTenor saxophonist from Ohio who spent his early years as a player in Detroit; Barry says Henderson came to his house for lessons.9 mentions
  35. Walter Davis Jr.Walter Davis Jr. was a bebop pianist of Barry’s generation, known for his work with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers; he came to Detroit looking for Barry, and Barry wrote a song for him.9 mentions
  36. Bessie HarrisBessie Harris was Barry’s mother, a Baptist church pianist in Detroit who had earlier been a teacher in Georgia; she started him on piano at four and later let him choose jazz over church music.8 mentions
  37. Thad JonesTrumpeter, cornetist, composer and bandleader from the Detroit area, brother of Hank and Elvin Jones; one of the older Detroit players Barry came up around, and the leader of a 1956 Blue Note session Barry played on.8 mentions
  38. Art TaylorNew York drummer heard on many bebop and hard bop records of the 1950s; Barry names him on the 1957 Bud Powell recording with Phil Woods that he loves.7 mentions
  39. Bill EvansJazz pianist of Barry’s own generation; Barry counts him among the pianists who would have named Bud Powell the best, and once told a class he wanted bebop explained there, not Evans-style sounds.7 mentions
  40. Franz LisztHungarian Romantic composer and pianist; Barry names him with Bach, Beethoven and Chopin among the classical masters who could improvise, and tells a story of Chopin inviting him to jam at a salon.7 mentions
  41. Jaki ByardPianist and multi-instrumentalist, born in 1922, whom Barry held up as a fine stride player from the generation before his own, and whose big band played every month at Barry’s Jazz Cultural Theater.7 mentions
  42. John LewisPianist and composer, musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet; Barry names him with Hank Jones among the older pianists he says musicians like him learned from, players the colleges never asked how to teach.7 mentions
  43. Keith JarrettPianist (born 1945); Barry named him among today’s piano stars, contrasting the many favourites of now with his own generation’s single idol, Bud Powell.7 mentions
  44. Pepper AdamsPepper Adams was a baritone saxophonist from the Detroit scene, one of the musicians Barry grew up with there and later recorded with; in 2010 Barry was due to play at a Detroit festival dedicated to him.7 mentions
  45. Ben WebsterSwing-era tenor saxophonist; for Barry he is one of the great individual sounds of jazz’s golden era, usually named alongside Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young.6 mentions
  46. Dexter GordonTenor saxophonist of the bebop era; Barry played piano on two or three of his records and remembered him as a lot of fun, though not quite what he would call a bebopper.6 mentions
  47. Frans ElsenDutch jazz pianist and teacher at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, where Barry taught, and a good friend of Barry’s; he filmed the classes now on the BarryHarrisVideos channel, and Barry turns to him by name in them.6 mentions
  48. Herbie HancockPianist and composer (born 1940, Chicago); Barry used him as his example of a star who makes money in Hollywood with rhythm and blues and rock and roll, then headlines jazz festivals.6 mentions
  49. Lee MorganTrumpeter; Barry played piano on his album The Sidewinder (Blue Note, 1963) and says he made up the introduction to its title tune.6 mentions
  50. Philly Joe JonesPhilly Joe Jones was a hard-bop drummer; Barry calls him a very dear friend, but in class uses ‘that Philly Joe thing’, a lone accent on beat four, as the drum figure he cannot stand.6 mentions
  51. Red GarlandPianist from Dallas, best known for Miles Davis’s quintet of the mid-1950s; Barry says Miles’s taste for Ahmad Jamal changed how Garland voiced his chords.6 mentions
  52. Roy BrooksDetroit drummer of the generation after Barry’s, one of the young players who gathered at Barry’s house in the 1950s; he later worked with Horace Silver.6 mentions
  53. Sonny StittAlto and tenor saxophonist of the bebop generation, heard on Webb City, the record Barry first learned to solo from, and later a leader Barry often recorded with as pianist.6 mentions
  54. Wes MontgomeryJazz guitarist from Indianapolis; Barry worked with him at the old Five Spot in New York, recorded with him on Harold Land’s West Coast Blues, and used to run into him at the cowboy movies.6 mentions
  55. Will DavisWill Davis was a Detroit pianist of Barry’s youth, one of the local players Barry watched and learned from and said played better than he did; in a class on Giant Steps Barry played the ending Davis used to put on songs.6 mentions
  56. Ahmad JamalPianist and trio leader from Pittsburgh; Barry says Miles Davis fell in love with Jamal’s little touches, and that this changed how Miles’s band played.5 mentions
  57. Billie HolidaySinger; Barry remembers her playing a Detroit club he calls the Flame Bar, and once wrote string arrangements in a hurry for a programme of her songs.5 mentions
  58. Chris AndersonBlind pianist from Chicago who spent many years in New York; Barry calls him ‘like my love’, says he changed him, and had him on every one of his big concerts.5 mentions
  59. Clifford BrownClifford Brown was a trumpeter who co-led a quintet with Max Roach; Barry calls him a very good friend, and his death in a 1956 car crash with Richie Powell is how Barry came to join Max Roach’s band.5 mentions
  60. George ColemanMemphis-born tenor saxophonist; Barry played with him at the Tin Palace in New York, where, Barry says, they played Cherokee in every key.5 mentions
  61. Louis HayesDetroit-born drummer (born 1937), one of the young players who came by Barry’s Detroit home; with Sam Jones he was the rhythm section on Barry’s 1960 trio album At the Jazz Workshop, which Barry rated among his best.5 mentions
  62. Peter BernsteinNew York jazz guitarist of a younger generation than Barry; asked about him in his Almeria speech, Barry calls him pretty good but says he, like most guitarists, does not know the scale of chords.5 mentions
  63. Phil WoodsBebop alto saxophonist; Barry loved a recording, made in 1957 by his account and issued only decades later, on which Woods plays with Bud Powell, Donald Byrd, Paul Chambers and Art Taylor.5 mentions
  64. Richard ClementsPianist and faithful regular at Barry’s class and choir rehearsals; Barry says he is with him all the way, and he was on the private flight that brought Barry home from Europe.5 mentions
  65. Sarah VaughanJazz singer of the bebop era; in Barry’s memories she is the star whose arrival at 1:30 a.m. could pack Detroit’s Bluebird club before closing time, and she was named an NEA Jazz Master in 1989, the same year as Barry.5 mentions
  66. Sonny RedSonny Red (born Sylvester Kyner) was a Detroit alto saxophonist, Barry’s closest friend and practice partner when they were young; he later recorded with Barry and worked with him at Slugs in New York.5 mentions
  67. Chick CoreaPianist and composer (1941–2021); Barry named him among today’s piano stars, admitted he once briefly thought Corea would be the best, and said even Corea would name Bud Powell as the greatest.4 mentions
  68. Count BasieSwing-era pianist and bandleader; Barry names his band among those people went to dance halls to hear when he was young.4 mentions
  69. Donald WaldenDetroit tenor saxophonist, one of the young players Barry says he brought up there; a younger Detroit musician remembers him later running a club, the New World Stage, where Barry played.4 mentions
  70. Flip PhillipsTenor saxophonist known from Jazz at the Philharmonic; Barry accompanied him for a week as house pianist at the Rouge Lounge, just outside Detroit, in the 1950s.4 mentions
  71. Frank FosterTenor saxophonist and arranger who came to Detroit after college in Ohio and later wrote for Count Basie; Barry calls him the first person to influence the young Detroit players, and says he learned more from him than from anybody.4 mentions
  72. Harold McKinneyHarold McKinney was a Detroit pianist of Barry’s generation from the musical McKinney family; as boys he and Barry both had the preacher Neptune Holloway as their first teacher, and Barry, not yet 21, would go over to the west side with him and Ray McKinney.4 mentions
  73. Joe PassAmerican jazz guitarist known for his solo playing; in his Almeria speech Barry is asked about him, and answers about guitarists in general.4 mentions
  74. Johannes BrahmsGerman Romantic composer; Barry names him with Chopin, Bach and Liszt as composers who learned to improvise, and with Bach and Beethoven as the kind of composer concert halls play, while he plays Bird, Bud and Monk.4 mentions
  75. Johnny GriffinChicago tenor saxophonist who later settled in Europe; Barry played with him, and recalls the odd-length tunes Griffin had when they played together.4 mentions
  76. Richie PowellRichie Powell was a pianist, Bud Powell’s younger brother, who played in the Clifford Brown and Max Roach quintet; Barry calls him a very good friend, and after his death in a 1956 car crash Barry joined Max Roach’s band.4 mentions
  77. Ron CarterMichigan-born bassist (born 1937); he played bass on Barry’s 1969 trio album Magnificent!, with Leroy Williams on drums, and by a radio host’s account said his bebop gigs were with Barry.4 mentions
  78. Roy EldridgeSwing-era trumpeter; Barry remembers him alongside Coleman Hawkins, both as a guest with Barry’s trio and as a player he could sit in with because he played standards Barry knew.4 mentions
  79. Sheila JordanSheila Jordan, a jazz singer born Sheila Dawson in Detroit, grew up in Barry’s circle there; she sang in a scat trio with Skeeter Spight, and Barry stayed with her on his first trip to New York.4 mentions
  80. Tadd DameronComposer, arranger and pianist from Cleveland, a leading writer of bebop; Barry admired his arranging, recorded the album Barry Harris Plays Tadd Dameron, but says he never really knew him.4 mentions
  81. Terry PollardDetroit pianist and vibraphonist of Barry’s generation who played with Terry Gibbs; Barry calls her perhaps the greatest woman jazz pianist, and one of the young players who played better than he did.4 mentions
  82. Wayne ShorterTenor saxophonist and composer (1933–2023); in the sources found, Barry names him only in his Almeria festival speech, as one of the names jam-session players take to be what jazz is.4 mentions
  83. Al HaigBebop pianist of the 1940s who worked with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, one of the pianists Barry’s generation heard as teenagers and whom Barry described as influenced by Bud Powell.3 mentions
  84. Art BlakeyDrummer and leader of the Jazz Messengers; Barry heard him on his first trip to New York in the early 1950s, and Blakey always let him sit in.3 mentions
  85. Barbra StreisandAmerican singer and actress; Barry imagined her singing songs he had written and wanted her for a stage play he was writing.3 mentions
  86. Benny GolsonTenor saxophonist and composer from Philadelphia who, by Barry’s account, may have been the first to call him from Detroit to New York for a record date; Barry played on Golson’s 1958 Riverside album ‘The Other Side of Benny Golson’.3 mentions
  87. Bess BonnierBess Bonnier was a blind Detroit pianist who grew up with Barry; she lent him the variable-speed record player with which he taught himself to solo.3 mentions
  88. Billy MitchellDetroit tenor saxophonist whom Barry names among the good older musicians his generation learned from; Barry played with him at the Bluebird.3 mentions
  89. Billy TaylorPianist, educator and broadcaster (1921–2010) and a founder of New York’s Jazzmobile; the sources name him only in passing, never clearly in Barry’s own words, chiefly through a funeral speaker whom Barry taught at Jazzmobile.3 mentions
  90. Candy JohnsonTenor saxophonist and bandleader, billed as Candy Johnson and his Peppermint Sticks; Barry recalls Charlie Parker coming to Detroit with Johnson’s band and thinks he may have sat in with them.3 mentions
  91. Charles “Honi” ColesAmerican tap dancer of the swing era, of the team Coles and Atkins; in the sources he comes up only in a 1998 tap-dance interview with Barry, whose questions cite his views on bebop and tap.3 mentions
  92. Charlie RouseTenor saxophonist best known for his long stay in Thelonious Monk’s quartet; Barry recalls him in his picture of Monk on the bandstand, and the two played together at a 1981 concert of Monk’s music.3 mentions
  93. Dave BrubeckCalifornia pianist and bandleader famous for his 1950s quartet, whom Barry named in a class as one of many pianists who did not hold the left hand up high all the time.3 mentions
  94. Duke JordanBebop pianist who played in Charlie Parker’s quintet in the late 1940s; at a 2004 master class Barry names him, then still alive, with Hank Jones and John Lewis among the older pianists, none of whom played with the left hand kept up high.3 mentions
  95. Ernie WilkinsSaxophonist and arranger; he had written the music for a programme of Billie Holiday songs that Barry and Charles McPherson were to play in Detroit, and when he turned out to be in Europe with the music, Barry wrote the string parts himself.3 mentions
  96. Erroll GarnerPittsburgh-born pianist and composer of ‘Misty’, whom Barry once heard sit in at a Birdland jam session and remembered as a lesson in swinging on your own.3 mentions
  97. George DuvivierNew York bassist, much in demand for recording sessions; Barry names him among the bass players he worked with and recalls him praising a chord Barry chose on a recording.3 mentions
  98. George GershwinAmerican songwriter and composer; Barry believes he wrote The Man I Love but doubts he knew enough about jazz, Rhapsody in Blue notwithstanding.3 mentions
  99. Hank MobleyTenor saxophonist; Barry played on his quartet sessions in July 1956, during the months he spent in Max Roach’s band.3 mentions
  100. Harold LandTenor saxophonist (1928–2001) who played with Clifford Brown in Max Roach’s band in the mid-1950s; Barry recalls his leaving that band, and Barry is the pianist on Land’s 1960 album West Coast Blues.3 mentions
  101. Hugh LawsonHugh Lawson was a Detroit jazz pianist; Barry counts him among the younger players of his Detroit circle who came to his house.3 mentions
  102. Jimmy HeathTenor saxophonist and composer from Philadelphia; Barry featured him at one of his big yearly concerts, gave him one of his own ‘Barry’ awards, and played on record dates with him.3 mentions
  103. Lon ChaneyRhythm tap dancer (not the film actor) who, Barry says, came in all the time to dance at his Jazz Cultural Theater.3 mentions
  104. MadonnaAmerican pop singer who grew up in Michigan; Barry brings her up once, in a 1988 radio interview with Ben Sidran, as a Detroiter who should come and hear jazz.3 mentions
  105. Mel PowellAmerican swing pianist of the 1940s, known for his work with Benny Goodman and later as a classical composer; Barry pointed to a record of his with a drummer and no bass player as an example of how brilliant the older players were.3 mentions
  106. Nat King ColePianist and singer who led a celebrated jazz trio before becoming world famous as a vocalist; Barry counts him with Louis Jordan among “the majors” he listened to when young and calls him a brilliant pianist whose singing overshadowed his playing.3 mentions
  107. Pasquale GrassoItalian-born jazz guitarist based in New York who plays bebop on the guitar; guitarists from Barry’s circle say he studied with Barry, who helped him and thought highly of him.3 mentions
  108. Paul Jeffrey (probably; Barry says “Paul Jeffries”)Saxophonist, most likely Paul Jeffrey (Barry says “Paul Jeffries”), whom Barry remembers as the fast copyist sitting beside him while he wrote his first string arrangements for a concert in Detroit.3 mentions
  109. Richard “Pistol” AllenRichard ‘Pistol’ Allen was a Detroit drummer who became part of Motown’s studio rhythm section; Barry named him among the Detroit drummers who could play the shuffle, and said he played with him.3 mentions
  110. Sonny ClarkBebop and hard bop pianist of the 1950s, one of the out-of-town pianists who came to Detroit looking for Barry and became his friend, and, by Barry’s account, one of the musicians helped by the Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter.3 mentions
  111. Sophia RosoffSophia Rosoff was a New York classical piano teacher; Barry studied with her from the early 1980s, after Joseph Prostakoff died, and was still her pupil at 85, when she was 95.3 mentions
  112. Albert “Tootie” HeathPhiladelphia-born drummer (1935–2024), youngest of the Heath brothers; in the transcribed sources he comes up only in passing, when a radio host mentions interviewing him and when a podcast host notes he shared an award with Charles McPherson.2 mentions
  113. Bennie MaupinDetroit-born saxophonist, flautist and bass clarinettist, one of the Detroit musicians Barry says were closely connected to him.2 mentions
  114. Brenda BufalinoAmerican tap dancer and choreographer; Barry names her among the tap dancers who danced at his Jazz Cultural Theater.2 mentions
  115. Brooks BowmanBrooks Bowman was an American songwriter who wrote East of the Sun while at Princeton; Barry tells his story on Piano Jazz in 2002 before playing the song as a duet with Marian McPartland.2 mentions
  116. Charles DavisTenor and baritone saxophonist, a peer whom Barry ranked among the best tenor players in the world and featured at his big annual concert.2 mentions
  117. Chuck IsraelsBassist who played in Barry’s trio, one of the two bassists Barry named for his Village Vanguard engagements, and who dropped in on Barry’s workshop when he was in town.2 mentions
  118. Clark TerryTrumpeter and jazz educator; Barry planned to give him a “Barry”, the award Barry handed out at his annual Symphony Space concert to people who had been good for jazz.2 mentions
  119. Cootie WilliamsTrumpeter long featured with Duke Ellington, who led his own band in the 1940s with the young Bud Powell at the piano; Barry sends listeners to those records to hear the young Bud.2 mentions
  120. Dick KatzJazz pianist active in New York from the 1950s; Barry names him, with Hank Jones, John Lewis and John Bunch, among the pianists he says musicians like him learned from, whom the colleges never asked how to teach.2 mentions
  121. Eddie “Cleanhead” VinsonBlues singer and alto saxophonist who sang with Cootie Williams’s band in the 1940s; for Barry he is the voice on the records where the young Bud Powell plays piano underneath.2 mentions
  122. Elton JohnEnglish pop singer and pianist; Barry recalls that on a trip to Trinidad he found Elton John billed as the star of its jazz festival, and took it as proof that jazz festivals had become rhythm and blues and rock festivals.2 mentions
  123. Emperor NeroAlto saxophonist on the Detroit scene, known as Emperor Nero (the old captions of one class give the name as Emperor G Nero); Barry remembers him in a local band that played with Charlie Parker at the Crystal bar.2 mentions
  124. Fats NavarroBebop trumpeter of the 1940s; Barry learned to solo from the record “Webb City”, which he remembers as Navarro and Sonny Stitt with Bud Powell, and counts him among the masters of the bebop era.2 mentions
  125. Fats WallerStride pianist, singer and songwriter; Barry mentions him only as a songwriter said to have sold many of his songs.2 mentions
  126. Freddie HubbardHard-bop trumpeter; Barry says he kept telling him to play sixteenth-note triplets, even nicknaming him ‘Trip’ to make the point.2 mentions
  127. George MrazCzech-born bassist who recorded with Barry and Leroy Williams in the late 1990s, including the trio album First Time Ever; Barry said in 1999 that their record was the first time the two had played together.2 mentions
  128. George ShearingBritish-born pianist (1919–2011), known for his quintet and block-chord sound; Barry names him with Al Haig and Bud Powell among the pianists his generation heard as teenagers.2 mentions
  129. Harry WhitakerPianist who grew up with Lonnie Hillyer and Charles McPherson in Detroit; Barry counts him among the young players who came up through him, and he stayed in the loft where Barry first lived in New York.2 mentions
  130. James JamersonBass player of Motown’s studio band in Detroit; Barry says Jamerson studied with him in Detroit.2 mentions
  131. James Weldon JohnsonAfrican American writer of the Harlem Renaissance who wrote the words of Lift Every Voice and Sing; Barry says his poem The Creation showed him how music began, and he used it to teach where scales and chords come from.2 mentions
  132. Jimmy LovelaceJazz drummer; in a Jazz at Lincoln Center session, Barry’s long-time student Eli Yamin recalls him coming to Barry’s class and insisting on being able to see Barry at the piano.2 mentions
  133. John BunchPianist known for his work with Benny Goodman and Tony Bennett; Barry names him among the pianists he says musicians like him learned from and whom the colleges never asked how to teach, and Bunch received one of Barry’s own ‘Barry’ awards.2 mentions
  134. Johnny O’NealA younger jazz pianist and singer, once with Art Blakey, whose closeness to Art Tatum amazed Barry; he came to play at Barry’s house in Detroit and told him he had learned Tatum by speeding the records up.2 mentions
  135. Joshua EdelmanPianist and student of Barry’s, taken here to be the student Joshua who, Barry says in the oral history, now lives in Madrid and sent him to his own piano teacher; videos from Bilbao in 2016 are titled as Barry performing with Joshua Edelman.2 mentions
  136. Kenny ClarkeAmerican drummer who was one of the founders of bebop drumming in the 1940s; Barry said he never got the chance to play with him.2 mentions
  137. Oscar PetersonCanadian virtuoso pianist who came to fame with Jazz at the Philharmonic; Barry set him against Bud Powell as the model he did not happen to learn from, and shared a Grammys concert with him and Hank Jones.2 mentions
  138. Phil HillDetroit pianist at the Bluebird on the city’s West Side; before Barry was old enough to go in, Hill would let him run in and play a tune, and Barry names him among the little-known Detroit players who could really play.2 mentions
  139. Ray DrummondBassist; one of the two bassists Barry named for his Village Vanguard trio in New York, with Leroy Williams on drums, and on bass with Barry at the 1991 and 1992 Riverside Park concerts.2 mentions
  140. Rufus ReidBassist (born 1944) who played in Barry’s trio with drummer Leroy Williams on the 1984 live album For the Moment, recorded at Barry’s Jazz Cultural Theater.2 mentions
  141. Ruth BrownRhythm and blues singer; one of Barry’s first jobs away from Detroit was on the road with her and saxophonist Willis ‘Gator’ Jackson.2 mentions
  142. Stevie WonderMotown singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist; Barry names him as the exception among today’s songwriters, someone who has written quite a few pretty songs.2 mentions
  143. The Nicholas BrothersFayard and Harold Nicholas, a brother act famous for acrobatic tap routines on stage and in films; Barry remembered seeing them in the Detroit theatre shows of his teens.2 mentions
  144. Tina PrattTap dancer who taught at Barry’s Jazz Cultural Theater and danced on his big concerts.2 mentions
  145. Willis “Gator” JacksonTenor saxophonist known as ‘Gator’ or ‘Gator Tail’; one of Barry’s first jobs out of Detroit was with him and the singer Ruth Brown.2 mentions
  146. Wynton KellyPianist of Barry’s generation, known for his work with Miles Davis around 1960; Barry names him among the pianists who would all have called Bud Powell the best.2 mentions
  147. Abe WoodleyDetroit pianist who also played vibes, one of the older, little-known local musicians Barry names among those he learned from in his Detroit years.1 mentions
  148. Ali JacksonAli Jackson was a Detroit bassist; his name came up when Barry tried to remember who played bass in the trio he had with Elvin Jones, and Barry decided it was not him.1 mentions
  149. Alvin JacksonAlvin Jackson was a Detroit bassist, a brother of the vibraphonist Milt Jackson; the captions suggest Barry named him as possibly the bassist in the trio he had with Elvin Jones.1 mentions
  150. Benny BenjaminDetroit drummer who became a mainstay of Motown’s studio band; Barry named him among the Detroit shuffle drummers he played with.1 mentions
  151. Bobby TimmonsPhiladelphia hard bop pianist who, as Barry remembered it, was Cannonball Adderley’s pianist before him; when Timmons left to do trio work, Cannonball brought Barry in.1 mentions
  152. Carmen McRaeJazz singer; Barry first heard her, from the audience, at the Rouge Lounge just outside Detroit.1 mentions
  153. Chuck GreenAmerican rhythm tap dancer; Barry names him among the tap dancers who danced at his Jazz Cultural Theater.1 mentions
  154. Clifford JordanChicago-born tenor saxophonist; Barry names him among the guest soloists at the first of his big concerts with singers and strings, and Barry had a group with him in the 1980s.1 mentions
  155. Cokie (full name not given)Older Detroit alto saxophonist, known in the sources only by this name, whom Barry and the young players of his generation thought almost as good as Charlie Parker.1 mentions
  156. Dinah WashingtonBlues, jazz and rhythm and blues singer of the 1940s and 1950s whose records Barry and his friends played at the house parties of his youth.1 mentions
  157. Frank GantDetroit drummer and one of the first musicians Barry played with; he was on Barry’s first trio record, made for Argo in Chicago, and Barry, going through his discography, recalls a 1955 Detroit session with him and Yusef Lateef.1 mentions
  158. Frank HewittA New York jazz pianist whom Barry rated among the best players around, and the source of Barry’s story about Bud Powell playing one tune from morning to night.1 mentions
  159. Gene AmmonsChicago tenor saxophonist with a big sound who, when Barry was very young, always let him sit in, even making Junior Mance get up from the piano for him.1 mentions
  160. George CablesAmerican jazz pianist from New York, born in 1944; in the archive he comes up once, in a short, badly captioned clip where the speaker, probably Barry, recalls going to hear him.1 mentions
  161. George MorrowBass player in Max Roach’s band in the mid-1950s; after Clifford Brown and Richie Powell were killed, Barry, Donald Byrd and Sonny Rollins joined Max and Morrow for a few months.1 mentions
  162. Gladys DillardGladys Dillard was a classical piano teacher in Detroit who taught both Barry and Tommy Flanagan; the two pupils once played a recital together, Barry playing Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude.1 mentions
  163. Illinois JacquetTenor saxophonist of the swing era; Barry recorded with him as a sideman on dates produced by Don Schlitten.1 mentions
  164. Ira JacksonA tenor saxophonist who also played piano, still on the New York scene in 2000, who shared an unheated loft on Broad Street with Barry when Barry settled in New York.1 mentions
  165. Jimmy RowlesPianist long known as an accompanist to singers; in the archive he is named once, as one of the pianists on the Columbia LP I Remember Bebop, which also includes Barry.1 mentions
  166. Joe NewmanTrumpeter, long with Count Basie, who with his wife Rigmor ran Jazz Interactions in New York; teaching for them is where Barry’s long-running New York class began.1 mentions
  167. Johnny GreenJohnny Green was an American composer and songwriter who wrote the standard Body and Soul; his name comes up once in the videos, on Piano Jazz in 2002, just after a performance of that song.1 mentions
  168. Johnny MandelJohnny Mandel was an American composer and arranger who wrote the ballad A Time for Love; Barry names him on Piano Jazz in 2002 as he chooses that song for a solo, and he played it in his own concerts.1 mentions
  169. Kiane Zawadi (Bernard McKinney)Kiane Zawadi, born Bernard McKinney into Detroit’s musical McKinney family, played trombone and euphonium; he was one of the young musicians at Barry’s house and a bandmate in Detroit, and later had the New York loft where Barry went to practise.1 mentions
  170. Larry RidleyBassist; one of the partners who, with Barry, Jim Harrison and a man named Fuente, opened the Jazz Cultural Theater on Eighth Avenue in New York.1 mentions
  171. Lee KonitzAlto saxophonist whom Barry remembers sitting in with Charlie Parker at the Crystal Bar in Detroit; Barry does not recall working with him himself.1 mentions
  172. Lennie NiehausWest Coast alto saxophonist and arranger; Barry names him as the conductor at the soundtrack sessions for Clint Eastwood’s film about Charlie Parker, in which Barry took part.1 mentions
  173. Lionel HamptonSwing-era vibraphonist and bandleader; Barry says he was the only star who really came out to support the Jazz Cultural Theater.1 mentions
  174. Michael JacksonAmerican pop singer; Barry mentions him only in passing, in an aside during his Almeria talk.1 mentions
  175. Michel LegrandMichel Legrand was a French composer and pianist known for film songs such as You Must Believe in Spring; his name comes up on Piano Jazz in 2002 in talk about ballads that singers love, and the workbook to Barry’s first workshop video uses that song in its chapter for singers.1 mentions
  176. Nancy WilsonJazz and popular singer; Barry accompanied her for a week at Baker’s in Detroit, the one time he recalls backing a singer in those years.1 mentions
  177. Ray McKinneyRay McKinney was a Detroit bassist from the musical McKinney family; Barry met him, with Harold, Clarence and Bernard McKinney, on the city’s west side in his late teens and says Ray was the one he hung out with.1 mentions
  178. Sadik HakimBebop pianist, born Argonne Thornton; in the archive he is named once, as one of the pianists on the Columbia LP I Remember Bebop, which also includes Barry.1 mentions
  179. Sam JonesSam Jones was a bassist who, with the drummer Louis Hayes, made up the rhythm section on Barry’s trio album Live at the Jazz Workshop, recorded while Barry was with Cannonball Adderley.1 mentions
  180. Skeeter SpightSkeeter Spight, a Detroit jazz singer, scatted in a vocal trio with Sheila Jordan; Barry says listening to him scat taught him something about soloing.1 mentions
  181. Stan KentonPianist and big-band leader of the 1940s and 1950s; Barry names his band among those people went to dance halls to hear when he was young.1 mentions
  182. Terry GibbsVibraphonist and bandleader; Barry mentions him only as the leader the Detroit pianist Terry Pollard played with, and points people to film of the two playing together.1 mentions
  183. Theodore Shieldy (Sheeley)Pianist who came from Georgia to Barry’s Detroit high school, Northeastern; he outplayed Barry and Berry Gordy at boogie-woogie, could also improvise, and Barry expected him to become the best of them all.1 mentions
  184. Tiny KahnAmerican bebop drummer and arranger of the late 1940s and early 1950s; asked about the legendary drummers of his time, Barry said he had played with him.1 mentions
  185. Walter Bishop Jr.New York bebop pianist of Barry’s generation, whom Barry named among the pianists who grew up in the 1940s, and one of the people Barry gave his own ‘Barry’ award for being good for jazz.1 mentions
  186. Will AustinWill Austin was a Detroit bassist who went with Barry and the drummer Frank Gant to Chicago, where they recorded with Sonny Stitt and then made Barry’s trio record for Argo.1 mentions
  187. Willie AndersonWillie Anderson was an older Detroit pianist, a famous name there in Barry’s youth; Barry named him as the older pianist he would have to mention, as Chicago pianists mention Chris Anderson.1 mentions
  188. Aaron GravesPianist who as a young man travelled from Washington, DC to Barry’s Jazz Cultural Theatre and stayed at Barry’s house, and who in 2010 conducted Barry’s Smithsonian Jazz Oral History interview.0 mentions
  189. Berry GordyDetroit-born founder of Motown Records who grew up with Barry; the two were the boogie-woogie pianists at Northeastern High School, and Barry calls him a very dear friend.0 mentions
  190. Billy HigginsLos Angeles drummer whom Barry calls a very special drummer; he names Higgins with Leroy Williams as the two drummers he plays with best.0 mentions
  191. Bobby RogovinTrumpeter with a good ear from Barry’s classes at the Jazz Cultural Theatre; when he played back the phrases Barry sang, Barry knew his own singing of phrases had improved.0 mentions
  192. Charles JordanA pianist who came to Barry’s class in New York and put him on to the classical teacher Padwa, with whom Barry then began taking lessons.0 mentions
  193. Clarence BeasleyPianist from Detroit’s West Side, one of the musicians Barry met there who came to his house; he went to New York for a while and then came back to Detroit.0 mentions
  194. Don SchlittenRecord producer, A&R man at Prestige and later behind the Xanadu label, who recorded Barry often, as leader and as sideman, from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, on a handshake rather than a contract.0 mentions
  195. Dorothy AshbyDorothy Ashby was a jazz harpist from Detroit; Barry names her, with Harold McKinney, among the young Detroit musicians whose first teacher was the preacher Neptune Holloway.0 mentions
  196. Doug WatkinsDetroit bassist from the circle of young players who gathered at Barry’s house; the two went together on Barry’s first trip to New York, around 1952-53, and stayed with Sheila Jordan.0 mentions
  197. Emmitt SlayGuitarist through whom Barry, early in his career, got into the musicians’ union and went to Cleveland, where Slay had a show opposite Mantan Moreland.0 mentions
  198. Ernie FarrowDetroit bassist of Barry’s young days, whom Barry remembers borrowing the school’s bass to get to gigs by streetcar.0 mentions
  199. Frank RosolinoDetroit-born trombonist with whom Barry played at the Bowlodrome, a Detroit bowling alley with a bar, in what may have been one of his first steady gigs; Barry thought their September 1952 session might have been his second recording.0 mentions
  200. James Forman (“Hen Gates”)Philadelphia pianist known as Hen Gates who played in Dizzy Gillespie’s big band; he looked so much like Barry that people thought Barry had played with Dizzy.0 mentions
  201. Joe BrazilDetroit saxophonist, later of Seattle, at whose house Barry and his young peers held jam sessions in roughly 1949 to 1952.0 mentions
  202. Joe ZawinulAustrian-born jazz pianist and keyboardist, a founder of Weather Report; Barry says he had been hanging around him, and names him among the musicians who knew Barry practised all day at Riverside’s studio in New York.0 mentions
  203. Johnny GriffithDetroit pianist at Motown; Barry names him among the Motown musicians who learned from him in Detroit.0 mentions
  204. Joseph ProstakoffJoseph Prostakoff, whom Barry calls ‘Prostikov’, was a New York classical piano teacher; Barry studied with him from the late 1970s until the teacher’s death in the early 1980s and called him the hippest cat he ever met.0 mentions
  205. Junior ManceJazz pianist from the Chicago area; Barry recalls that when he was very young, a visiting horn player, Gene Ammons by the run of the passage, would have Mance give up his place so that Barry could sit in.0 mentions
  206. Kirk LightseyKirk Lightsey, a Detroit jazz pianist younger than Barry, was one of the younger players in Barry’s Detroit circle who came to his house; Barry says Lightsey learned from him.0 mentions
  207. Louis JordanSinger, alto saxophonist and bandleader whose jump-blues records were hugely popular in the 1940s; Barry names him with Nat King Cole as one of “the majors” he and his friends loved listening to when they were young.0 mentions
  208. Mrs. LipscombMrs. Lipscomb was one of Barry’s early classical piano teachers in Detroit, who taught him in a private home; the sources give no first name.0 mentions
  209. Neptune HollowayNeptune Holloway was a Detroit preacher who gave piano lessons, classical ones among them, to many young Detroit musicians; Barry calls him the first teacher of his circle, which included Harold McKinney and Dorothy Ashby.0 mentions
  210. Rudy RutherfordReed player whom Barry and Doug Watkins were working with around 1953; his plan for a holiday in New York set off their first trip there, which they made without him.0 mentions
  211. Shirley BrownDetroit singer whom Barry met around the time he went to college and began spending time on the city’s West Side; her sister Christine became Barry’s wife.0 mentions
  212. Slide HamptonTrombonist and arranger; Barry thinks he was one of the four guest soloists at the first big concert Barry gave with singers and strings, and recalls enjoying recording with him.0 mentions
  213. Sonny CrissAlto saxophonist of the bebop generation; Barry played piano on a record with him and remembers above all that Criss refused to make more than one take of anything.0 mentions
  214. Sun RaPianist and bandleader who played at the Jazz Cultural Theater, Barry’s New York club and school; Barry stayed to hear him, praised how ‘in’ he was, and spoke of a special relationship between them.0 mentions
  215. Vladimir PadwaBarry names only ‘Padwa’, a classical piano teacher at NYU he studied with, probably in the 1970s, on the advice of a pianist who came to his class; we take him to be Vladimir Padwa, a pianist and composer who taught there.0 mentions
  216. Willie “Face” SmithA Cleveland alto saxophonist and arranger, not the famous Willie Smith, whose Dameron-like writing Barry admired; Barry went to Cleveland to record Flower Drum Song tunes for him, a session that was never released.0 mentions