Person · Male
Barry Guy
composer and double bassist
- From
- London, United Kingdom
- Since
- 1947–present
- Releases
- 108
- free improvisation
- free jazz
- jazz
- avant-garde
- avant-garde jazz
- classical
- contemporary classical
About
Barry John Guy (born 22 April 1947, in London, England) is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras in the UK and Europe. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music under Buxton Orr, and later taught there.
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Guy came to the fore as an improvising bassist as a member of a trio with pianist Howard Riley and drummer Tony Oxley (Witherden, 1969). He also became an occasional member of John Stevens' ensembles in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. In the early 1970s, he was a member of the influential free improvisation group Iskra 1903 with Derek Bailey and trombonist Paul Rutherford (a project revived in the late 1970s, with violinist Philipp Wachsmann replacing Bailey). He also formed a long-standing partnership with saxophonist Evan Parker, which led to a trio with drummer Paul Lytton which became one of the best-known and most widely travelled free-improvising groups of the 1980s and 1990s. He was briefly a member of the Michael Nyman Band in the 1980s, performing on the soundtrack of The Draughtsman's Contract.
Member of
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Iskra 1903 double bass
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London Jazz Composers’ Orchestra double bass
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Elsie Jo bass
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Tarfala Trio bass
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The Dowland Project double bass
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Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble double bass
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Barry Guy New Orchestra bass, eponymous
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Blue Shroud Band double bass
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Louis Moholo/Evan Parker/Pule Pheto/Gibo Pheto/Barry Guy Quintet bass, eponymous
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Parker / Guy / Lytton bass, eponymous
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2 X 3 = 5 double bass
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Cecil Taylor Workshop Ensemble double bass
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Liquid Quintet double bass
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Ramón López Freedom Now Sextet double bass
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Guy-Gustafsson-Strid Trio double bass, eponymous
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Aurora Trio double bass
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Joëlle Léandre / Barry Guy Duo double bass, eponymous
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Deep Memory Trio double bass
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Agustí Fernández / Barry Guy Duo double bass, eponymous
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Jürg Wickihalder Beyond Trio double bass
Discography
Albums
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Statements V‐XI for Double Bass & Violone
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No Fear
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Improvisations Are Forever Now (1977-9)
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Endgame
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4,4,4,
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Incision
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Hypa-Stretch
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Stringer
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Harmos
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Double Trouble
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Arcus
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Theoria
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Study - Witch Gong Game II/10
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Portraits
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Obliquities
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Mouth Eating Trees and Related Activities
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Three Pieces for Orchestra
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Frogging
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Gudira
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Double Trouble Two
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Ceremony
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Odyssey
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Dividuality
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2 of 2
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Symmetries
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Organic
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Celebration
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Birds and Blades
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J. S. Bach: Sonata in G minor BWV1001 / Partita in B minor BWV1002 / Barry Guy: Inachis
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Mining the Seam - The Rest of the Spotlite Sessions
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Dakryon
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Ithaca
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Folio
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J. S. Bach: Sonata in A minor, BWV1003 / Partita in D minor, BWV1004 / Barry Guy: Aglais
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Phases of the Night
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Some Other Place
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Multitude
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Morning Glory
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J. S. Bach: Sonata in C major, BWV 1005 / Partita in E major, BWV 1006 / Barry Guy: Lysandra
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Games and Improvisations: Hommage à György Kurtág
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Chamber Music for Strings: String Quartet Nos. 1 & 2 / Duo for Baroque Violin and String Bass / String Trio
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Tales of Enchantment
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Backscatter Bright Blue
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Slip Slide and Collide
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Heavy Metal Rabbit
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Deep Memory
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Sidereus Nuncius – The Starry Messenger
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Acanthis
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Kouartéto
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Interaction
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At Sotto il mare, First Visit
Singles
Live
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Harmos – Kraków
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Live in Munich
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Live at Jazzdor
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So It Goes…
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Kraków 2020
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A Concert: DETAIL +
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The Swiftest Traveler
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Mutations
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NOX
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One for My Baby and One More for the Bass
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Illuminated Silence
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Odes and Meditations for Cecil Taylor
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Louisiana Variations
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Syllogistic Moments
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Luminous
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Blue Horizon. Barry Guy@70: Live at the Ad Libitum Festival 2017
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Free Radicals at DOM
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Without Borders…
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Beyond
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Roma 1980
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Tensegrity (Small Formations)
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The Blue Shroud Apple Music
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Time Passing...
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Live at Literaturhaus
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Occasional Poems
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A Moment’s Liberty
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Schweben – Ay, but can ye?
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Hexentrio
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Lava
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Harmos
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Metal!
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Attikos
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Sinners, Rather Than Saints
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Radio Rondo / Schaffhausen Concert
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Fox Fire
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Falkirk
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Brainforest
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Open Textures
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Free Zone Appleby 2004
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Sensology
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Birmingham Concert
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Cascades
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To Whom It May Concern: Dedicated to Kunio Nakamura (1944-1992)
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Fizzles
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Supersession
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Zürich Concerts
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Assist
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Tai Kyoku
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Hook, Drift & Shuffle
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Paintings
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PISA 1980: Improvisors’ Symposium
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Ode
Compilations
Links
Official
Concerts
Buy
Artistic director
Founder
Married
Also known as
BG · Barrie Guy · Barry John Guy
Identifiers
- MusicBrainz
- 3f076b39-8267-4bf0-ac3e-e405d9feda21
- ISNI
- 0000000114763840
Data from MusicBrainz, saved 9 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.