Barney's Biography
Barney McClure has been everywhere and done it all. He has performed and/or recorded with Ernestine Anderson, Mark Murphy, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Big Joe Turner, Don Shelton, Greta Matassa, Rebecca Parris, Dee Daniels, Grady Tate, Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel, Larry Coryell, Mimi Fox, the late Joe Pass, Howard Roberts, and Emily Remler, Bud Shank, Don Lanphere, Richie Cole, Harold Land, Scott Hamilton, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Red Holloway, Buddy Tate, the late Sonny Stitt, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Kenny Wheeler, Shorty Rogers, Blue Mitchell, Bill Watrous, Milt Jackson, Terry Gibbs, Red Norvo, Gary Peacock, Bob Magnusson, John Heard, Billy Higgins, Lewis Nash, and Jeff Hamilton - and, more, frankly. Barney has backed such notables as Bob Hope, Bob Newhart, Professor Irwin Corey, George Kirby and Steve Allen.
Barney McClure learned to arrange in the Army during the sixties in Europe and continued in Hollywood for many years. His performances have taken him all over Europe, Japan, Australia, Mexico, Canada and the US. You can hear Barney in the movies ~Officer and a Gentleman~, and the soundtrack of ~Mr Hollands Opus~.
McWorks Publishing
My dad was a jazz trumpet player from the Big Band Swing era. I can remember when I was a child hearing him whistling or scatting along with the melody of a tune on the radio. Very early I learned it was ok to do such a thing. Later I recognized that improvisational music, particularly jazz, was a language among participants. My approach in There Is No Such Thing As A Mistake is to share with you what I have learned on the bandstand, and how to use that information expediently. My goal is to cut to the chase in what I call Bandstand Theory.
There Is No Such Thing As A Mistake will walk you through basic improvisational theory with exercises and demonstrations.