Stan Barker

Barker was born in Clitheroe, Lancashire, the son of Richard and Winnie Barker; his parents were both musical.^[1] As a child he learned to play harmonica and banjo, and to yodel. His school headmaster, Laurence Hardy, encouraged him to perform in concerts and shows.^[2]

Barker played guitar and piano with the East Lancashire Regiment Band during his National Service in the Army. He was a recreational and part-time musician, playing popular music at weekend dance events. He began arranging music for ensembles as a side project, was a musical director at a hotel for several years, and accompanied touring acts.^[2]

Barker was a sales manager, aged 50,^[2] when he became a full-time jazz musician and formed the Stan Barker Trio. The trio played with trombonist Roy Williams in 1991.^[3] Barker made recordings and played gigs with such artists as Digby Fairweather, Al Grey, Buddy Tate, Al Wood, and Billy Butterfield.^[1]

In addition to teaching jazz, Barker taught in a variety of educational institutions, including the Royal Northern College of Music, the Belfast School of Music, Merseyside Arts, the Mid-Pennine Arts Association, South Wales Art Association, and the Southport Arts Centre. A 1979 profile of Barker proposed that "his treatment of the classic standards, his inventiveness and sheer fluency, place him rightly in the same category as Oscar Peterson."^[2]