Donald Christopher Barber (born 17 April 1930) is an English jazz musician, best known as a bandleader and trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz hit, he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and vocalist/banjoist Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with Barber triggered the skiffle craze of the mid-1950s and who had his first transatlantic hit, "Rock Island Line", while with Chris Barber's band. His providing an audience for Donegan and, later, Alexis Korner makes Barber a significant figure in the British rhythm and blues and "beat boom" of the 1960s.

The 2017 line up is; Chris Barber and Bob Hunt (trombones); Mike Henry and Pete Rudeforth (trumpets), Bert Brandsma, Nick White and Ian Killoran (clarinets and alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax). John Watson (drums), John Day (double bass), Joe Farler (banjo & guitar) Pat Halcox, trumpeter with the Chris Barber Band since 31 May 1954, retired after playing his last gig with the Big Chris Barber Band on 16 July 2008. Halcox and Barber were together in the band for 54 years - the longest continuous partnership in the history of jazz, exceeding even that of Duke Ellington and Harry Carney (48 years between 1926 and 1974). Tony Carter (reeds) also left the band at this time. Vic Pitt (double bass) retired in January 2007 after 30 years with the band.  His feature duet with the drummers of the day - "Big Noise From Winnetka" was not only a feature of the Barber concerts, but also his time with the Kenny Ball band immediately before. When Amy Roberts joined the band in 2011, she was still a student at Royal Northern College of Music and thus not always able to be present. On several tours Bert Brandsma (reeds) replaced her. Brandsma joined as a permanent member in 2012.  At St Luke's, London, on 9 June 2007 Barber appeared in the horn section of Nick Lowe's band during a concert. In 2008 Barber, along with Eric Clapton and others, were involved in a new co-operative record company, Blues Legacy. On 23 July 2009, Barber, Bilk and Ball played a one-off concert at Indigo2 at the O2 in Greenwich. The concert was presented by the British Music Experience. He performed at De Doelen in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on 12 December 2010.

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