Dale Barlow
Dale Barlow's saxophones cut with a big, singing tone through hard-swinging post-bop and freer Australian jazz. On tenor, soprano and flute he spins long linear lines that still sound urgent decades after they were caught live.
With the Bruce Cale Quartet in 1980 he was barely twenty and already owning the front line. Rolling Thunder and Bindo push blistering tenor; Offering opens into lyrical soprano; flute softens the pastoral turns while Frampton and Treloar ratchet every strike. Cale's writing gave them structure without dulling the free edge, and the band still sounds primal and present. That improvising voice later folds into composed percussion on Alchemy, trading heat with Mike Nock, Chad Wackerman and Synergy Percussion. Barlow has carried the same melodic fire through Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and Cedar Walton's groups, a horn that stays singing when the temperature rises.
Dale Barlow is featured on the following titles
On Fire: The Sydney Concert
Tall Poppies is proud to release this fine recording of the Bruce Cale Quartet: Dale Barlow (flute and saxophones), Roger Frampton (piano), Bruce Cale (bass) and Phil Treloar (drums), each an exceptional creative musician. Recorded in 1980 at the Sydney Musicians’ Club, these performances document a unique musical journey.
Performing as Bruce Cale Quartet
The Bruce Cale Quartet was a short-lived Australian jazz ensemble of the early 1980s, led by bassist and composer Bruce Cale. Its music joined post-bop structure with free improvisation of rare intensity and collective rapport.
Bruce Cale Quartet Live
Tall Poppies releases a fine live document of the Bruce Cale Quartet: Dale Barlow (flute and saxophones), Roger Frampton (piano), Bruce Cale (bass) and Phil Treloar (drums). Captured at the 1980 Adelaide Festival of Arts, the set traces a distinctive creative path.
Dale Barlow also appears on
Pratt's Alchemy
Percussion compositions by Daryl Pratt, one of Australia’s finest vibraphonists in classical and jazz settings, and a sought-after general percussionist.