Biography
‘Polo’ Barnes entered the world on 22 November 1902 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and left it there on 13 April 1981. Music surrounded him from birth, prompting him to take up the alto saxophone while still a teenager; soprano saxophone and clarinet followed later. Early professional work found him alongside several leading New Orleans ensembles, among them Papa Celestin’s group. By the final years of the 1920s he had joined King Oliver’s orchestra, after which he moved to New York and performed with Chick Webb and other local units before linking up with Jelly Roll Morton. A short return to Oliver occurred in 1931; throughout the ensuing period he fronted his own ensemble and freelanced for assorted bandleaders, including yet another stint with Oliver, until American involvement in World War II began. Postwar engagements placed him once more with Celestin as well as with Alton Purnell, Paul Barbarin and additional New Orleans figures. During the 1950s and 1960s he alternated residence in his hometown with extended stays in California, sometimes stepping away from music and at other times remaining active. A European tour took place in the early 1970s, after which he withdrew from performing before the decade closed. On clarinet and soprano his execution combined technical assurance with inventive restraint, qualities evident on recordings that explain his appeal to exacting leaders such as King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton.