Trombonist and band leader Chris Barber first worked with Morrison in a concert which they co-headlined with the late Lonnie Donegan in Belfast in 1998. The concert was a celebration of skiffle, the popular idiom of the 1950s in which both Donegan and Barber were pioneers. Van Morrison had his own early roots in that music, and was a Barber fan long before his own rise to international stardom. “I was one of the first guys Van ever heard on record, and that means a lot to him,” Barber recalled.

“After the Belfast show we got talking, and he said to come along and play at one of his gigs. That was quite difficult, because he had a lot of great arrangements, but none of them included a trombone player, and as you know, trombone is written in a different key and clef, so I had to extemporise a bit. Van seemed to enjoy it, and we have continued to do it when it suits us. “I like the fact that he is a stickler for things being played right. I am the same way in my own band.

When I turn up to play with Van I never really know in advance what we will be playing, although there are a few numbers that are pretty much always there. You have to remember that jazz and blues and rock all came from pretty much the same place, and the trick is to be able to adapt to the particular phrasing and appropriate style of the tune you are playing.” Barber has led his own band since 1954 and is well used to filling major venues all over Europe.

The six-piece Chris Barber Jazz Band became the Jazz & Blues Band with the addition of electric guitarist John Slaughter in 1967, and more recently he has led his 11-piece Big Chris Barber Band, as featured on his new CD release, “Can’t Stop Now”, with elegant arrangements by Bob Hunt and three contributions from guest vocalist Andy Fairweather-Lowe.