About
Cameron Barnett plays double bass and bass guitar. He's based in Farnham and works across Surrey, Hampshire and London, with more than 600 gigs behind him.
He studied jazz double bass at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Steve Watts and Jules Jackson. While there he depped regularly with Down for the Count, one of the UK's busiest swing bands, played jazz for functions at The Savoy, The Dorchester and The Waldorf, and recorded with the quintet of fellow Guildhall pianist Andrew Asante. He played with Andrew again at the EFG London Jazz Festival in 2025, and plays bass on two tracks of Dan Mar-Molinero's jazz orchestra album Taproot. In 2018 he played the Crazy Coqs run of Andrew Fisher's musical Girl in a Crisis, starring Lorna Want.
Since 2018 he has held the bass chair in The Sassenachs Ceilidh Band, playing more than 190 ceilidhs at weddings, Cecil Sharp House, Big Penny Social, The Ned and The Reform Club. In 2017 he founded London's Ruckus, an eight-piece New Orleans brass band. It led the Old Vic's bicentenary procession, featured on ITV London, and played the closing ceremony of the 2026 Goodwood Revival.
Closer to home, he's a regular on the Farnham and Guildford jazz scene, at the Cosy Club, The Wheatsheaf and Farnham Maltings, where he is also a resident artist making and repairing bows as Barnett Bows. Further afield, he has played the 606 Club with singer Sarah-Jane Eveleigh.
Credits
- Bands
- The Sassenachs Ceilidh Band, bass, since 2018
London's Ruckus, founder, double bass and sousaphone, since 2017 - Played with
- Down for the Count, regular dep 2018 to 2022, including Bella and the Bourbon Boys
Sarah-Jane Eveleigh, Sam Parker, David Kirby, Debby Bracknell - Recordings
- Taproot, Dan Mar-Molinero Jazz Orchestra (2023), bass on "Home" and "Our Place"
Andrew Asante Quintet (2019), with Tom Ridout
Girl in a Crisis, Andrew Fisher's one-woman musical, double bass - Theatre
- Girl in a Crisis, Crazy Coqs, London, 2018, starring Olivier Award winner Lorna Want
- Festivals
- EFG London Jazz Festival 2025
Goodwood Revival 2021 and 2026
Petersfield Jazz Festival - Functions
- The Savoy, The Dorchester, The Waldorf, The Ned, The Reform Club, Royal College of Physicians, Kew Gardens, Great Fosters, Celtic Manor
- Clubs
- 606 Club, Pizza Express, Cecil Sharp House, Big Penny Social, Cosy Club Guildford, Farnham Maltings
- Broadcast
- The Old Vic bicentenary procession with London's Ruckus, ITV London
- Training
- Jazz double bass, Guildhall School of Music and DramaWith Steve Watts and Jules Jackson, plus Laurence Cottle and Colin Paris (classical). Before that, Alton College with Laura Jurd and the Southampton Youth Jazz Orchestra, where guest artists included John Surman, Julian Joseph, Iain Ballamy, Liane Carroll and Jean Toussaint.
What people say
Superb musicians who completely got the vibe and atmosphere needed for a fun and irreverent celebration.
Consummate professionals. 100% brought the ruckus!
Gear
- Electric
- Vintage Icon Series P-bass with Bare Knuckle pickups and Markbass vintage flats
Sire Marcus Miller 5-string
Höfner Professional Series '60s jazz bass - Upright
- 1880s German trade double bass, birdseye maple back and sidesEvah Pirazzi strings, David Gage Realist pickup
- Amps
- Phil Jones Double Four for small rooms
Phil Jones Suitcase for medium rooms
Orange Terror Bass 500 into a 600W Orange isobaric cab when it needs to be loudEqually happy on provided backline. - DI'd gigs
- Phil Jones PE-5 preamp pedal
Need a bassist?
Send the date, location and style of gig. I usually reply the same day.