Throughout his career, he played with Jelly Roll Morton, Baby Dodds, James P. Johnson, Sidney Bechet, Mezz Mezzrow, and Red Allen.

[1][2][3] Barker began his career as a musician in his youth with his streetband the Boozan Kings, and also toured Mississippi with Little Brother Montgomery.

On the day of his arrival in New York, his uncle Paul took him to the Rhythm Club, where he saw an inspiring performance by McKinney's Cotton Pickers.

[4] Barker played with several acts when he moved to New York, including Fess Williams, Billy Fowler and the White Brothers.

On September 4, 1945, he recorded with Ohio's native jazz pianist, Sir Charles Thompson, and saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Charlie Parker.

The Fairview band launched the careers of musicians who performed in brass band and mainstream jazz contexts, including Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Leroy Jones, Kirk Joseph, Nicholas Payton, Shannon Powell, Lucien Barbarin, and Dr. Michael White, among others.

[9] It was the earnest and general feeling that any Negro who... entered the hell-hole called the state of Mississippi for any reason other than to attend the funeral of a very close relative... was well on the way to losing his mentality, or had already lost it.

Musicians from the documentary speak at length of the profound impact that Barker had on their lives and careers and New Orleans poet Chuck Perkins reads a poem written for and dedicated to his memory.

In 1957 Barker appeared in the CBS TV program The Sound of Jazz, performing with Red Allen, Pee Wee Russell, Coleman Hawkins and others.

Barker appears in Les Blank's New Orleans documentary Always for Pleasure, including an interview (with Blue Lu) and several performance sequences.