Pianist and singer Patricia Barber's second album (and major-label debut) is a consistently interesting, but not always completely rewarding, array of original instrumentals, vocal standards, and surprise cover versions. The arrangement of "Summertime" that opens the program is eerie almost to the point of creepiness, and all the more effective ...
The dark, smoky voice of Patricia Barber is quite haunting. On Modern Cool, she mostly sings downbeat songs at slow tempos. All but three songs are her own originals, and they deal with such subject matter as an "homage to beauty" that seems to connect painting one's face with prostitution, loneliness, mindless conformity, the "Postmodern Blues," ...
Pianist/vocalist Patricia Barber's recording debut, Split, is a fairly straight-ahead affair featuring the idiosyncratic stylist on various standards and originals. Showcasing her unique approach to jazz, the album finds Barber mixing pointed and minimalist lines à la Chet Baker with a dramatic cabaret vocal style and complex harmonic post-bop ...
Is it still art when you can fingerpop to it? Finally, it's arrived. In 2003 jazz songwriter, pianist, and bandleader Patricia Barber received a Guggenheim fellowship to create a song cycle based on Ovid's Metamorphoses. Barber is that rare kind of jazz artist -- she appeals to non-jazz fans. She's as ambitious as they get and her poetic, ...
Since her beguiling 1991 debut, Distortion of Love, songwriter, pianist, and vocalist Patricia Barber has steadfastly remained true to her quirky, left-of-center jazz vision, which includes equal parts edgy pop and rock. Barber has a fluid, restlessly individualistic style on the piano; she can hold her own with anybody. Her songwriting comes from ...
Pianist/vocalist Patricia Barber is the Alanis Morissette of the jazz world. Her serpentine, poetic songs teeter between deftly witty and awkwardly Latinate. Each album is more ambitious than the last, taking her deeper into avant-garde territory both lyrically and instrumentally. Verse is no exception. Case in point: "I Could Eat Your Words," a ...
Chicago native and classically trained pianist Patricia Barber's sixth album is a collection of downtempo standards, perfect for a rainy day. Taking on classics like "Autumn Leaves," "I Fall in Love Too Easily," "Bye Bye Blackbird," or even "Alfie" is always a risk, but her confident vocals and interpretations eradicate any doubt that she is a ...
Companion was recorded in a special three-night series of shows in July 1999 at Chicago's famed Green Mill jazz club -- an unusually short amount of time to produce a live album. To mine as much material as possible from those nights the performances were run more like recording sessions than live shows, with the crowd reverently hushed. Patricia ...
The Premonition Years: 1994-2002 collects tracks the jazz pianist/singer/songwriter Patricia Barber recorded for the independent Premonition label. These are the cuts that helped solidify Barber's reputation as an enigmatic, cerebral, and creatively inspired artist with a knack for intimate and reflective cabaret-influenced performances that ...
This budget jazz sampler features Narm label artists like Gabriela Anders, Patricia Barber, Terrence Blanchard, Mimi Gox, Gota, Rhythm & Brass, and the Tin Hat Trio. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
Companion was recorded in a special three-night series of shows in July, 1999 at Chicago's famed Green Mill jazz club -- an unusually short amount of time to produce a live album. To mine as much material as possible from those nights the performances were run more like recording sessions than live shows, with the crowd reverently hushed. Patricia ...
From the vaults of Blue Note and EMI comes this two-CD compilation of soul-jazz, funky stuff, hip bossa nova, and hip-hop. The artists are both old (Stanley Turrentine, Chet Baker, Grant Green) and new (Patricia Barber, Karl Denson, Guru), and all the tracks have been selected to provide the listener with a very laid-back groove. ~ Tim Sendra, All ...
Chicago Jazz Tour gathers performances done for the Big Chicago label by both established and up-and-coming performers; most of the compositions are originals, and there are also tunes by Thelonious Monk, Wayne Shorter, and Duke Ellington. Among the featured artists are Kurt Elling, Von Freeman, Johnny Frigo, Patricia Barber, and Kahil El'Zabar. ~ ...
Jazz songwriter and pianist Patricia Barber's 2006 album Mythologies, a song cycle based on Ovid's Metamorphosis, is a sprawling work of poetic and musical adventure. Upon its release, it garnered universal acclaim from critics and responsive concert audiences across the United States and Europe. After this rigorous undertaking, Barber could have ...
This third part of the "devil's pact" between Blue Note and Starbucks Coffee yields a mix of vintage and modern cuts from the vaults of the venerable jazz label. Grooves to sip a low-fat, decaf frappucino-ma-jig include vintage late-'50s and '60s sides like Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage," Cannonball Adderley's "Somethin' Else" (featuring Miles ...
Patricia Barber, who is both a fine keyboardist and an atmospheric singer, contributes roughly half of the material to her Premonition debut. Her dark voice and the generally esoteric program takes awhile to get used to (listeners will have to be patient), but after two or three listens, this thought-provoking and rather moody set becomes more ...
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