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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oh Yeah!!!!!!!,
By
This review is from: Live: A Fortnight in France (Audio CD)
I would give this recording five stars just for the covers of "Laura" & "Blue Prelude" - both beautiful & sensitive renditions with bluesy guitar saturating one & gorgeous Bass warming the other. Both held together by the warm & lovely voice of a most underrated Patricia Barber. This disc is filled with many contrasts and textures - kind of like a beautiful woven expensive piece of fabric. The highest points are reached on the compositions that Barber pens herself. "Gotcha" and "Pieces" are just exceptionally written & performed. This band is tight as ever. The drummer & guitarist add much color and energy to these tracks. They absolutely soar in these various live settings. My favorite however is the instrumental "Crash" with its somewhat offbeat groove. The band rolls like thunder with Patricia showing off her exceptional keyboarding skills. She also dazzles and dances on "Norwegian Wood" - sounding a little like Chick Corea on one of his famous Jazz solos. Her growth as an artist continues and her future star is definitely bright. This would have been a perfect recording to capture on DVD. The lady is magnificant & leaves me with a big smile on my face - again. If you have not experienced Patricia Barber, this live recording is a great place to start. Enjoy!!!
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good recording of the best small jazz combo around.,
By
This review is from: Live: A Fortnight in France (Audio CD)
Anyone that has seen Patricia Barber live in the past couple of years can attest that her band is one of the tightest, most creative jazz combos around. Her too-cool-for-school singing and sharp piano technique easily keep up with the chops of her stellar bands. Though this CD doesn't completely capture the heights of her live shows (can't see her pluck the piano strings like a harp), it is still has some amazing cuts.
In this case she is joined by Neal Alger on guitar, the very clever Eric Montzka on drums, and by her brilliant longtime bass player Michael Arnopol. Listen to the sick groove they cook up in Crash or to the simmering precision they bring to Pieces and try to find a better example of a band keeping jazz fresh and vital. I'm docking the CD a star for being too short (could have fit at least one more song on there) and having too many slow songs that don't really show off what Ms. Barber is capable of. On the other hand, the sound quality is exceptional (as with most of her CDs, it is mixed by Jim Anderson), and this CD is still a good snapshot of an exceptional combo. Buy this CD, put on Norwegian Wood and get blown away by the best band out there.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best of 2004,
By
This review is from: Live: A Fortnight in France (Audio CD)
In giving a recent rave review to Madeleine Peyroux's "Careless Love", I pointed out how that and 4 other albums have made 2004 an extraordinary year. Evidently, I wrote too soon. Add this one into the mix, and call it "The Gang Of 6." Christopher Louden of Jazz Times calls this one of the year's best, and I concur fully.
In listening to this live album recorded in 3 venues in France, I was struck by this thought: in listening to Caetano Veloso, Americans who don't speak Portuguese can't understand the words he sings, but there's no mistaking the emotion; hence his greatness. Judging by the enthusiastic applause throughout, the French must feel the same way about Patricia Barber. And I think the reason why is this: If Anne Bancroft's Mrs. Robinson from "The Graduate" could sing, she'd sound like Patricia Barber. I.e., that clipped sense of matter-of-fact cool, masking a profound sense of personal pain. As such, Ms. Barber is the perfect artist to re-interpret Johnny Mercer's "Laura", as she does here with such wistful sadness. And she adds a new level to the encore of "Call Me"; rather than the familiar ubercool of June Christy or Chris Connor, she delivers the song in a conversational, intimate tone. It really works. Special kudos to the instrumentalists as well. Neal Alger(g), Michael Arnopol (b) and Eric Montzma (d) sound very "Mahavishnu-esque" on "Crash" and "Whiteworld." And based on what I remember of "Nightclub," I think Ms. Barber's pianistic chops have grown. I recall her playing very sparely there, a la Duke or Monk; but here, her expansiveness on "Norwegian Wood" and "Witchcraft" is impressive. Among Patricia Barber aficionados and other critics, "Modern Cool" by consensus is considered her best. They're probably right; but I think this one deserves to be on the same shelf. RC
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