Customer Reviews

Mythologies

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although I'm the first to review this c.d. on Ammy, and although it's been on the market only for a short while, it has already received radically mixed reviews in the trade mags. I've seen everything from "Brilliant: The Most Original Jazz Album (especially from a jazz singer) in Years" to "A Bunch of Self-Indulgent Garbage."

After a few listens, I'm leaning slightly towards the position of Brilliant.

Frankly, I bristle at the label of "self-indulgent garbage." Obviously, Ms. Barber has put far too much thought and study into this project for it to be dismissed so cruelly. But besides that, there are some thought-provoking ideas in these lyrics. I confess I haven't studied Joseph Campbell and the like carefully, so I can't vouch for her originality. But parallels between Narcissus and Eve (as in "Adam and Eve"), and Oedipus and Jesus Christ, or Pygmalion and a lothario (possibly a pedophile?), are thought-provoking.

But I'm an amateur music critic, not an amateur literature critic. And what I have to say about the music is this: It's brilliant.

"Morpheus" and "Pygmalion" are gorgeous ballads. The voicings and musical colorations in "Hunger", "Persephone" and "The Moon" are stunning. And as much as I liked "Whiteworld" on Ms. Barber's "A Fortnight in France", it like it even more as an intro to the world of Oedipus.

This is difficult music. I don't recommend putting this in your c.d. changer while doing the dishes. But a few trips through Ms. Barber's mythological world are worth the effort. Recommended. RC

With a music library of over 1400 CDs, I listen to a lot of musical variety, but I have to have my daily fix of Mythologies, and have now for a whole year. Maybe I'm "in it too deep" to give a reasonable review, but I think Patricia Barber`s compositions about several Greek mythical figures are extraordinary beyond words because they strike at so many levels. It is very listenable as background music, although the first piece, The Moon, as a bookend, has a somewhat unapproachable (to some) intro. But then the rhythm kicks in and everyone takes off. On a musical level, the songs fascinate me at every listen, with her melodies, voice, unusual timings and long time-close knit innovative quartet creating exciting phrases, verses, solos and refrains, giving us little breaks long enough to catch our breath. Her totally current interpretation of the stories is intelligently descriptive and poetic, at times conversational, and expresses the essence of their timeless relationship to us all. How many of us need Morpheus, the god of dreams, to help us sleep? And Pygmalion, who creates a love that cannot love in return, is certainly universal. Then there's Hunger, too often insatiable. Icarus is driven to soar and fly above the masses, while Orpheus wallows in the despair of loss. Provocative Persephone mesmerizes and evokes the need to reveal both our admirable and our dark sides. Narcissus - we must love our own self to enable the deepest connection to another. The dual destruction of native cultures and our Earth is contrasted in Whiteworld and Phaeton, while musically integrating some rap and a large vocal chorus. The Hours is the other bookend and the time of our lives. I've given many copies of Mythologies to loved ones, desiring to share this incredible gift that I enjoy every day.

Patricia Barber, one of the most accomplished female jazz singer-pianists on the planet, has made yet another album of subtle, original songs. This time it's a suite based on Ovid's Metamorphoses, composed with the support of a Guggenheim fellowship (Barber is the only songwriter ever to get a Guggenheim).
So in some respects Mythologies is closer to a contemporary classical project, detached and carefully scored, with clever, uncliched meshing of lyrics and melodies. It doesn't completely hang together, but Barber's vocal artistry is superb, expressing intelligent, elliptical words in a voice as seductive as ever: listen to Morpheus, Icarus (for Nina Simone) or Narcissus, which she suggests could become a "gay wedding song". Using her close-knit band - fearless guitarist Neal Alger, bassist Michael Arnapol and drummer Eric Montzka - she generates a wide range of timbres and feels.

I was introduced to Patricia Barber via the audiophile route as her cds
recording quality has always been excellent. Over the years I got to appreciate her music. What I love about Partricia Barber is that she has a sound like no one else, her piano playing is first class, and her songwriting is sublime and original. Each of Miss Barber cd been another step forward, and this one is full of surprise catching you unaware
at every turn. I am really tired of the old format of a singer being backed by the standard piano trio, singing the same old songs.
Miss Barber is different she is absolutely unique and I am sure in the years to come will be regarded as one of the great innovator in vocal jazz.
Coming back to the audio quality, this is simply the best recording I ever heard, natural, dynamic etc it has everything a real show stopper.
Can I give it a million stars??
Definetely my choice for cd of the year, in all categories.

Who would have guessed that Patricia Barber would be the newest entrant in the art song world? She's written in the great tradition of the 19thC and early 20thC classical composers (Schubert, Berg, Randall Thompson, etc.) but in a jazz genre that really makes sense for the material. Thanks for some really great music.

A jazz song cycle based on Ovid's Metamorphoses? Sounds like a recipe for a pretentious self-indulgent disaster, but somehow Ms. Barber pulls it off in a way that is not only literate but accessible and mostly (gasp) entertaining. She even gets away with an "Endangered Species rap" of sorts, and you gotta give her mad props for that... or something...

I've played this CD at least once a day since the day it was released. At l e a s t once. The first time I was slightly surprised because this album is different from Patricia Barber's other works, but the surprise was far from being unpleasant.
'Mythologies' is very original, and varies greatly in musical styles. There's not a song on this album that I'd consider bad, or even mediocre. They're all brilliant. Great lyrics - very poetic and thoughtful in places -, and great music. The best album I've listened to in ages. Too bad I can't give it 10 stars.
Get it!

As usual, Patricia Barber deliver wonderful music..many cool moments on this cd. I love her voice..a different music than on her other cd that i know from her, Cafe Blue. Maybe, she`s more eclectic on Mythologies. Another wonderful production, amazing sound quality!

This is the first Barber album that I felt inclined to listen to twice through on arrival. Some of her earlier work is "dark and moody" and you really have to be in the mood for it. This new one, although reprising a couple of previously released pieces, seems more coherent. And there is a lot of complication here, listen closely and you will hear many things. Interesting and musical, too.

While I can admire the attempt at originality, I can't really get all that into Barber's Mythologies. There are enough compelling instrumental passages so as to suggest the nature of this being important work, but this female Jazz singer just doesn't compliment the mood properly, with an overabundance of cleverly conscious lyrics and stiff delivery crushing most musical momentum. Ambition may contribute to the overall pretentious mood, but enough compositional salvation makes the disc at least worth checking out.