Track Listing

1. Gotcha
2. Dansons la Gigue!
3. Crash
4. Laura
5. Pieces
6. Blue Prelude
7. Witchcraft
8. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
9. Whiteworld
10. Call Me

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41835 in Music
• Released on: 2004-09-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live

Album Description
Critically-acclaimed jazz pianist-vocalist Patricia Barber performs live in France with her outstanding quartet delighting listeners with a mix of original compositions and standards including "Witchcraft", "Call Me" and "Norwegian Wood".

Recorded in March and April 2004 at clubs in three French cities (L'Arsenal in Metz, La Coursive in La Rochelle and La Cigale in Paris), Live: A Fortnight In France is her eighth release, and offers further proof that Patricia Barber is at the vanguard of the new school of jazz singer/songwriters who are continuing to explore intriguing improvisational terrain.

Amazon.com
Recorded in the spring of 2004, Live: A Fortnight in France presents Barber in ideal conditions, playing to responsive audiences with musicians she's toured with steadily since 2002's Verse. It's a typical Barber program, split between her own songs--there are two new ones here, the opening "Gotcha" and "Whiteworld," with a mordant irony all their own--and covers that add fresh dimension to the familiar, like "Blue Prelude" and the languid "Call Me." There's a riveting presence to Barber's voice, an emotional directness that resonates with the playful creativity of her lyrics--"call me a doctor, or a structural engineer," she sings on "Pieces"; "your edifice is starting to crack and peel," on "Gotcha." As a pianist, Barber fuses with guitarist Neil Alger, bassist Michael Arnapol, and drummer Eric Montzka into a tight-knit band that can stretch from the dissonant "Crash" to the consummate swing of "Witchcraft." --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

Oh Yeah!!!!!!!
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!!!

A good recording of the best small jazz combo around.
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.

One of the Best of 2004
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