Companion, the latest release by the visionary pianist/vocalist/composer Patricia Barber and first new record from the Blue Note/Premonition joint imprint, has a tough act to follow: last years remarkable and unexpected jazz hit, modern cool (Premonition). modern cool proved to be that rare triple threat. Critics (from the jazz bible, DownBeat), radio programmers (#5 Gavin National Jazz; NPR All Things Considered feature with Noah Adams) and music fans ("Top Ten" seller on Billboards Traditional Jazz chart) all agreed on the records power.
The success vaulted Ms. Barber into a place of prominence among new jazz vocalists. The sleek, magnetic face, unerring calm center and chillingly gorgeous voice now well recognized and anticipated. modern cool also met the lofty expectations of jazz insiders who, through three previous releases, had taken note of Ms. Barbers continually evolving artistic depth. companion, Ms. Barbers first "live" record and debut on record playing the mighty Hammond B-3, should prove to widen her reputation.
companion was recorded in performance during three July nights at the Green Mill and stars Barbers busy working band: longtime bassist Michael Arnopol and guitarist John McLean (both of whom appear on modern cool and its predecessor, 1994s breakthrough Cafe Blue), and drummer Eric Montzka; it also features an expanded lineup with percussionist Ruben P. Alvarez.
"This was intended to be a fun record, kind of bold and brassy like modern cool but also fun," says Barber. "We tried, as best we could, to capture the vibe of the Green Mill as it is every Sunday and Monday."
"The title companion has no particular deep meaning," continues Ms. Barber. "It might have been called modern cool companion, since thats what I wanted it to be, a live companion to modern cool. Some cuts from that album have been slightly rearranged and we maintained and maybe expanded the general spirit of modern cool. But the whole title would have been too long. So companion."
The idea for a nightclub recording came from the response to Barbers active tour schedule during 1999 the first real touring she has done in her 20-year career and to her increasingly popular, almost addictive twice-weekly shows at the Green Mill, the internationally known Chicago club. Her experience on tour echoed her SRO Green Mill performances, with sold-out shows in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto. But there was never any question of where to record in a "live" setting.
"There are very few clubs left like The Green Mill," explains Barber. "And there is only one Dave Jemilo (the Green Mill owner). In my particular case, there would be no Cafe Blue, no Modern Cool, no Companion without this club and this clubowner having given me absolute support and artistic license."
For one example of the experimentation that can take place in front of a supportive home crowd, Barber has re-interpreted her previous albums "Touch Of Trash," splitting verses with Jason Narducy, lead vocalist with the Sony/550 alternative band, Verbow. The disc also contains another modern cool track a re-arranged version of Barbers plea for the weather to match her mood, "Let It Rain" -- and five songs never before recorded by Barber.
Three of the new ones are artful re-inventions of well-known pop tunes: Sonny Bonos "The Beat Goes On," Bill Withers "Use Me," and Santanas 60s classic "Black Magic Woman." Two are Barber compositions: "Like JT," an instrumental dedicated to and inspired by pianist Jacky Terrasson, and "If This Isnt Jazz," an opinionated plea on the state of jazz that should fulfill the expectations for outspoken commentary she has engendered on previous discs. As for her decision to cover tunes made famous by Sonny & Cher and Santana, work with a modern rocker, and include an outspoken commentary on the music she loves most, Barber offers her hope that this will be interpreted "either as blasphemy, or as a cheap-tricks attempt to get attention. Nothing in between, please."
companion, release date: October 19, 1999, is due from the Blue Note/Premonition label, a joint imprint established in May 1999 between Blue Note Records and Premonition Records, the Chicago-based independent that signed Barber in 1994 and released both Cafe Blue and Modern Cool.
Early Biography:
Born in the Chicago suburbs, Patricia Barber came by music naturally; her father, Floyd "Shim" Barber, was a saxophonist who had worked with Glenn Millers orchestra, and she began playing classical piano at the age of 6. But by the time she had graduated high school, Barber determined to avoid the pitfalls awaiting a woman in jazz had decided to bury her roots forever. She enrolled at the University of Iowa with a double major in classical music and psychology, while continuing to indulge the voracious reading habit she had nurtured since childhood.
Eventually, the call of jazz began to grow louder, and by graduation, Barber had abandoned her conviction that "becoming a jazz musician was such a stupid thing for a smart woman to do." In 1984, she landed the gig that put her (and the venue at which she performed) on the national jazz map: five nights a week at Chicagos intimate Gold Star Sardine Bar. Performances at the Chicago Jazz Festival (1988) and the North Sea Jazz Festival (1989-91), along with her 1992 major label debut (A Distortion Of Love) spread the word. Shortly later, she moved her base of operations to the Green Mill, where her "underground sensation" status began to evolve; in 1994, this process crested as caf blue took the music world by storm, gaining rave reviews across the nation and garnering significant airplay on a wide range of FM formats. For the last several years, Barber has concentrated on her own compositions, toured behind her releases, and returned to academics, gaining her masters degree in jazz pedagogy from Northwestern University, where she custom-fitted a course of study that included a great deal of 20th-century culture.
