Patricia Barber - Live: A Fortnight in France (2004)

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.

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