Jill Barber Band - Mischievous Moon (2013) [Hi-Res]

As a performer, Jill Barber charms her audiences while weaving a romantic spell. Indeed, romance plays a huge role in both her life and her art. “My previous album represented the courtship phase of my career”, she muses. “With Mischievous Moon, we’re getting intimate. The romance is alive and well, but there’s something deeper to be uncovered. The moon has such a venerable presence in the night sky, keeping one eye on us. I don’t know about everyone else, but sometimes it feels like we have our own private jokes, the moon and I. From time to time I can’t help but look up and give it a little wink.

Now, with Mischievous Moon, Barber reteams with producer Les Cooper to ratchet up the atavistic gooiness several degrees, her Minnie Mouse-meets-Brenda Lee voice immersed in soggy, string-drenched arrangements. This time, the artifice ventures beyond Chances’ Jazz Age-esque confines, extending to the faux-’60s fizz of “Took Me by Surprise,” the mock Parisian bal-musette of “If It Weren’t for Loving You” and the quirky Old West showdown “Tell Me.” Still, there are several fine songs buried among all the excess, particularly Barber and Cooper’s cunning “Steal Away,” their furtive “Dis Moi” and, best of all, their teaming with Ron Sexsmith on the bright and breezy “Any Fool Can Fall in Love.”

'Four years ago, Canadian folksinger Jill Barber reinvented herself as a smoky chanteuse with the lush Chances. Thanks largely to its catchy “Oh My My,” the album ignited a rapturous outpouring of praise across her native land, and she was heralded as the second coming of Edith Piaf or even Ella Fitzgerald. Not so fast. While the album demonstrated laudable pluck and confirmed Barber’s status as a solid songwriter, her retro-fashioned bleating seemed more a parlor trick, an elaborate game of dress-up, than a sustainably valid style.' (Christopher Loudon, JazzTimes)

Jill Barber, vocals
Les Copper, guitar
Victor Bateman, bass
Robbie Grunwald, piana, accordion
Joel Stouffer, drums, bongos
The Good Lovelies, vocals
The Sojourners, vocals
Ron Sexsmith, vocals
Emma-Lee, vocals (Harmonies)
Drew Jurecka, saxophone
Michael Davidson, vibraphone
Bryden Baird, flugelhorn
Joseph Shabason, flute
Chris Whitley, trumpet
Willian Carn, trombone
Spencer Evans, clarinet
Rosendo (Chendy) León, percussion
Sheldon Valleau, ukelele
Drew Jurecka, violin (Concertmaster)
Bethany Bergman, violin
Aisslinn Nosky, violin
Kathleen Kajioka, violin
Nancy Kershaw, violin
Erika Raum, violin
Karen Graves, violin
Chris Church, violin
Johann Lotter, viola
Yosef Tamir, viola
Jullian Knight, viola
Karen Moffatt, viola
Orley Bitov, cello
Lydia Munchinsky, cello
John Marshman, cello
Kevin Fox, cello
Rachel Pomedii, cello
Alex Grant, cello

Recorded at Canterbury Music Company, Toronto, ON.
The Mischievous Moon Chamber Players recorded at Glenn Gould Studio, Toronto, ON.
Engineered by Darryl Neudorf, Dennis Patterson and Adam King.
Mastered by Doug Sax and Robert Hadley at The Mastering Lab, Ojai, CA.
Produced by Les Cooper