| Chicago jazz has been the focus of alot of
national attention these days. From MacArthur winning Ken Vandermark to Rob
Mazurek's Chicago Underground crew to The Mighty Blue Kings, it seems like there is no
shortage of entertainment for Chicago jazz lovers. Along with Kurt Elling, one of the
vocalists bringing some of the well deserved spotlight to our town is Patricia Barber.
With Nightclub, her sixth album, Barber offers up a set of standard, and
not-so-standard, tunes as a tribute to those who've stayed up late with her at her two
Chicago homes, The Gold Star Sardine Bar and The Green Mill.
On this collection Barber finds a knack for
making some "oh no-not again" standards sound fresh. It's her personal
conception of these well worn tunes that makes Nightclub such an intriguing
recording. This isn't just a set of thrown together selections that the vocalist/pianist
and her cohorts could sleepwalk through. These are tunes that she and her longtime
associates have lived with and taken the time to get inside of and they've found their own
personal attachments to the material. Which is not to say that Barber's
self-consciously trying to reinvent the wheel on each of these tracks. Even on fairly
straightforward renditions of "All or Nothing at All" or "Summer
Samba", it's the way she interprets the familiar melodies in her breathy voice or the
interplay of her stellar accompanists that reach out and grab you. Barber's delicate
rendition of "You Don't Know Me", a song mostly associated with Ray Charles, was
an inspired choice of material and constitutes one of the album's highlights.
Each of these selections are in a trio format,
mostly featuring Barber's piano, but occasionally, as on Burt Bacharach's
"Alfie", accompanied by Charlie Hunter's superhuman 8 string guitar. Which
leads to the other delightful revelation about Patricia Barber - her wonderful piano
playing. When Barber puts the mic aside and steps into the role of soloist, she proves
herself capable of spinning out intricate, thematic, thoughtful improvisations. Check out
the swirling ball of energy of her solo on "Yesterdays" or the truly nasty
improvisation on the opener "Bye Bye Blackbird".
On Nightclub Patricia Barber proves
that she deserves all of the attention that has been lavished upon her. Her thoughtful
renditions of well worn standards, excellent instrumental prowess and superb band make
this recording definitely worth checking out.
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