Patricia Barber | |
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Background information | |
Born | (1955-11-08) November 8, 1955 (age 69) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Genres | Jazz |
Occupation(s) | Songwriter, jazz singer, pianist, composer |
Instrument(s) | Voice, piano |
Years active | 1989-present |
Labels | ArtistShare, Blue Note, Premonition, Concord, Impex, Floyd, Antilles |
Website | Official site |
Patricia Barber (born November 8, 1955) is an American songwriter, composer, singer, and pianist.
Biography
Barber's father Floyd was a jazz saxophonist who played with Bud Freeman and Glenn Miller. She played saxophone and piano from a young age, sang in musicals in high school, and studied piano at the University of Iowa in the early 1970s. From there Barber went to Chicago and began performing regularly in bars and clubs. She won a Guggenheim Fellowship in music composition in March 2003, an unusual accomplishment for someone working in the field of popular songwriting. The Guggenheim allowed her to devote time to a song cycle based on Ovid's Metamorphoses. She is married to musicologist Martha Feldman.
Awards and honors
- She was given a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2003 in the field of Creative Arts – Music Composition.
- She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019.
Discography
An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.
Year recorded | Title | Label | Personnel/Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1989* | Split | Floyd | Trio, with Michael Arnopol (bass), Mark Walker (drums) |
1991 | A Distortion of Love | Antilles | With Wolfgang Muthspiel (guitar), Marc Johnson (bass), Adam Nussbaum (drums, percussion, finger snaps), Carla White and Big Kahuna (finger snaps) |
1994 | Café Blue | Premonition | With John McLean (guitar), Michael Arnopol (bass), Mark Walker (drums, percussion) |
1998 | Modern Cool | Premonition | With John McLean (guitar), Michael Arnopol (bass), Mark Walker (drums, percussion), Dave Douglas (trumpet), Jeff Stitely (udu), Choral Thunder Vocal Choir |
1999 | Companion | Premonition | With John McLean (guitar), Michael Arnopol (bass), Eric Montzka (drums, percussion), Ruben P. Alvarez (percussion); Jason Narducy (vocals) added on one track |
2000* | Nightclub | Premonition/Blue Note | With Marc Johnson and Michael Arnopol (bass; separately), Adam Nussbaum and Adam Cruz (drums; separately), Charlie Hunter (guitar) |
2002* | Verse | Premonition/Blue Note | Most tracks quartet, with Dave Douglas (trumpet), Neal Alger (guitar), Michael Arnopol (bass), Joey Baron (drums); one track quartet with Eric Montzka (drums) replacing Baron; one track with Cliff Colnot String Ensemble added |
2004* | Live: A Fortnight in France | Blue Note | Quartet, with Neal Alger (guitar), Michael Arnapol (bass), Eric Montzka (drums) |
2006* | Mythologies | Blue Note | Most tracks quartet, with Neal Alger (guitar), Michael Arnapol (bass), Eric Montzka (drums); some tracks with Jim Gailloreto (sax) added; some tracks with various vocalists added |
2008* | The Cole Porter Mix | Blue Note | Most tracks quartet, with Neal Alger (guitar), Michael Arnopol (bass), Eric Montzka (drums, percussion); some tracks quintet, with Chris Potter (tenor sax) added; some tracks quartet with Alger (guitar), Arnopol (bass), Nate Smith (drums, percussion) |
2010 | Live in Concert | Floyd | Duo, with Kenny Werner (piano); in concert |
2013* | Smash | Concord Jazz | |
2019 | Higher | ArtistShare | Recording of song cycle "Angels, Birds and I…" |
2021 | Clique | Impex Records | A product of the same recording sessions as her 2019 album Higher. |
Source:
References
- ^ Yanow, Scott (2008). The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide. Backbeat. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-87930-825-4. LCCN 2008039171. OCLC 767843314. OL 8128605M.
- "Barber Awarded Guggenheim Fellowship". Downbeat. Maher Publications. April 28, 2003. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
- Velez, Andrew (November 7, 2000). "Totally Jazzed". The Advocate: 81–82.
- "Barber Awarded Fellowship by Guggenheim Foundation in 2003". gf.org. Archived from the original on May 30, 2011. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
- "2019 Fellows and International Honorary Members with their affiliations at the time of election". members.amacad.org. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- "Patricia Barber | Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
- "Patricia Barber | The Higher Project". ArtistShare. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
External links
- Official website
- Patricia Barber collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
- Review of Mythologies by JazzChicago.net
- 1955 births
- Living people
- Post-bop singers
- Post-bop pianists
- American cabaret singers
- American blues singer-songwriters
- American jazz singers
- American jazz songwriters
- American jazz pianists
- Lesbian singers
- LGBTQ people from Illinois
- LGBTQ people from Nebraska
- American lesbian musicians
- American LGBTQ singers
- American LGBTQ songwriters
- Lesbian songwriters
- American women jazz singers
- People from South Sioux City, Nebraska
- Blue Note Records artists
- 20th-century American pianists
- 20th-century American women pianists
- Jazz musicians from Nebraska
- 21st-century American pianists
- 21st-century American women pianists
- 20th-century American LGBTQ people
- 21st-century American LGBTQ people
- Singer-songwriters from Nebraska
- Antilles Records artists
- Concord Records artists
- American women jazz pianists
- American lesbian writers