[jackman]

Hi Everyone,

Don't know if any of you have seen Patricia Barber lately, but she's got a revamped band and they are sounding awesome.  My friend (and fellow Chicagoan) John Kregor is her new guitarist (not techically new, he's been in her band for a while) and they are touring EU through September.  They are playing in London tonight at a place called Ronnie Scott's, and working their way through Italy, Poland and Turkey before returning to the States for a regular October 1st gig at the Green Mill, where they play every week.  Patricia is wonderful live and John is one of the best young Jazz guitarists I have seen/heard.  I look forward to their return to the Green Mill. 

Tonight's show in London is interesting because, from what I understand, Ronnie Scott's is the last place Jimi Hendrix played before he died.  Also, John Kregor was born on the same date as Jimi's death (although a few years later), September 18th. 

Patricia is playing several dates in NYC in January*, with the her quartet, and taking the show to the West coast in February.  If you are a fan of Jazz and want to see a great performance, I highly recommend seeing Patricia when she is in town.  She is the star of the show (and rightfully so!) but her band is composed of top-shelf talent.  You will not be disappointed. 
 
* New CD "Smash" will be released in January and the NY shows will support the new release. 

Cheers,

Jack

[martyo]

Thanks. I really liked Neal Alger, I will check out John on Smash when it is released

[buddy]

Saw her live at the Palmer House Hilton many years ago, during the stereophile audio show in chicago. Really enjoyed her show.

[BobM]

There are some high quality downloads available on her site too:

http://www.patriciabarber.com/discs/index.html

I haven't bought, burned and listened to them yet, but I plan to.

[jackman]

Thanks for the downloads, I didn't notice them. 

Martyo - I'm a fan of Neal as well. He's an excellent guitarist and played with PB for a long time.  It took me a while to warm up to Patricia Barber. She is a pure, uncompromising Jazz artist.  Her music is not sugar coated like Diana Krall (another awesome artist) but she is so true to her art and her live shows are brilliant.  Looking forward to the Oct return to the Green Mill.

[satfrat]

I've got Patricia Barber's 2009 Monday Night and loved the album. But I just got done sampling the 2011 Monday night II and I really didn't care for it. It'll be the 1st album I won't have in my library. IMO, it lacked her signature depth & jazz riffs that I've grown accustom to. I will give it a few more sample runs for sure just to see if it'll grow on me but for a 1st impression, I wasn't very impressed with her new band sound. For me, that's a 1st as I'm a big Barber fan. YMMI.

Cheers,
Robin

[jackman]

Hi Robin,
I also like Monday Night and have not heard Monday Night 2.  Alger plays guitar on MN 2.  John Kregor plays guitar on the upcoming album and on the current tour.   Hopefully, you guys will have a chance to see John play solo sometime. He is an amazing talent and a really good guy.  I'm looking forward to seeing him play with Barber's quartet next month. 

Cheers

Jack

[satfrat]

Hi Robin,
I also like Monday Night and have not heard Monday Night 2.  Alger plays guitar on MN 2.  John Kregor plays guitar on the upcoming album and on the current tour.   Hopefully, you guys will have a chance to see John play solo sometime. He is an amazing talent and a really good guy.  I'm looking forward to seeing him play with Barber's quartet next month. 

Cheers

Jack

Well give it a sample listen using BobM's link and see what you think. 

[django11]

I love some of Barber's stuff.  I saw her live in Montreal 2 years ago .  I dare say it was not a great show.  There were almost no vocals.  Barber as a quirky voice but one I enjoy...  That seems live a nice venue in Chicago.

Fwiw, Diana Kraal leaves me cold...

[BobM]

After listening to samples of Vol 1 and Vol 2 I can say that Vol 1 seems to be older tunes that fans are familiar with to some degree already. Vol 2 sounds like new stuff. But still, these concerts are a couple of years ago, so no telling what she is going to be playing on her current tour.

She's coming to NYC in late Jan 2013 and I hope to get tickets. I would bet she plays the new stuff, so I will probably opt for Vol 2 myself and get more familiar with it.

[mjosef]

I love some of Barber's stuff.  I saw her live in Montreal 2 years ago .  I dare say it was not a great show.  There were almost no vocals.  Barber as a quirky voice but one I enjoy...  That seems live a nice venue in Chicago.

Fwiw, Diana Kraal leaves me cold...

I caught PB live here in NYC at the Jazz Standard earlier this year, and frankly it was a little letdown...she seemed disconnected from the songs she sang...but I love her recordings, so maybe she had a bad nite or whatnot...
I will continue to enjoy her via my stereo. 

As for DK, I caught her live at NJPAC several years ago, and it was an enjoyable concert...unfortunately she was opening for Cassandra Wilson, and the contrast was stark...Cassandra was/is just head and shoulders above and beyond her and her.

[jackman]

I'll post comments regarding PB's performance at the Green Mill in October.  I'm a fan of much of her music and look forward to sharing comments with the group.  People who know me, on this site, know that I don't hesitate to post my actual impressions, positive and negative.

For the record, I'm a huge Cassandra Wilson fan and believe I have every one of her CD's. She is a brilliant performer and I lover her arrangements, voice, piano, everything. Her music is more accessible than Patricia Barber's but I feel Patricia pushes the envelope more from a Jazz perspective.  When it works, it's great, when it doesn't, it's not so great. 

Looking forward to the new album and to checking out the downloads on the website.