| Patricia Barber | |
| Background: | solo_singer |
| Birth Date: | November 8, 1955 |
| Birth Place: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Occupation: | Songwriter, jazz singer, pianist, composer |
| Instrument: | Voice, piano |
| Years Active: | 1989-present |
| Label: | ArtistShare, Blue Note, Premonition, Concord, Impex, Floyd, Antilles |
Patricia Barber (born November 8, 1955) is an American songwriter, composer, singer, and pianist.
Barber's father Floyd was a jazz saxophonist who played with Bud Freeman and Glenn Miller.[1] 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.[2] The Guggenheim allowed her to devote time to a song cycle based on Ovid's Metamorphoses. She is married to musicologist Martha Feldman.[3]
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. |