SFJazz
A while back I bought tickets for two of this season's San Francisco Jazz Fest's concerts: The opening show performed by rising-star Madeleine Peyroux at the Masonic Center (Sept 16), and what turned out to be an absolutely sensational show starring Mose Allison and Patricia Barber at the Herbst Theatre (Oct 27).
What I had anticipated went the opposite way. The opening show of the season was a bit of a disappointment. Madeleine Peyroux's latest album Careless Love was a runaway hit, but her concert performance did not match half its quality. She did not have a very good control of her voice, especially its volume. She did it better with the more upbeat rhythms, but the problem was quite obvious with the mellow ones. When it got to the chorus or the parts where the tone was to be emphasized, her voice stressing the note would literally jump out at you. At one point she shocked some of the audience, and a guy in front of me jumped. One of my favorite songs of hers was Between the Bars, and she had pretty much ruined it. But hey, she is only 22 (that makes her younger than me...), and in the past she has been a street musician. So perhaps lack of experience on stage with a mic? What Madeleine has though, sure enough, was a unique voice. I wouldn't say that it was one of those really beautiful, angelic and soft voices, nor I could qualify it as a deep, sophisticated and calm alto. She was often compared to the late Billie Holiday; "husky and elegant" was how Billboard described her.
Originally, I got tickets to attend the second show with my ex. Patricia Barber has been one of her favorite jazz vocalist/musician for years, and she was excited to see her. But things did not go quite as planned, and in the end I went with another friend. I have listened to some of Patricia's albums before. I even own a copy myself. But her music had never left a strong impression with me. I did not reject her, but I was not necessarily in love with her either. Hence, I was not all too eager to go to the show, it was more of a why-not.
Turns out that I am really glad I did not miss it. My friend and I got to the theatre a bit late after stopping at a Mediterranean joint for a quick bite. As soon as we arrived at the balcony, I was astonished by the sound of Patricia's beautiful singing. Her voice was darkly harmonic and amazingly smooth. Hearing her live was so different from listening to her on CD, it was much more powerful and intriguing. Once we got into our seats, my eyes remained on her through most of the performance. She was sitting in front of the piano, wearing a loose black suit with bare feet tapping to the beats. She was an awesome pianist, and while she was on it, she made full use of the body language. Her strange gestures displayed a great passion for the music, leading to a fascinating on-stage personality. The arrangement of the numbers worked great. A slow, quiet track would be followed by a faster-paced, energetic one and vice versa, so that the show had a good balance. The rest of her band did a wonderful job as well. Especially the drummer Eric Montzka. His drum set must have consisted of 20 pieces or above, and he had such a great control with each piece. Other band members include Neal Alger on guitars (acoustic and electric) and Michael Arnopol on bass and cello.
Mose Allison was a comedian-type musician. His numbers were short, and they all sounded alike. But they were packed with fun lyrics, and the audience had a great time. At that point I was too tired to concentrate. It was a little hard for me to catch the jokes in his songs, and I started to doze off. But overall he had a good show.
This is what Patricia Barber has: adventurous piano playing, a low-vibrato alto on perpetual rhythm and timbre alert and smart songs about the way we think and live, not just the way we love... This is the kind of art we need to be on the lookout for everywhere. The 21st century has started. We can’t afford to be left behind. - New York Times
Indeed.
Patricia
Patricia Barber and her band
Eric Montzka
What I had anticipated went the opposite way. The opening show of the season was a bit of a disappointment. Madeleine Peyroux's latest album Careless Love was a runaway hit, but her concert performance did not match half its quality. She did not have a very good control of her voice, especially its volume. She did it better with the more upbeat rhythms, but the problem was quite obvious with the mellow ones. When it got to the chorus or the parts where the tone was to be emphasized, her voice stressing the note would literally jump out at you. At one point she shocked some of the audience, and a guy in front of me jumped. One of my favorite songs of hers was Between the Bars, and she had pretty much ruined it. But hey, she is only 22 (that makes her younger than me...), and in the past she has been a street musician. So perhaps lack of experience on stage with a mic? What Madeleine has though, sure enough, was a unique voice. I wouldn't say that it was one of those really beautiful, angelic and soft voices, nor I could qualify it as a deep, sophisticated and calm alto. She was often compared to the late Billie Holiday; "husky and elegant" was how Billboard described her.
Originally, I got tickets to attend the second show with my ex. Patricia Barber has been one of her favorite jazz vocalist/musician for years, and she was excited to see her. But things did not go quite as planned, and in the end I went with another friend. I have listened to some of Patricia's albums before. I even own a copy myself. But her music had never left a strong impression with me. I did not reject her, but I was not necessarily in love with her either. Hence, I was not all too eager to go to the show, it was more of a why-not.
Turns out that I am really glad I did not miss it. My friend and I got to the theatre a bit late after stopping at a Mediterranean joint for a quick bite. As soon as we arrived at the balcony, I was astonished by the sound of Patricia's beautiful singing. Her voice was darkly harmonic and amazingly smooth. Hearing her live was so different from listening to her on CD, it was much more powerful and intriguing. Once we got into our seats, my eyes remained on her through most of the performance. She was sitting in front of the piano, wearing a loose black suit with bare feet tapping to the beats. She was an awesome pianist, and while she was on it, she made full use of the body language. Her strange gestures displayed a great passion for the music, leading to a fascinating on-stage personality. The arrangement of the numbers worked great. A slow, quiet track would be followed by a faster-paced, energetic one and vice versa, so that the show had a good balance. The rest of her band did a wonderful job as well. Especially the drummer Eric Montzka. His drum set must have consisted of 20 pieces or above, and he had such a great control with each piece. Other band members include Neal Alger on guitars (acoustic and electric) and Michael Arnopol on bass and cello.
Mose Allison was a comedian-type musician. His numbers were short, and they all sounded alike. But they were packed with fun lyrics, and the audience had a great time. At that point I was too tired to concentrate. It was a little hard for me to catch the jokes in his songs, and I started to doze off. But overall he had a good show.
This is what Patricia Barber has: adventurous piano playing, a low-vibrato alto on perpetual rhythm and timbre alert and smart songs about the way we think and live, not just the way we love... This is the kind of art we need to be on the lookout for everywhere. The 21st century has started. We can’t afford to be left behind. - New York Times
Indeed.
Patricia
Patricia Barber and her band
Eric Montzka
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