Cheap Companion (Music) (Patricia Barber) Price

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Customer Reviews of Companion

A Nice Introduction To Patricia Barber
I recently decided to explore new music, especially vocal jazz (after an amazing discovery of the great Diana Krall), and I got this CD based on the reviews posted here. All the ravings about this woman's voice are right on. Maybe words are not enough. What a sultry voice! The Beat Goes On is perfect for the opening track. Her rendition of Black Magic Woman is worth listening over and over and over. My only disappointment? Sometimes I fell there was too much instrumental music and too little of her vocal talent. Give me more! Have to decide which of her other CDs to get...can't wait to get it!

Boring. This is not jazz. Buy the real stuff.
Many times I was thinking about buying a record by Patricia Barber. I read reviews, listened to samples and always decided there are more pressing records to be bought. Finally I borrowed this one from my friend. I liked the opening track a lot, then I liked the second one because it was similar to the first, then came the third song which was similar to the first two but I did not like it any more. The third track and several others on this CD are Patricia Barber's originals and let me put it straight: she is a very poor composer, with no feeling for the music. It looks like all her effort goes into lyrics. Her singing reflects this too: practically she does not sing - she merely recites words. For that matter her voice is very weak, when she tries to sing on a higher note it simply disappears, so she usually avoids singing on a higher note altogether. This makes her singing really monotonous and after a couple of tracks unbearably boring. The quality of the recording is good indeed, but this impression is largely related to strong reproduction of bass line, unusual in live recordings. Actually strong pulsating bass is what makes this record seem attractive at first listening but its effect quickly fades - how long can you listen to the same simple dominating bass beat which is practically the same in all songs? If you are looking for an audiophile test CD which not only has superb sound quality but first class jazz music into the bargain I strongly recommend "Straight Up With a Twist" by Kitty Margolis. You will understand what is the difference between real jazz and this stuff here. Kitty Margolis does not have to put word "jazz" into her lyrics to persuade listeners she is singing jazz. One of the other reviewers wrote: "Her interpretations of music by other artists transform the original work and become something special". Indeed her interpretations are pleasing enough, but mainly because it is not so easy to spoil good music. If you like to hear good interpretations of music by other artists check the music of Holly Cole. She has a better voice than Patricia Barber, and more musicality. And also, she is modest enough to realize that her own compositions would not make a match with the covers she is recreating so she avoids thrusting her compositions on listeners altogether. This makes for much better and even CDs that Holly Cole makes. And she is notorious for producing audiophile quality CDs (please note that some of Holly Cole's CDs are best bought via Amazon Canada). Finally another rewievers wrote: "Chicago has the only female vocalist who spanns the broad sholders of jazz" meaning it is Patricia Barber of course. He/She must have surely forgotten Grazyna Auguscik who is also a Chicago resident and frequently performs in the same club where "Companion" was recorded. In my opinion Grazyna Auguscik is one of the best jazz singers active in the USA, not just Chicago. If you live in Chicago, do yourself a favor and go to her concert. Or try her CD "RIVER". Actually John McLean is playing guitar on that record too. When you hear Grazyna Auguscik vocalisations you will know why I call Patricia Barbers singing "lyrics recitation".