Patricia Barber

Patricia Barber is an American composer, jazz pianist, singer, and lyricist widely regarded for redefining the role of singer-songwriter for the 21st Century (cf. Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times, and Margo Jefferson, The New York Times). Her albums Modern Cool (1998) and Nightclub (2000) broke typical jazz ceilings with high sales , reaching new audiences. A Guggenheim winner, she has been reworking the American songbook and jazz standard in the direction of art song via highly sophisticated harmonic progressions, metrical structures, and lyric forms, leading to song cycles of"Mythologies" (2006) and "Angels, Birds, and I." Collaborators include such artists as Renee Fleming, who performs a Barber set on tour, Stefon Harris, and Kenny Werner.