Search - Patricia Barber :: Cafe Blue

Welcome Back For The 1st Time

D. Sean Brickell | gorgeous Virginia Beach, VA United States | 04/03/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ms. Barber is the beneficary of the return of Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs to the highest-end music recording. And, oh my, did they ever do a superb job! Audiophiles will rejoice at MFSL's superlative sonics. And while this CD is a curious choice for the comeback, it really does work. Probably the dynamic range of this recording had a lot to do with the selection, and surely Ms. Barber delivers a fine performance.Chances are good you already own this CD. But before you debate shelling out the added do-re-me for the SACD version, please consider: It's like hearing this CD for the first time. Come to think of it, it's like hearing a CD for the first time."

Best Disc on the Planet!

abwc | Colorado, USA | 05/03/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is my A-number-1 favorite disc on the planet. It was one of those that caught my interest on the very first playing, and, today, on my 4,325,642nd playing, it still keeps getting better with every listen. I use this disc exclusively (specifically track 11) to demonstrate a true high-end audio experience to friends and family who still think "bits is bits". Each and every single one of the 20 or so demonstrations I've performed so far have yielded two very specific, unequivocal responses: 1) "Wow, that was unbelievable!" and 2) "Who *WAS* that artist?!"Because of this album, I now have everything she's ever made, and will continue to purchase everything she makes until one of us dies! To me, Cafe Blue is Patricia Barber's best album, bar none, followed closely by "Modern Cool" and "A Distortion of Love"."

It just keeps getting better

D. Sean Brickell | 07/08/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My first experience with Patricia Barber's music was the critically acclaimed "Modern Cool", a disk lauded by music editors as "breakthrough" and "the best Patricia Barber albumn ever". I played it twice and put it away. Perhaps I'm too much of a traditionalist, but I considered it more crossover than "breakthrough". I had all but given up on Patricia Barber's music until I took a chance and bought her newest disk "Companion". What a wonderful live recording! Patricia captured at her best. I was hooked and could hardly get to amazon.com fast enough to buy "Cafe Blue"! The Patricia Barber experience just keeps getting better! This production is very polished, in stark contrast to the club grittiness of "Companion". Patricia's voice is at once refined, supple, seductive and pouty, garnished by her richly textured compositions brilliantly executed by her three piece band. Patricia has artfully woven an ecclectic mix of compositions into a recording that plays with your emotions, then leaves you shaking your head in wonderment at disk end. The soulful opening track "What A Shame" will have you lamenting a love lost before you know it. But Patricia doesn't let you languish long as she moves you quickly into the freneticly paced "Mourning Grace", a piece with lyrics penned by Maya Angelou and featuring Brazillian influenced music from Patricia. This lady is full of surprises, and so is this disc (did I mention the angelic "Romanesque"?). "Cafe Blue" has earned a permanent position in my CD changer, and Patricia a place in my heart."