Jazz pianist-vocalist Patricia Barber’s seven albums, beginning with the self-produced Split in 1989, have displayed a knack for sophisticated lyrics and musicianship, leading Time Magazine to describe her as a cross between Diana Krall and Susan Sontag. Her most recent recording, Live: A Fortnight in France, includes original music as well as covers ranging from standards like “Laura” to a reinterpretation of the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood.”
In 2003, Barber was awarded the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in composition, for which she is writing a song cycle based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The first song in this cycle, “White World,” tackles the subject of anthropological colonialism and imperialism – subjects not normally referenced by jazz singers.
But 49-year-old Barber isn’t your typical jazz musician.
Having been openly gay since she started out many years ago, she admits she has never encountered much discrimination. She currently makes her home in Chicago with her partner of seven years, University of Chicago music historian Martha Feldman. She recently caught up with AfterEllen.com to chat about her work, her politics, and the state of jazz today.
AfterEllen.com: What made you decide to write a song cycle based on The Metamorphoses?
Patricia Barber: I saw Mary Zimmerman’s theatrical adaptation of it – she did a theatrical adaptation of The Metamorphoses at a theater in Chicago and then on Broadway, and I was inspired to read it…After I got home and read it, I loved it so much I thought the characters were perfect for songs – possibly because they were so brilliantly conceived but basically skeletally drawn, so that it would leave the artist a lot of leeway to, you know, have your way with these characters, so to speak.
AE: Is the song “White World” part of that?
PB: Yes, “White World” is the first; “White World” is the Oedipus.
AE: It’s quite unusual for someone to write a song about anthropology and colonialism. What made you decide to go that route?
PB: [Laughs] You know, I can’t explain what originally…I mean, I’ve always had a bugaboo about anthropology and ethnomusicology. It just seemed to be a form of imperialism, the cataloguing and chronicling of what they used to call “the dark continents.” To me it’s just an extension of what used to be the English or the upper class need for exotica, to travel; and then they kind of institutionalized it in some way into the university format. And they didn’t do anybody any favors by dropping off their viruses and changing their lifestyle and sleeping with the natives. You know, I kind of go along with the Star Trek prime directive: you shouldn’t change the course of civilization.
AE: I’ve read that you’ve gotten some backlash on that one. What’s that been about?
PB: Well, it became very political because of the war in Iraq. Certainly people noticed it; I’ve gotta say it’s by far the most noticed song I’ve done recently.
AE: Who’s noticing?
PB: Everybody. Clear Channel (laughing), the white people…
AE: How do you approach songwriting? Do you think of it as an autobiographical process or more of a storytelling one?
PB: It was at one point autobiographical but eventually you run out of stories – you know, you have to become a fiction writer. Otherwise, it’s not possible; you’d be dead trying to get enough material to write, so it’s more about the storytelling now. Certainly some of it’s based on personal experience, but then, that’s much like an actor or a fiction writer.
AE: When you’re writing songs do you start with lyrics or music?
PB: It’s different for every song; there’s no formula. If there were a formula I would write a book about the formula. Sometimes it can be a melodic idea that starts you off, it can be a lyric idea, it can be a rhythmic hook, it’s all very different.
AE: Tell me about your beginnings as a musician. How did you start out?
PB: Well, I started out playing the piano at home with my father; he taught me, he was a jazz musician. So I started out with jazz and pop and then, junior year in high school I decided that if I was going to get into a university I had to start being serious, so I started taking from a college professor – classical music – toward that end.
AE: Has that influenced the way you approach jazz?
PB: It certainly gives you a technique – a technical facility and a harmonic knowledge.
AE: Who were some of your early inspirations when you were just starting out?
PB: Chick Corea; Return to Forever was one of my favorite groups, was one of the groups that made me realize I wanted to spend my life in this music. Certainly Miles Davis is huge – continues to be maybe the biggest influence overall. And then Bill Evans in a big way.
AE: What do you think about the state of jazz today?
PB: I think it’s going through kind of a narrow passageway right now. It will emerge but it’s trying to find its way.
AE: What do you mean by “narrow passageway”?
PB: In my mind, if I were a DJ, a jazz DJ, I would be having trouble finding the material that would speak to our time, and also is interesting and nice to listen to. So I think the combination of forces – economic forces, the digital downloading, the record companies all jumping onto a pop bandwagon – I think have made it a little bit difficult for jazz, but I do think it will emerge. But it certainly needs individual artists to be cutting a swath.
AE: So who are you listening to these days?
PB: That’s a tough one. Let’s see, Dave Holland, Chris Potter’s group, Dave Douglas, I love. Leny Andrade is fabulous; she’s probably the best singer left on the planet and nobody in the United States knows about her – she’s in Brazil.
AE: You’re one of the few out jazz musicians right now; do you think that being out has had any impact on your acceptance in the jazz music scene?
PB: I don’t think it has to this point. Now with this anti-gay backlash going on in the culture I wonder if it will at some point have an effect on me, but I have never felt up to this point – which is pretty astounding – I have never felt that I have been discriminated against in any way. I think because jazz is marginalized anyway, that it makes it easier for people not to, I guess, get angry at me for taking up a legitimate position; I’m illegitimate anyway.
What has been your philosophy on being openly gay; have you ever really given it a thought or have you always been open about it?
PB: Yeah, there was a time when I had to decide I was going to step out, and I did, but that was many many years ago. Times were a little bit different. I was never one of those people who suffered. My mother, I guess, taught me from the minute I was born that I was where the party was, and I didn’t cry, I didn’t suffer, I didn’t feel discriminated against. I just felt like the whole thing was fun. It was fabulous, in fact (laughing). So then that’s part of my being out. Every now and then I see people’s faces, and I treat my relationship with my partner Martha as everybody else at the table treats their relationship with their wife or husband. I mention it, just normally. I don’t emphasize it, I just say, you know, Martha never sets the alarm clock or something, and that seems to work. Sometimes, with very conservative people, it takes them a couple of seconds and then they’re fine with it.
Do you have a preference for performing covers versus your own original material?
PB: I like to do both. I’m able to do all of it, I really mix it up and that makes everything interesting.
AE: Do you have a favorite song out of your own material?
PB: No, I don’t. I have a favorite song of this song cycle I just wrote, but not in general.
AE: What’s the favorite song out of this song cycle?
PB: Morpheus. It’s a song I wrote about sleep – you know, Morpheus, and sleep is an issue for me. I studied Schubert; I studied harmonic movement before I wrote it, and I just like the way it turned out.
AE: What’s next for you in terms of recording and touring?
PB: Right now I’m arranging, and I’m still finishing up the song cycle; I actually have another song to write. Right now what I’m doing is arranging, figuring out how to get the material from my head onto the band stand. Some of it’s done and a lot of it needs to be done.
AE: Will you be releasing all of the song cycle on one album?
PB: Yeah, it’s gonna take me a while to get this together, and it will all come out on one recording.
