Patricia Barber Modern Cool on Numbered-Edition 180g 45RPM 3LP from Mobile Fidelity: Audiophile Edition Is Out of Print

Chicago pianist and vocalist Patricia Barber makes ears burn. Her torch song touch speaks volumes to jazz vocal fanatics, but she has an adventuresome side that speaks likewise to fans of woollier jazz. Barber's vocal delivery is swaggering and burnished, always angling against oddball time signatures and often dropping weird lyrical science. From e.e. cummings poems, Barber moves into prescient observations on our society: "For company in the 21st century," she sings, "I go to the club, talk through the show / I'm so hip there's nothing about jazz /That I don't know."

Trumpeter Dave Douglas and guitarist John McLean add a sharp edge, and the Choral Thunder Vocal Choir give Modern Cool soul-drenched dynamics that push the CD into the realm of instant classics. Mastered from the original master tapes, Mobile Fidelity does the rest, turning this meticulously pressed 3LP set into one of the best-sounding vocal albums you will hear.

Musicians:

Patricia Barber - piano, vocal, table knives on strings
Michael Arnopol - bass
John McLean - guitar

Mark Walker - drums, percussion,prepared drum kit
Dave Douglas - trumpet
Jeff Stitely - udu
Choral Thunder Vocal Choir