At this point in history, it's nearly impossible for a female singer to perform meticulously arranged, jazz-informed songs in French without drawing at least a cursory comparison to Edith Piaf, but Jill Barber will generate such comparisons not because it's easy but because her fantastic presence and performances on Chansons are only matched on this sound and style by Piaf; performances like this have simply not been heard since Piaf's passing in 1963. Chansons is a brave release for Barber, without question, but the reward far exceeds the gamble (every time an artist records an album in a language other than her mother tongue, the potential for disaster is astronomical and omnipresent); this is just a landmark release which definitely marks a particular time in the singer's career.
Listeners will know they're getting something quite unlike anything they could possibly have expected from the moment the first notes of an acoustic guitar rustle in “Petite Fleur” and echo Django Reinhardt before swinging into a tight and light-hearted bluesy jazz progression. Right away, images of France – the food, the music and the sights with come flooding forth as brightly as they would in a movie, and listeners will be hooked by the thought of excitement in strange climes and locales. All of the players on this track – pianist Richard Brightman, guitarist Nathan Hultz, bassist Joe Phillips, drummer Adam Warner, multi-instrumentalist Drew Jurecka and trumpet player Bryden Baird – throw themselves into the role of being vibrant and exotic players and, when Barber swoops in to crown the mix, listeners will have to actively resist the urge to sit slack-jawed at the effect. This set of players with Barber up front plays like a dream – and everyone who hears it will know it.
After the band gets itself set in that opening track, there is never a moment when the image they set that first time falters. Tracks including “Melancholie,” “En Septembre Sous La Pluie,” “Je Cherche Un Homme” and “Plus Bleu Que Tes Yeux” all play through beautifully as Barber's band attempts to make the tasteful French vibes they create seem almost tangible for listeners while the singer weaves what many anglophone listeners would simply call ballads of beautiful words. Those who speak French know that each song more closely resembles poetry than the conventional pop song fare does though; the language of “ Plus Bleu Que Tes Yeux” [which actually is an Edith Piaf cover –ed] and the way it marvels at the color of a beloved's eyes in one breath while rendering them comparable to troubled seas the next is hypnotic and beautiful to listen to all at the same time. In Barber's hands, it's the sort of sound one could spend a week in, easily, and still not find the limit of.
In the end, as “Adieu Foulards” twinkles its way out like the last star before dawn, listeners will know they've lived this experience to its fullest, but they'll still replay it in the name of seeing the same sights again. Chansons is not the typical sort of listen for anyone really, and certainly not a typical release for Jill Barber either – but that's what makes it so great; here, the singer steps outside of herself and delivers a wonderful, unexpected and (seemingly) stolen moment. It may never happen again, but this once is enough because listeners will be able to replay it whenever they choose. And they'll want to replay it; the thing about beautiful articles is that those who experience them seldom wait long before wanting to enjoying them again.
Artist:
www.jillbarber.com/
www.myspace.com/jillbarbermusic
www.facebook.com/jillbarbermusic
www.twitter.com/jillbarber
Album:
Chansons will be released on January 29, 2013 by Outside Music. Pre-order it here on Amazon .
