Patricia Barber: Complete; Not Complacent

R.J. DeLuke

Interviewer since 1999

R.J. DeLuke is an indefatigable jazz fan and arbiter elegantiarum who aspires to ultimate hipness; also an upstate NY freelance writer for various media.

Recent articles (265 total)

Published: March 1, 2004

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"I might do a live record. There are a lot of projects I'd like to do. I'd like to actually do more piano in recording. So there are things I would like to do in the meantime," she said, if Blue Note isn't patient enough to wait for more original compositions to spring from Barber's mind, to pen, to paper. "Even if they're not patient, I can't really speed up the writing process. There's nothing I can do really."

While things are going well, Barber is enough of a realist to know that fortune can be unpredictable and fickle. Nonetheless, she's prepared.

At times, "You have to put your head down and just pay attention to the music," she says. "They don't always like you, there's no doubt. It's not always easy. But if you really love what you're doing, what can they possibly do to you?

What of criticism? "I've had my share. I remember a period thinking, 'I wonder how Diana Krall could survive those reviews?' They were so mean and so cutting. She's a friend of mine and if you've ever seen her play in concert, you know she can play and sing. I guess they had built her up and she was no longer an underdog. She's wildly successful. You [critics] put them up there and you drag them down. I don't know how she survived it, but she did. The music business is tough. There's no getting around that."

Visit Patricia Barber on the web at www.patriciabarber.com .

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