by Matt Collar
Pianist/vocalist Patricia Barber's recording debut, Split, is a fairly straight-ahead affair featuring the idiosyncratic stylist on various standards and originals. Showcasing her unique approach to jazz, the album finds Barber mixing pointed and minimalist lines à la Chet Baker with a dramatic cabaret vocal style and complex harmonic post-bop passages -- a template that longtime fans will recognize. To these ends, Barber opens with a brisk Latin version of &Early Autumn,& takes a dusky vocal turn on &Easy to Love,& and shows her cerebral side on such originals as &Winter Illusion.& Joining Barber here are bassist Michael Arnopol and drummer Mark Walker. [Originally released on Floyd Records in 1989, Koch reissued the disc in 2004.]