Patricia Barber

Yesterday Maria and I saw Patricia Barber and Michael Arnopol play at Pianoforte. What a great set! It brought back some excellent memories of seeing them play at the Green Mill. I remember watching Arnopol play years ago, and noticing how he played two notes together on the bass, even doing a glissando on two strings. That was before I started playing acoustic, and it really impressed me and gave me some ideas.

The set was a nice mix of standards and originals. Barber and Arnopol each played a solo piece. The PA was just right for the vocals; the bass was a little too loud at first, then it got better. In this room, he probably didn’t need to amplify the bass at all.

As Maria told me, it’s nice to see how Barber and Arnopol have each developed on their instruments, and how they continue to complement each other so well. We had a couple good laughs too – the reverb on Barber’s mic kicked in and out without warning, which always provoked a humorous reaction from her; and they played a couple songs which were still fresh and unpolished. I do appreciate it when musicians do that. It’s a risk, and there can be problems, but that’s when the real music happens.