Patricia Barber - Split

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.] ~ Matt Collar