Canadian chanteuse Jill Barber was born in the wrong era. She should have been on stage in the late Fifties or early Sixties, when torch singers were huge. Her sixth album Fool's Gold with its orchestrated strings, prominent back beat and old school keyboards is the kind of album that Don Draper would spin after a bad day at the office. Barber's slightly nasal voice is a blend of Dusty Stringfield and Marianne Faithfull, two grand dames who can put down a man with a sleight of hand or a snappy lyric.
Fool's Gold bridges the gap between mainstream jazz and poppy folk. Throw in a bit of Motown brass and backing vocals and the end result is definitely retro, but delivered with style and panache.
Fool's Gold is available in North America thru her webshop. It will be released in Europe on March 10 thru V2/Bertus. Tracks:- Broken For Good
- The Least That She Deserves
- Let's Call It Love
- The Careless One
- If Only In My Mind
- To The Last
- Lucky In Love
- Darlin' It Was You
- Only You
- If You're going To Break My Heart
- 03/05 Peterborough, ON @ Showplace Performance Centre
- 03/06 Meaford, ON @ Meaford Hall Arts & Cultural Center
- 03/07 Ottawa, ON @ National Arts Centre
- 03/09 Québec, QC @ Théâtre Petit Champlain
- 03/11 Fredericton, NB @ The Playhouse
- 03/13 Halifax, NS @ Rebecca Cohn Auditorium
- 03/14 Charlottetown, PEI @ Confederation Centre of the Arts
- 03/15 Margaretsville, Nova Scotia @ Evergreen Theatre