“The album, a brilliant collection of original songs, all dispatched with Barber’s famously voluptuous voice and steeped in her atmospheric instrumental settings, marks a major step forward for one of the most significant jazz artists to come out of Chicago in the past two decades or more. These songs, often ambiguous in meaning but extremely seductive in tone, crystallize the high craft of Barber’s writing while inspiring unorthodox arrangements and often wizardly solo pianism.”
Chicago Tribune
“Barber’s clear, relaxed singing and understated but expressive piano playing continue to offer a winning mix of warmth and cool…their dreamy nuances reward your attention.” * * * (out of four)
USA Today
“Conspicuously literate and restlessly inventive”
The New Yorker
“Both musically and lyrically, the 12 original tracks on the new disc showcase an artist in fine form. In addition to being a compellingly eclectic tunesmith, Barber remains, as ever, a poetic, exacting lyricist…among the best albums released in recent months.”
Jazziz.com
“Barber has an arresting vocal instrument that she controls beautifully. She can sing softly or powerfully - whatever is needed for the material - and her compositions are more like paintings than songs…Smash is an interesting offering from a talented artist managing to create her own musical genre.”
The New York City Jazz Record
“Smash is an extraordinary achievement. Here, jazz is popular music without being anything other than itself. Its depth, creativity, searing poetry, and artisan musicianship make it a peerless accomplishment.” 4 Stars
All Music
“Smash is resoundingly adult, intelligent and best of all, musically absorbing.” ****1/2
ICON Monthly
“Hot? Yes. Filled with many surprises both lyrically and musically? Yes. These are songs about love, loss, anger and pain. There’s a tune about gay marriage with a solid disco vamp in the middle and the title track is particularly visceral, closing with a searing rock guitar solo. The musical proficiency is high here but the levels of emotional intensity and inventiveness are even higher.” *****
Daily News (McKeesport, PA)
“Patricia Barber's fans get a kick out of hearing the dusky-voiced singer-pianist wade neck-deep in arch romanticism, and she's found a way to make cocktail music that's as fetching as it is strange.”
Time Out Chicago
“…be it love, loss or satire, no one among active jazz performers melds notes and words with the powerful fragility, the delicate incision, the brazen honesty of Patricia Barber. As a pianist and vocalist, she is a force to be reckoned with. As a songwriter, she is pure devastation…Smash is not an album to take you down, but a cycle of songs that remind you that there’s life within pain, stubborn hope within loss, beauty in darkness. And a bright future for the art of jazz singing and songwriting. Patricia Barber has plenty more to say.”
Jazz Police
“When I listen to Patricia Barber sing, I think of her not so much as a jazz singer than as a poet reciting her work, with the depth and feeling that only the originator of that work can deliver. A poet who happens to be a technically polished pianist, a clever arranger and bandleader. OK, so it’s perhaps more accurate to state that she’s a great poet who is also a legitimate musician. Kind of astonishing when you consider there are scant few these days who are so good at both anywhere near the field of jazz.”
Something Else!
“Once again, Barber has taken the road not just less traveled, but far less traveled.”
WNCT-TV
“Musical ideas that defy categorization.”
Audiophile Audition
“Smash is a delight for any jazz fan. Patricia Barber is one of the best jazz singers to come along in the last twenty years, and her latest release shows why. Fans of Patricia Barber will not be disappointed with this release. While anybody outside the jazz world will probably not be able to appreciate this album, individuals who enjoy jazz music will indeed enjoy Patricia Barber, and will want to own this album. With Smash, Patricia Barber smashes this one out of the park.”
MuzikReview.com
“One of the best vocal recordings for 2013…Barber’s Smash accomplishes what every artist should set out to accomplish and does so with cutting edge honesty and raw emotion.”
@CriticalJazz