Who knows exactly how long Patricia Barber, the gifted and eclectic jazz pianist, has been doing her Monday night gig at the quietly legendary Green Mill Cocktail Lounge. My guess says twenty years but it could easily be more. The two are well matched; a couple of mold breaking classics who naturally complement each other.
Even after all of these years of doing her Monday night show, the front of the house is full and seats at the bar are at a premium. An imposing woman, Barber’s dressed in a black suit and a slight scowl. She’s also the picture of concentration as she takes her place on the piano bench. So far it’s just a trio. Barber on keyboards with a bassist and a drummer who both radiate youth.
Most people probably have a mental image of a jazz fan that likely includes gray hair; if any at all. You may find some of that at the Green Mill, but it’s certainly not the norm. For some reason, many of the enthusiasts who flock to the corner of Lawrence and Broadway are light years away from an AARP card. And they easily outnumber the middle aged and older set that dot the room.
Like a classical pianist, Barber seems to enter a trance-like zone when she begins to play. As soon as she strikes that first chord and her fingers begin searching for just the right tone and shade of music; you sense the audience, for her, simply melts away. Most of the songs she performs are her own and fully reflect Barber’s unique musical sensibilities. They’re thinking songs; well-articulated and earnest. Even when they stray into the land of the unusually phrased, there’s no mistaking their sincerity. When her sax man shows up for the second set, the quartet sets aside pensive reflection to unleash their instinct for swing and take an Eddie Harris classic to blistering hot.
Soaking in the music and the feel of this iconic room, with a cutout of Von Freeman and Ceres the Greek Goddess of Harvest looming majestically stage left, you feel you’re in the quintessential jazz setting. Stringently sticking to its “quiet house” policy when musicians are playing, anyone careless enough to talk a little too energetically during a set will incur the wrath one of the club’s hush enforcers. It could be the bartender or the woman whose multiple roles include seating hostess and mistress of ceremony. Their vigilance may give the space the feel of a concert hall but it ultimately affords the musicians the respectful environment they need to do their best work.
It was never the plan to be back at the Green Mill the following Friday night. But when WDCB announced Sheila Jordan would be performing; going was not a question. The 89-year-old marvel was so spectacular at last year’s jazz fest in Millennium Park that catching her in a cabaret setting was irresistible. Trademark flower placed neatly in her pageboy, she chats more confidentially in this intimate venue. And you can even catch glimpses of her flinty side. Singing mostly from an album she released in the 60’s; some songs were melancholy, some bluesy. Time may have compromised the pliancy of her voice, but it hasn’t touched her clever and singular ability to mold a song to her own lovely perspective. And her scat credentials are still platinum.
Folks intent of finding seats started showing up at 8:00 for the 9:30 set. A foursome from Vancouver arrived at a little after 9 and just missed out. Caught in the channel between the bar and tabled seating directly in front of the stage, for two hours they valiantly withstood the ebb and flow of bodies collecting and filtering through the narrow passage. As the band broke to prepare for the next set, the Canadian gang turned around and said, “Great show! Would you recommend we come back for the poetry slams?”
Green Mill Cocktail Lounge
4802 N. Broadway St.
Chicago, Il 60640
773-878-5552
greenmilljazz.com/