Barbara Defies Smoking Ban in Munich

In Bavaria it is illegal to smoke in pubs and restaurants, but that didn’t stop Barbara from a smoking hot performance in front of a sold-out crowd in her home town of Munich. She and her drummer, Marcel Gustke, blew the roof off of the Unterfahrt jazz club on Saturday night.

Contrary to what you might expect, Barbara’s performances in Munich are rare events. Of course they sell out quickly with tickets snapped up by loyal fans, many who have been with her from the beginning. So the audience is primarily made up of family, friends and loyal fans. On March 29th, 2008 the house was packed at the Unterfahrt jazz club. Barbara closed out the show with an encore of her composition Wow! and suggested that the title captured what had happened during the evening. Really, there was little else to say but wow! Throughout the night she put the pedal to the metal and ratcheted up her performance beyond what seems humanly possible.

We happened to be sitting next to Barbara’s Mom and even she was surprised by the energy of what was happening on stage. After Barbara finished Black & White, her Mom and I both shook our heads in disbelief at her absolutely incredible bass pedal playing. Barbara is always amazing, but this was truly spellbinding. Other high points were Love Letters, Take Off, Cleo, Holy Blues, Rumpelstilzchen’s Bossa, and a new piece about the ordeal of getting a work permit for America.

It had been a year since I last saw her at the Unterfahrt and at that time she and Marcel had just begun playing together. Now a year later they are very tight. He’s an excellent accompanist, a welcome addition somewhat in the supporting tradition of jazz great Paul Motian (drummer for Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett.)

Unfortunately my little camera isn’t designed for non-flash photography, so I apologize for the poor photo quality – Barbara’s Dad also took some shots, so perhaps his will come out better. Still you can see that Barbara has a new hair style.

Based on photos from Barbara’s father – click to enlarge.