Patricia Barber

Patricia Barber, pianist/singer/composer, was born in the Chicago in 1956, raised in South Sioux City Nebraska and educated at the University of Iowa where she vacillated between classical music and jazz. Jazz won out and Barber returned to Chicago where her five nights a week gig at the Gold Sardine Bar put her (and the bar) on the national jazz map. Recording contracts followed and Barber became the first non-classical songwriter to be awarded a year-long fellowship for composition from the Guggenheim Foundation.

Why this stop? The Lawrence stop is a short walk to the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, one of Chicago’s premier jazz clubs where Patricia Barber has often performed.

Listen to an interview with Patricia Barber.

Connect — Take the Chicago Architecture Center’s walking tour of Uptown to learn about the fascinating history of the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge and other neighborhood landmarks.

Photo by Valerie Booth