SOPHISTICATED BLUES
Musical synergy isn’t easily defined, but one listen to blues/jazz women Liz Barnes & Barbara Martin and you know they’ve got it. Accomplished and successful each in their own right, Liz on piano and Barbara on guitar/vocals, together these ladies are a tour de force of innovative collaboration. Whether in an intimate musical setting or on a larger stage, Liz Barnes & Barbara Martin wow audiences with their skillful, entertaining and emotionally-charged performances.
What makes them click? Smooth, sassy vocals and tight instrumentation bring sophistication to the blues. Sincere and inclusive stage presence brings accessibility to jazz that never forgets the blues. Lyrically-smart and musically-hip original compositions mixed with blues and jazz standards stitch their show together like a seamless magic carpet. Liz Barnes & Barbara Martin don’t just perform; they engage the audience in an exciting journey through sound, story and sensation.
Barbara and Liz met in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where both currently base their musical endeavors—composing, touring, recording and teaching. Having seen each other perform in a variety of settings and performing together on occasion over the years, Barbara and Liz decided to team up, setting their sights on gigs where they could play off each other’s energetic stage presence and showcase their collective creativity. They have appeared in concerst and festivals along the East Coast.
About Liz Barnes:
Jazz pianist Liz Barnes has been teaching and performing for 20 years. She quickly made a name for herself in the 80’s performing with well-known regional acts and opening for acclaimed blues artists such as Anson Funderburgh and Sam Meyers, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Delbert McClinton, the Nighthawks and Sapphire, just to name a few.
While Liz’s piano style is firmly rooted in the blues, it reflects the whole jazz tradition from bebop to modernism. She has performed extensively as a solo jazz pianist as well as with small ensembles and big bands.
"Her playing brings to mind the style of Charles Brown. Jazzy blues. Bluesy jazz. Liz is a real talent and one of the best piano players I've ever heard." Beth Jarock, Natchel Blues Network
About Barbara Martin:
Barbara Martin is a musician known for being an accomplished vocal interpreter of the great jazz and blues standards yet brave enough to stretch the boundaries of the female jazz and blues singer stereotype. Chanteuse, girl-next-door and perceptive poet all rolled into one, the Washington Post calls Barbara Martin’s music “… as American in style as it is universal in emotional intelligence.”
"A songwriter with an unexpected gift for double entendre and sultry melody and a singer with a penchant for smoldering seduction." Geoffrey Himes, Howard County Sun
