Barbara Higbie

i Surrender E-mail

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Produced by: Barbara Higbie with production assistance by Nina Gerber & Gary Mankin
at Bay Studios
Berkeley, CA
& Wellhausen Studios
San Fransisco, CA

Engineered by: Gary Mankin
Assistant Engineering by Jim Ruzicka

Production Coordination by: Lynn Robertson & Ann Roddy

Cover Art by: Irene Young

Released: 1996

Downloads available here in CD Quality - 44.1kHz


Track Listing & Audio Samples: 44.1kHz: ($1.50)
1. Harmony
[4:27] B. Higbie & B. Hayes
2. I Surrender
[4:11] B. Higbie
3. The Starry Sky
[3:22] B. Higbie
4. Where You Are
[4:24] B. Higbie
5. Line of Gold
[3:28] B. Higbie
6. Onyame
[4:46] B. Higbie
7. Lonnie's Lament
[4:19] John Coltrane
8. Water Into Wine
[4:23] B.E. Gismonti & G.E. Carneire
9. Baby Buddha
[3:01] B. Higbie
10. Anouman
[5:53] Django Reinhardt & B. Higbie
11. Mudslide
[5:10] B. Higbie
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Picking up a few more ends of the eclectic ball of string that Signs of Life helped unravel, Barbara Higbie's I Surrender finds the pianist, vocalist, and violinist experimenting with contemporary pop, new age inflected with African rhythm, and jazz interpretation. It's a predominantly piano-driven album, though Higbie's dusky vocals are featured early, and her violin becomes a bigger contributor than on the previous outing. Opener "Harmony" and the title track are expert takes on mature pop, followed by the melancholy instrumental "Starry Sky." The album's midsection is given over to stylistic variance; she touches on Latin instrumentation, tries out some folksy singer/songwriterisms ("Your eyes were in my mind before we met"), and mixes African rhythms with tonal piano and her own violin for another instrumental called "Onyame." The Francophone cover of Coltrane's "Lonnie's Lament" is certainly bold, but it's entirely successful, especially when it continues to feature Higbie's violin. Her sweeping notes travel right into the following instrumental and on into the upbeat workout "Baby Buddha," which has some fun with the same piano and violin setup, letting the instruments trade licks off one another like a bluegrass band would. While I Surrender's prominent instrumentalism is accomplished and ever impressive, the album could have used some more of Higbie's fabulous, dusky vocals. With a style that shifts easily between comforting and confessional, her singing is often as experimental as her songwriting. This is a minor criticism, however. I Surrender joins Signs of Life as another example of Higbie's multifaceted, restless, and criminally underrated solo work.
-- From iTunes Album review



Barbara Higbie: Vocals, Piano, Violin, Guitar, Celtic Harp, Synthesizer, Bouzouki
David Balakrishnan: Violin
Nina Gerber: Acoustic & Electric Guitars
Chris Webster: Harmony Vocals
Shabda Owens: Harmony Vocals
Todd Phillips: Acoustic Bass
Benny Rietveld: Electric Bass
John Santos: Percussion
Steve Erquiaga: Classical Guitar
Steve Campos: Trumpet
George Brooks: Saxophone
Billy Lee Lewis: Drums