Kate McGarry

Kate McGarry delivers—not the all-too common, pleasant but benign songbook fare – but personal renditions from an eclectic repertoire that redefines the realm of vocal jazz. Last spring, Kate released The Target (Palmetto), her most challenging and rewarding recording yet. Showcasing Kate’s elastic contralto and inventive phrasing, The Target is enveloped in a lush tapestry of engaging instrumentals. Yet the attentive listener—to the recording or live music- will also be rewarded by the nuances evolved from a childhood of Irish folk melodies, a study of African rhythms and avant garde experiments, spiritual reflection, and an unwavering mission to infuse each song with new meaning. Her trio gigs this weekend—at Stone (September 14) and 55 Bar (September 15^th)—will likely include a few tunes from the new release as well as other gems from her eclectic repertoire. Her compatriots will be husband/guitarist Keith Ganz and drummer Clarence Penn.

Growing up in a large Irish Catholic family in Hyannis, Massachusetts, Kate McGarry and her nine siblings were surrounded by diverse musical influences—Celtic folk songs, The Mills Brothers, the Beatles, 70s funk and pop. The urge to sing was ever-present, from family talent shows to sing-a-longs in Irish pubs to her first introduction to jazz through the music of Bill Evans, Ella Fitzgerald and later Keith Jarrett. Next came more serious study of African American music with Dr. Horace Boyer and of avant garde jazz with Archie Shepp at the University of Massachusetts. Singing around Boston led to connections in Los Angeles, and soon Kate was part of the LA scene, with regular appearances at Catalina’s, the Jazz Bakery and Le Café. Here, Kate’s journey on record had its auspicious beginning in 1992 with Easy to Love, prompting Music Magazine to call her "...a strong improviser who shows taste and restraint worthy of the most mature jazz singer.”

Back east for a few years of meditation and teaching at the ashram in the Catskills, Kate’s singing and songwriting kicked into high gear with her contract with Palmetto—their first and still only contract with a vocalist. Show Me (2003), a dazzling collection reflecting her diverse tastes in standard and world music, prompted C. Michael Bailey (All About Jazz) to comment, “She scats like a dream without caricature.” And without caricature or imitation, Kate was generating considerable buzz as an original voice, as likely to suggest Betty Carter and Kurt Elling as Cassandra Wilson or Norah Jones. On her 2005 release, Mercy Streets, Kate artfully balanced the pop/folk sound of Joni Mitchell and Peter Gabriel, the lyrical post bop vocabulary of accompanist Fred Hersch, and the south-of-the-border rhythms of tango and samba. All About Jazz called it “one of the most important vocal albums of the year.”

As diverse as her solo releases have been her other projects—performing or recording with such artists as Fred Hersch, Kurt Elling, Victor Lewis, Maria Schneider, Jason Robert Brown, Hank Jones, and Clark Terry; her 2005 collaboration with Hersch and Elling on Hersch’s musical translation of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass; a 2006 collaboration with the Jazz Tap Ensemble; writing, recording and producing (with Ganz) children’s songs for the Heinle’s Picture Dictionary for Children; and singing and recording for the upcoming Sunnyside release with the vocal group MOSS (with Peter Eldridge, Theo Bleckmann, Lauren Kinhan, and Luciana Souza). A new challenge lies ahead as Kate was recently appointed to the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music for fall 2007.

On The Target, using the instrumentation of organ, guitar, bass, drums and sax (with Theo Bleckmann on voice loops), Kate returns to a sound solidly in the jazz tradition. As for the playlist, each tune was chosen on its own merits, yet all “are inextricably connected to each other,” notes Kate. “Each song is an attempt to connect and interact with the musicians in a way that is organic to that tune. Most are deliberately arranged to allow an unfolding or an exploration to take place.”

What unfolds is pure magic, from the opening Bobby Troup classic turned on its ear, “The Meaning of the Blues,” to the short-and-sweet closing, “New Love Song,” written for Kate by husband/guitarist Keith Ganz. Overall, The Target reflects an eclectic weaving of old and new, swing and contemplation, searching and finding, Kate McGarry’s most definitive artistic statement to date. Notes Kate, “The Target is a celebration of the creative impulsewhat happens when musicians come together with the intention to connect and give of themselves.”

Come hear what happens when three accomplished musicians come together and connect, with themselves and their audience, in Manhattan at Stone (September 14, 8 pm) and at 55 Bar (September 15^th, 6 pm).

The Stone is located at Avenue C at East 2^nd Street; www.thestonenyc.com. Hang out for the late set at 10 pm to hear the one and only Jay Clayton! The 55 Bar is located at 55 Christopher Street (between 6^th and 7^th Av) in Greenwich Village; www.55bar.com.