Jazz Articles about Kate McGarry

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Kate McGarry: Mercy Streets

by Brian P. Lonergan
May 6, 2005

Singer Kate McGarry has made a beautiful album with Mercy Streets, though the music is not easily pigeonholed in any category of jazz. The largely acoustic album, with landscapes created by McGarry's vocals and guitar-based arrangements, follows in the genre-defying path cleared in recent years by Cassandra Wilson and Marvin Sewell's work together. To be sure, some tracks on Mercy Streets are unmistakably jazz: McGarry's playful scatting on “But Not For Me against Sean Smith's walking bass and ...

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Kate McGarry: Mercy Streets

by C. Michael Bailey
April 18, 2005

Kate McGarry has become a conspicuous presence among jazz vocalists because of her effortless assimilation of several major jazz vocal styles into a single musical vision. In her singing, one can detect elements of Kurt Elling, Betty Carter, Joni Mitchell, Cassandra Wilson, and Norah Jones. In this respect, McGarry is pushing the boundaries of jazz vocals in a healthy and fundamental way.

The opening piece, “Chelsea Morning, a Joni Mitchell song, betrays an Elling influence in McGarry's progressive ...

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Kate McGarry: Show Me

by C. Michael Bailey
July 25, 2003

A vocalist of many vocals, Kate McGarry can change her tone and timbre at will, dictated by what the song requires. Compare the tight coquettish trill of “Show Me" with the alto elastic sexuality of “Gypsy in My Soul." Then compare that with the sleek, deep purr or “Moon and Sand." McGarry is quite handy at setting a mood with her tonal bag of tricks.

“The Thrill is Gone" is a Peggy Lee-Anita O'Day vamp sliding over Steve Cardenas' guitar ...

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Kate McGarry: Show Me

by Joel Roberts
June 22, 2002

Too many jazz singers try too hard, placing tech-nique and pyrotechnics above genuine feeling and personal expression. Not Kate McGarry. A Massachusetts native now based in Brooklyn, McGarry has a natural, unaffected manner that separates her from the pack of wannabe divas. On Show Me, McGarry takes a relaxed, patient approach to a well-chosen set of standards plus two Brazilian tunes, sung in Portuguese, including the haunting Djavan ballad “Oceano." McGarry knows the value of taking one's time and there's ...

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Kate McGarry: Show Me

by Jim Santella
May 1, 2001

With her program of romantic kinship, Kate McGarry reaches around the world to distant lands. Her phrasing, meanwhile, carries an unmistakable resemblance to Carmen McRae. Fresh and strong, the singer's delivery blends with piano, bass, drums and guitar to evoke mainstream jazz sentiments.Scat singing on “East of the Sun," McGarry improvises as an instrumentalist. She, guitarist Steve Cardenas and bassist Scott Colley take their turns at the solo mic' with outside impressions that drive each other higher and ...