If Less Is More...Nothing Is Everything

Kate McGarry | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 19, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Palmetto Records
• ASIN: B001CITQKY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,340 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

If Less is More, Nothing is Everything is the third in a series of superb recent recordings by Ms McGarry...austere and elegant...an exceptionally appealing blend of folk and jazz. --Wall Street Journal

Product Description

NOMINATED FOR GRAMMY AWARD - BEST VOCAL JAZZ ALBUM 2009!


Strengthening her leadership role alongside Kurt Elling and Patricia Barber as one of the most captivating and challenging vocalists on the contemporary jazz scene, Kate McGarry delivers, as its title suggests, an album of complex simplicity. McGarry says she has always been drawn to the space of silence between the notes. It is in these silences that the secrets of the songs reveal themselves.

Putting that theory into practice McGarry's opens with reading of LET'S YOU'RE MY THRILL that, in their stark beauty revel in the the intoxicating lure of the unknown. Beneath her cover of The Cars' JUST WHAT I NEEDED trepidation and defensiveness pull like overpowering undertows. The Dylan anthem THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN', which McGarry dedicates to Barack Obama, crackles with the fearless confidence of pure hope The naked adulatory i carry your heart (based on the e.e cummings poem) rides on gentle waves of soul deep contentment. McGarry's vibrant YOU DON'T HAVE TO CRY emerges as a chanting, pulsating, affirmation of self honesty. Most cunning are the intentionally oblique THE PRIEST and MAN OF GOD, wherein the quest for divinity (and the accompanying burden of supposed infallibility) is questioned, but the answer is left for our hearts to individually pursue. - JAZZ TIMES MAGAZINE Oct 08 issue

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-deserved 2008 Grammy nomination for this album!, December 5, 2008

By 

Boxy (Durham, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: If Less Is More...Nothing Is Everything (Audio CD)

We all have our bad days on the job, even Amazon music reviewers. A really, really, shamefully bad day, in this case. I sure hope that customers considering this album will take the time to read all the other editorial reviews posted here, as well as the listener reviews. But if they don't, maybe the fact that this album was nominated for a 2008 Grammy will make the difference. It is wonderful to see this album get the positive recognition it deserves.

This album blew me away on first listen, but has amazed me more and more with each listen. That's the beauty of Kate, IMHO, I could listen to just one tune over and over and always hear one more thing I just HAVE to play again, to savor, enjoy, and marvel at.

I invite you to do the same.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars She just keeps getting better and better!, August 23, 2008

By 

M. Rosen (Santa Barbara, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: If Less Is More...Nothing Is Everything (Audio CD)

I've been a fan of Kate McGarry for many years - and this new album totally pays for my enthusiasm. It's deep, it's smooth, it's easy to listen to over and over and over again - yet it holds a power that makes it so compelling. Just as the title says- "Less Is More" - the use of space and silence enliven each and every song in the album with great awareness, and never in a studied or contrived way. Here is a master coming more and more into her own. HIgh marks!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great music and friend, September 20, 2008

By 

Rebecca Martin Grenadier "Rebecca Martin" (NY, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: If Less Is More...Nothing Is Everything (Audio CD)

Kate McGarry is a glorious, beautiful talent and human being. She has a clear and glorious singing voice, is a soulful writer of words and melody, a creative and respected band leader - and committed public servant by sharing all of these gifts with the world. Kate is admired by her many fans, and is a true musican's musician. It's a privilege to watch someone like her evolve and share her life experiences through music with each and every recording.

Clearly, Amazon's Eric C.P. Martin could learn a great deal from Kate and band in the humility and grace department. I'm deepy surprised to see something like this allowed to be used as the editorial for her new record. There must be more care in how a musician is represented if a staff writer takes on this task. Can't find anything nice to say? Then post her Bio or glowing NY Times review.