Customer Reviews

Target

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just saw Kate at the Phila Museum of Art - Art After 5 Friday live Jazz performance series held each Friday. Kate went immediately into my all time favorites list... The amazing arrangements of everything from Classic jazz standards to reformed contemporary music with new Jazz style are all fantastic. Beyond the arrangements is Kate's beautiful voice which she can push to skat with the best or go right into a trancendant melody that carries you away... Kate's original pieces are as wonderful as the others and if you're also a fan of Jazz and singer songwriter music like me, all of Kate's music is for you!!! After buying two disks at the show and listening to them, I immediately got her third CD from Amazon...

I reviewed Kate McGarry's last c.d., "Mercy Streets", and gave it 4 stars. While there was much to like there, I thought it was unfocussed.

No such complaints here. This c.d. is focussed and fabulous. Without a doubt, it is Kate McGarry's best.

While this c.d. is somewhat eclectic, everything done here is stripped to the essence of the song. The orchestrations throughout are perfect.

I've read a comparison of Kate McGarry and Patricia Barber. Agreed and disagreed. Both take a zen-like approach to their music. But whereas Patricia Barber sings with a detached cool (like Mrs. Robinson from "The Graduate"), there's nothing detached about Kate McGarry. She's not flashy, but everything she sings is from the gut.

In fact, a better comparison IMO is with Miles Davis. It is ironic that one of the tunes here is Miles Davis' "Blue in Green", from the seminal "Kind of Blue" album, with original lyrics of longing and regret by Ms. McGarry. The thought occurred: throughout, Ms. McGarry sounds like pre-Bitches Brew-Miles. She has no vibrato, like Miles' trumpet, and she goes straight to the core of the sound, also like Miles. She doesn't sing 20 notes, when 5 will do--also like Miles.

Two other examples of what I'm talking about are her utterly charming duets, one with husband Keith Ganz (guitar) on his "New Love Song", and the other with Gary Versace (piano) on the best rendition of "Heather on the Hill" (from "Brigadoon") I've ever heard.

While these three cuts alone are worth the price of the album, the buzz surrounding this album ought to be the title track. "The Target" is a Kate McGarry original, and it is tremendous. It is one of the most uplifting, life-inspiring songs around, and certainly one of the finest original jazz ballads in recent years. The voice loops of another terrific (and relatively unknown) singer, Theo Bleckmann, add wonderful coloration to this celebration of life.

What a year 2007 has been!! Tierney Sutton's "On the Other Side"; Kendra Shank's "Spirit Free"; Kurt Elling's "Nightmoves"; Mark Murphy's "Love Is What Stays"; and now this one. Five gems. Five career bests. Are we in a renaissance? If so, it's about damned time!! RC

This is simply the best vocal jazz album to be released in the last five years. You'll be hard pressed to find a more complete set list than on McGarry's "The Target." The selections on this album consist of brand new realizations of old standards and some fabulous originals (especially fabulous: McGarry's "The Target," Luciana Souza's "No Wonder," and Keith Ganz's arrangement of "The Lamp is Low."). McGarry has been performing these tunes for a while in a live setting, and it shows. The band is amazing, and never misses an emotional beat. Her voice is decidedly unique, yet still maintains the beauty and tradition of the jazz greats that have come before. This is McGarry at her best, and definitely a very important album in the vocal jazz lexicon.

It's wonderful when you stumble on a new, to you, living female singer who can give you goosebumps, when you thought they were all gone. I heard Kate McGarry on public radio, bought The Target, and found a new favorite. Even the words of Blue in Green, which I've listened to hundreds of times by Miles and others, are nice. Adding something new to the beautiful "It Might as Well be Spring" is a feat. Backing is excellent also, particularly organ and guitar.

Kate Mcgarry was a new talent to me when I heard her version of "Heather on the Hill" on the radio. That alone was worth getting the CD. Four other older songs she sings appeal most to me, but all are intriguing and showcase her versatility.