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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Splendid singing, wonderfully fun and eclectic arrangements, April 22, 2005
Mercy Streets is a very solid 2nd CD for Kate McGarry, following her brilliant debut, `Show Me'. On this CD, she's supported by carefully chosen players who will be familiar to followers of the New York jazz scene.
The two guitarists on the CD have quite different styles. Keith Ganz is a nylon string player, whose playing is bright and witty, while Steve Cardenas is a versatile electric player with a very atmospheric and warm tone. They do not compete for sonic space; instead they offer very engaging interplay.
I first heard Kate's music while listening to Jonathan Schwartz's radio program on WNYC in New York. I was deeply affected by the selection I heard, `Show Me', the title song from Kate's debut CD. I patiently waited for the end of the set that day, a set that included songs from many artists. I didn't quite get the name... I had to spend a while googling until I turned up Kate's website. And I've been a follower since that day close to three years ago.
Kate brings something special and new to the female jazz vocal space. Her music is honest, and her voice is pure and uncolored. It's not marred by the sloppy vibrato that so many jazz vocalists rely on to convey emotion. Kate's pitch and articulation are dead on, and she offers really interesting phrasing and melodic variation that make even familiar standards sound new. She gets some of her vocal DNA from `folk', and reviewers have compared her to artists in the folk realm. And she has performed some traditional Celtic music in her live shows. But the groove and the feel are definitely jazz, and the song structure, the strong instrumental interplay and soloing are jazz all the way. As with other jazz vocalists, Brazilian music is a big influence. She delivers some well chosen Brazilian tunes, and does so very naturally, as though her native tongue were Portuguese.
Kate offers one new composition, `Going In', on this CD . . . it's achingly beautiful and hopefully there will be more songwriting in this promising artist's future.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Eclecticism, June 4, 2005
Basically, I agree with everything stated in the review below. Nonetheless, I'm rating this 4 stars, not 5. Here's why:
Kate McGarry is a young jazz singer with a pure sound and a strong voice. Here, she is surrounded by some terrific musicians. In particular, Keith Ganz (acoustic guitar) does fabulous work here; but the rest (Steve Cardenas-electric guitar; Sean Smith-bass; and Kenny Wollesen-drums and percussion) sound great as well. And on two tracks, the redoubtable Fred Hersch lends his hands. The whole project sounds terrific.
But this project is maddening for its eclecticism. We have Broadway ("Whatever Lola Wants"); we have standard jazz ("Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans"); we have Brazilian jazz ("Aquelas Coisas Todas"); we have Great American Songbook ("How Deep Is the Ocean" and "But Not For Me"); we have classic rock (Joni's "Chelsea Morning"); we have more contemporary rock (Peter Garbriel's "Mercy Street" and Bjork's "Joga (State of Emergency"); and we have a Kate McGarry original, "Going In", that sounds very folk-rockish.
The whole project sounds very good; but so did "Show Me", and it was similar in its eclecticism. Ms. McGarry has now proved that she is a very talented musician; IMO, it's time for her to pick a sub-genre and excel.
And I have a suggestion. The strongest cut on this album, IMO, is an old folk song that she pulled out of the Public Domain, "Trouble of the World", and added a bluesy turn to it. If she devoted a whole album to stuff like this (original reads of P.D. stuff), I think she'd not only have a 5-star album, but one that would put her into the pantheon of much better-known singers. As it is, there is a huge number of young female jazz vocalists who are very talented and very unknown, who need to find a hook to put them into the same public eye as Diana Krall and Norah Jones, and who certainly have the talent to find that hook.
As good as this is, I'm reserving my 5-star review for the time when Ms. McGarry finds that hook. RC
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is Kate McGarry's 
