Kate McGarry

“I’ve always been drawn to the space of silence between the notes. It’s in the silence that the secrets of songs reveal themselves.” – Kate McGarry Born into a large, musical family in Hyannis, Massachusetts, Kate began making music at an early age. She and her nine siblings would put on talent shows for their parents, playing and singing together at every opportunity. “We befriended the musicians,” says Kate. “We would go as a family to hear them and sing along. Hearing live music as a child was as important to me as anything in my life. I never considered doing any other work than singing. To my family, music was one of the healing arts. It was just as good as being a doctor.”Kate’s early musical inspiration came in the form of the Beatles, the Mills Brothers, Earth Wind & Fire, and the Celtic music she would hear at the local Irish pub. But then she heard Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, and her life’s calling became obvious. “The chord and harmonic structures were mysterious and beautiful…It made so much sense to me.” A degree in African American music and studies with Archie Shepp soon followed.Success came quickly after graduation, with a move to the West Coast bringing gigs with Clark Terry and Hank Jones at the Monterey Jazz Festival and regular hits at such venerated venues as Catalina’s, the Jazz Bakery, and Le Café. In the vicinity of Hollywood, she also did some vocals for film and commercials, including tracks for Imax Films, the Sony Pictures release Caught and the title track for Boiling Point. But Kate’s spiritual nature and need to explore precipitated her next move back to the East Coast and a three year stint studying and teaching at an ashram in upstate New York.

Kate’s independently released 1992 debut recording, Easy To Love, an album of standards, earned her the attention of Music Magazine, who called her: “…a strong improviser who shows taste and restraint worthy of the most mature jazz singer.” But it was a move to New York City in 1999 that kick-started her singing and songwriting career. Her sophomore release Show Me (2001) was picked up by the lauded Palmetto label in 2003, earning her the distinction of being the first and only vocalist signed by the label. Her 2004 wedding to guitarist Keith Ganz inspired a change from an organ combo to a more roots-oriented, acoustic guitar-centric sound that perfectly combined Kate’s influences and inspirations. The resulting project Mercy Streets (Pametto, 2005) was hailed by All Music Guide as a release that “seamlessly combines music from many disparate sources into a cohesive, emotional experience (and) bridges the sonic chasm between folk-pop and jazz.”

Throughout 2005, there was mounting evidence of Kate McGarry’s expanding palette. In addition to releasing Mercy Streets, she toured with acclaimed pianist Fred Hersch and master vocalist Kurt Elling, performing Hersch’s song cycle, Leaves of Grass, a setting of Walt Whitman’s poetry to music. The project earned Hersch a Guggenheim Award, and the ensemble performed “Leaves of Grass” to a sold out audience at Carnegie Hall in March 2005. Kate can also be seen on Chick Corea’s 2005 DVD, Rendezvous, in an impromptu performance of “Smile” with Bobby McFerrin during Corea’s 60th birthday celebration at the Blue Note. Also in 2005, Kate performed over 50 concerts of The Different Moods of the Blues as a Lincoln Center Institute touring artist. 2006 brought fruitful collaborations with Grammy Award winning composer and bandleader Maria Schneider and New York’s Jazz Tap Ensemble and an appearance on Dee Dee Bridgewater’s NPR show, Jazz Set.With the release of 2007’s The Target, there was a sense that Kate had truly arrived. An NPR All Things Considered profile and New York Times review brought the magic of Kate McGarry to a whole new – and very receptive – audience. The record reached #1 on the national jazz charts." Michael McCall of Nashville Scene raved: "McGarry embraces jazz's freedom yet points the genre toward a future that's as fresh and thrilling as its past."

Things Considered profile and New York Times review brought the magic of Kate McGarry to a whole new – and very receptive – audience. The record reached #1 on the national jazz charts." Michael McCall of Nashville Scene raved: "McGarry embraces jazz's freedom yet points the genre toward a future that's as fresh and thrilling as its past."In September of 2007, Kate was invited to join the faculty of Manhattan School of Music. “My challenge there has been to bring what I know and value about the jazz tradition to the education world,” says Kate. “The trick is to teach what you know and be who you are. Being your authentic self is the only way to go.” Other current projects include singing with Grammy nominee Donny McCaslin, a guest spot (with Eartha Kitt and Jon Hendricks) on the hit children’s’ TV show Wonder Pets, and writing, recording and producing (with Ganz) 63 children’s songs for the Heinle Picture Dictionary For Children - an international ESL release. You can also catch Kate with vocal jazz super group MOSS, featuring her friends Peter Eldridge, Theo Bleckmann, Lauren Kinhan and Luciana Souza.If Less Is More…Nothing Is Everything (2008, Palmetto) finds Kate in a joyful, albeit introspective mood, covering everything from Jobim to The Cars, with a few originals (including a tender e.e. cummings poem set to music) rounding out the project. “I feel like I am a teenager, graduating from high school…just waking up...hatching. My experiences in life, my love of music and my spiritual pursuits are all converging, and the boundaries are fading away. Everything is coming together, and I am feeling very free.”

Web Side: http://www.katemcgarry.com/

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Kate McGarry es una de las cantantes de jazz que durante los últimos tiempos ha sorprendido tanto al público como a la crítica. Publicaciones de prestigio como Billboard Magazine, Los Angeles Times o The Washington Post, has visto en ella una nueva y talentosa voz en la escena del jazz actual. Sus actuaciones en directo y su interesante discografía editada por el sello Palmetto Records han aportado a esta artista el reconocimiento de los aficionados y excelentes consideraciones por parte de la crítica especializada.
La versatilidad de su voz y su profundo conocimiento de distintas tendencias musicales son aspectos que han fructificado en un estilo propio donde se encuentran estéticas sonoras que van desde el jazz, folk, música brasileña y algunos matices celtas. Se trata pues de un mestizaje sonoro rico en ingredientes donde la improvisación y los elementos distintivos del jazz tienen el papel más importante.
Reconocida por sus habilidades para reinvitar la música que le resulta más familiar con perspectivas audaces y singulares, sus conciertos suelen ser toda una celebración musical llena de sorprendes viajes sonoros.
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