Showing posts with label Kathleen Grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kathleen Grace. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Kathleen Grace, Larry Goldings - Tie Me to You

Styles: Vocal,Guitar And Piano Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:00
Size: 92,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:29) 1. Tie Me to You
(3:10) 2. Where or When
(3:05) 3. Everywhere
(5:17) 4. John the Revelator
(3:52) 5. Berceuse
(3:53) 6. The Thrill Is Gone
(3:46) 7. Embarcadero
(5:06) 8. Love for Sale
(5:28) 9. What'll I Do
(2:49) 10. I'll Follow the Sun

For singer Kathleen Grace, vulnerability is a crucial virtue. Exploring themes of loss, discovery, love’s impermanence, and the need for personal reconstitution, she brings spare elegance to the fore during these highly affecting performances.

Working closely with pianist/organist Larry Goldings, Grace often strips pieces down to their essence. In many cases, all that remains is the naked heart of a woman in a state of becoming and the primary supports required for her journey. During the intimate title track, co-written by Grace and Goldings, those supports basically amount to some harpsichord-esque tack piano and string atmospherics. For the country-folk of the singer’s “Everywhere,” it’s her guitar and Gabe Witcher’s now-prominent violin. And on Darek Oleszkiewicz’s alluring “Embarcadero” (with lyrics from Grace), it’s the composer’s Argentine bass lines, with some light coloring around the edges.

The remaining songs are mostly familiar, but few appear in expected form. Rodgers & Hart’s “Where or When” delivers a vertiginous high, with Goldings creating live, looping backgrounds on his glimmering pocket piano. The traditional boots-on-the-floor blues “John the Revelator” gets an added touch of swagger and sway. Cole Porter’s “Love for Sale,” anchored by bassist David Piltch’s wide beat and recast in three, markets yearning smartly from its new metric perch. And Lennon & McCartney’s “I’ll Follow the Sun” takes on a different light while serving as a sign of redemption at the end of this hard road. With a defining trait spelled out ever so clearly in her surname, Kathleen Grace offers personal truths with sensitivity and integrity. Her openness breeds absolute respect. ~ Dan Bilawsky https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/kathleen-grace-with-larry-goldings-tie-me-to-you-monsoon/

Personnel: Kathleen Grace – voice, guitar; Larry Goldings – piano, keyboards, organ, pocket piano, glockenspiel; David Piltch – bass; Gabe Witcher – violin ; Darek Oleszkiewicz – bass

Tie Me to You

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Kathleen Grace Band - Songbird

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:08
Size: 87.3 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[4:28] 1. Do You Want To Know A Secret
[5:15] 2. I'll Be Seeing You
[5:04] 3. Songbird
[4:32] 4. I Return To You
[4:20] 5. Surrey With The Fringe
[3:36] 6. Sunrise Sunset
[5:23] 7. Red Sails In The Sunset
[5:27] 8. Away With Me

What happens when a lover of Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell gets a jazz education? The answer is found in the music of Kathleen Grace. Her repertoire is often often compared to the work of Madeleine Peyroux and Bill Frisel; and her voice to the pure sound of a bell ringing. Grace released her critically acclaimed debut CD “Sunrise” in 2005. All About Jazz called it one the debuts of the year, JazzTimes called on major-labels to "step up." For her new project Grace has now embarked on an innovative collaborative ensemble The Kathleen Grace Band.

The band grew out of a two-year musical collaboration with guitarist Perry Smith. Their first recording, Songbird features a mix of co-written band numbers as well as acoustic vocal/guitar fairy tales. Grace and Smith joined their writing skills on the title track which pairs his beautiful melody with her lyrics of new love. The song have been selected as a finalist for the 2007 International Songwriting Competition in the jazz category. In addition to original material, the CD highlights important influences on the young composers. The opening track transforms the wide-eyed early Beatles tune "Do You Want to Know a Secret" into an adult Brazilian rendevous. The closing song, "Away with Me" written by Grace, highlights the pair’s musical chemistry and vulnerable approach to storytelling.

Kathleen Grace and Perry Smith are each award-winning composers in their own right: Grace was awarded a spot at the 2004 Betty Carter Jazz Ahead residency at the Kennedy Center and was a finalist in the 2004 Montreux Jazz Festival International Vocal Competition. Smith won ASCAP’s 2006 Young Composer Award in Jazz for his composition "Peace Park."

Songbird

Friday, January 17, 2014

Kathleen Grace - Sunrise

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:48
Size: 107,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:47)  1. Blackbird
(3:56)  2. I've Got the World on a String
(3:20)  3. The Summer Knows
(3:43)  4. The Lady is a Tramp
(4:06)  5. Cool
(5:32)  6. Softly as in a Morning Sunrise
(3:04)  7. But Not for Me
(3:59)  8. Beautiful Love
(4:39)  9. Emily
(3:30) 10. Armageddon
(6:07) 11. Small Day Tomorrow

Kathleen Grace hails from Tucson, Ariz., and wails in Los Angeles. She boasts a three-octave voice, and her self-released debut album deserves a wider audience so major labels, step up. Her range of feelings embraces straightahead, theater, cabaret and smoky, intimate, small hours vocalizing. Mood swings and tricky modulations are effortless thanks to the disciplined backing by pianist Tamir Hendelman, bassist Darek Oles and drummer Jamey Tate. Grace oozes self-confidence and has the sort of intonation that allows her to introduce two tunes a cappella: “But Not for Me,” propelled by brushes (she gamely sings in unison with piano during brief exchanges with drums), plus her solo introduction of Johnny Mandel’s gorgeous “Emily.” She effortlessly juggles 5/4 and 4/4 in “I’ve Got the World on a String” and exhibits her personal scat on Wayne Shorter’s “Armageddon.” A passionate highlight for piano and voice is “Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise,” a great study in dynamic shadings, all evolving from a sensuous tango figure. ~ Harvey Siders   http://jazztimes.com/articles/17132-sunrise-kathleen-grace

Sunrise