You know that you’re taking in an important vocalist when the audience is filled with fellow female singers, and Kate McGarry packed them in to have them experience her unique blend of 60s folk and bohemian jazz. Along with hubby guitarist Keith Ganz and Gary Versace on piano and keys, Ms. McGarry opened up the New Year with songs from earlier eras, but vocally and musically painted with fresh brush strokes.
Taking a song like the Simon and Garfunkel classic “52nd St. Bridge Theme”, McGarry delivered the groovy lyrics with a mix of upbeat and encouraging optimism but with a dash of early Joni Mitchell wonderment. Between the cozy lyrics of this tune and the whimsical “Gypsy In My Soul”, Ganze on nylon strings and Versace volleyed solos back and forth while bouncing in casual swing stride. McGarry could take lyrics as on “Let’s Face The Music and Dance” and give her own personal fingerprint, twisting a lyric here, stretching one like Salt Water Taffy there, and even getting kinetic on the playful toying of “It’s De Lovely”.
Giving a tribute to the Lady of the Canyon, McGarry brought the audience to hushed attention as she wove the lyrics to “Both Sides Now” as a mix of delicate stories and confessional, admitting along the with the lyrics “I really don’t know love at all” with astonishing conviction.
With Ganz switching to electric for a bit, wife and hubby blissfully bopped to a cheerful “What A Difference a Day Makes” before drawing the shades to a slinky and shadowed “Lullaby Of Leaves” that hovered like moss on an old oak tree. Keeping with the mix of Baby Boomer tunes and 21st Century frames, McGarry and company created a curry of funk and impressionistic acoustic folk protest with a still poignant message on Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A’ Changin’”.
Like many of her singing predecessors, Ms McGarry has hit on a songbook that has been overlooked and made the audience wonder why it’s taken so long to appreciate it. That’s the real work of a modern artist, and McGarry on the second day of the second decade of this century that showed that she’s using the right palate.
Upcoming shows at Samfirst Bar include Thom Rotell 01/-9, The YAYennings Quartet 01/09-11 and Dave Binney/John Escreet 01/15-16