CD Review: Kathleen Grace Band
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"Songbird" (KGB Music)
The future of jazz lies in the artistry of young talents such as Los Angeles vocalist Kathleen Grace and her co-writer/guitarist Perry Smith. They hear the old tunes with new ears, find spring rhythms in fringe-topped songs from "Oklahoma!" They turn a favorite of the Beatles' into Latin jazz. They write new stuff that sounds like alternative pop but swings with contemporary vigor.
They do not think jazz is something you put in a box to bring out only on special occasions. As jazz moves into its second century of improvisation, Grace and Smith hear music that's fun and fresh. They create feelings filled with instant communication, zipping with digital quickness at times, but still able to haunt the heart with sensual ruminations played slowly in a minor key.
In hands like these jazz can find a newer, younger audience that knows how to party in high-sheen places. Classic cool comes naturally to this band, but like a good George Clooney movie, there is always a twist.
Just putting "Sunrise Sunset" from "Fiddler on the Roof" alongside Lennon and McCartney's "Do You Want to Know a Secret," visualizing a languid "Red Sales in the Sunset" and adding three originals that maintain the same intensity is a bungee jumper's feat of courage. A stretch of the imagination, to be sure.
Another twist is noting Grace comes from Tucson, is a graduate of Canyon Del Oro High, was drum major in the marching band. Check her out yourself Saturday when the Kathleen Grace Band comes to the Hut, 305 N. Fourth Ave., for Speakeasy Night in the Old Pueblo.
Grade: A
Genre: Jazz
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