The stage is set, for what I'm not sure, but there are guitars and drums and speakers and amps set up in the Annex side of The Red Brick. My thoughts are jaded and I feel as though my weekend has been a bust; such high hopes I had for the inspirations of jazz music and the people that deliver it. I so wanted to leave the streets at the end of my experiences, rush home and pick up my trumpet and crack into my CD collection so as I might jam along with the Monks, the Adderleys, and the Parkers of the jazz world. Instead, I sit in the middle of a quickly growing crowd, trying, through the difficulty of distraction, to organize my thoughts into a fair and accurate review of the Guelph Jazz Festival. But I lose focus before long, drawn from the blue light of my laptop, forced to shuffle myself down on the bench seats, making room for more people, and I switch my gaze to the performers gathering behind their instruments; to the spotlight on the girl with the guitar.
Kate Schutt, from Pennsylvania native to Guelph resident, is two albums deep into her career, has toured and recorded with an impressive and growing list of musicians and is gearing up for a gig at the Ouro Preto Jazz Festival in Brazil at the end of the month. She is professionally and institutionally trained on her instruments (I now want an 8-string hybrid guitar), backed by a family of musicians supporting her craft, and she writes her songs from the heart. She has broken radio waves, played impressive venues, and you may have seen her on Canada AM performing her bluesy and emotional "Take Everything" from her second studio release, Telephone Game. She is, without question, someone whose name I should have known before chancing upon her in a downtown cafe.
With that being said, these random, chance occurrences are some of the greatest discoveries we can make, namely because they grab our attention with no pretenses to let us down, not that her talents would ever have the ability to disappoint. In this event, however, as an unknown artist to me, from the first strums across the strings to the powerfully sweet lines of her first lyrics, Kate had me smiling; ear to ear smiling.
Playing many originals from both albums and putting her own spin on some familiar classics, she not only captivated and gracefully took the audience down a path with each song lyrically, she did it also with proficiency on her instrument. The improv skills, chord structures, visual emotion, tonality and the ability to make gentle silence a part of the music, was exactly what I had been so craving through the weekend; even by putting aside my affinity for a woman with a guitar, it was still a complete and totally captivating performance.
After her set, an extended applause and an encore into a heartwarming version of Patty Larkin's Coming Up For Air, she took the time to meet and greet with everyone in the audience; and while I patiently waited my turn, I couldn't help but take in the fact that an accomplished musician knew her audience by name and face. I've mentioned this ability to connect with a crowd before when I saw Christina Martin and Steven Bowers play here, and yet again that ability and dedication seems to blow my mind. There was no exception to this as I, a total stranger to her talents, finally stepped forward to make my introduction and thank her for the inspiration, expressing keen interest for an early encore (and I hope it comes soon). She was approachable, friendly and seemed to carry that same spark from her performance, which speaks volumes to the genuine nature of her music.
Kate Schutt, from Pennsylvania native to Guelph resident, is two albums deep into her career, has toured and recorded with an impressive and growing list of musicians and is gearing up for a gig at the Ouro Preto Jazz Festival in Brazil at the end of the month. She is professionally and institutionally trained on her instruments (I now want an 8-string hybrid guitar), backed by a family of musicians supporting her craft, and she writes her songs from the heart. She has broken radio waves, played impressive venues, and you may have seen her on Canada AM performing her bluesy and emotional "Take Everything" from her second studio release, Telephone Game. She is, without question, someone whose name I should have known before chancing upon her in a downtown cafe.
With that being said, these random, chance occurrences are some of the greatest discoveries we can make, namely because they grab our attention with no pretenses to let us down, not that her talents would ever have the ability to disappoint. In this event, however, as an unknown artist to me, from the first strums across the strings to the powerfully sweet lines of her first lyrics, Kate had me smiling; ear to ear smiling.
Playing many originals from both albums and putting her own spin on some familiar classics, she not only captivated and gracefully took the audience down a path with each song lyrically, she did it also with proficiency on her instrument. The improv skills, chord structures, visual emotion, tonality and the ability to make gentle silence a part of the music, was exactly what I had been so craving through the weekend; even by putting aside my affinity for a woman with a guitar, it was still a complete and totally captivating performance.
After her set, an extended applause and an encore into a heartwarming version of Patty Larkin's Coming Up For Air, she took the time to meet and greet with everyone in the audience; and while I patiently waited my turn, I couldn't help but take in the fact that an accomplished musician knew her audience by name and face. I've mentioned this ability to connect with a crowd before when I saw Christina Martin and Steven Bowers play here, and yet again that ability and dedication seems to blow my mind. There was no exception to this as I, a total stranger to her talents, finally stepped forward to make my introduction and thank her for the inspiration, expressing keen interest for an early encore (and I hope it comes soon). She was approachable, friendly and seemed to carry that same spark from her performance, which speaks volumes to the genuine nature of her music.
Telephone Game has been in my stereo ever since, and I've been enjoying its layers of sound and orchestration through each song and as a whole. There are moments of jazz, blues, some folk and even a little edge, as can be heard on the song Blackout, but no matter what the influence behind the songs, the album, heard in its entirety, is worth hitting repeat.
Sweet and passionate for her art not only behind the microphone, Kate Schutt is someone to continue listening for.
Thank you Kate, for giving me the jazz I was looking for.
-Phil
http://www.kateschutt.com/
Thank you Kate, for giving me the jazz I was looking for.
-Phil
http://www.kateschutt.com/
Highly recommended listening:
Take Everything
You Can Have the Sky
Take Me With You
The Blackout
The Moon Got Broken
Raining
.....
Ah, just get both albums
No comments:
Post a Comment