Grammy-nominated vocalist Kate McGarry, whose most recent release (2012's Girl Talk) scored top honors on many of last year's Best Of lists, will take a slightly different tack on her first release for Sunnyside Records. Genevieve & Ferdinand, an intimate live set which features McGarry's soaring vocals bolstered by Keith Ganz's melodic acoustic guitar stylings, spans a dazzling stylistic palette. A mix of original compositions and uniquely imaginative interpretations of songs written by the likes of Paul Simon, Todd Rundgren, James Taylor, Toninho Horta, Irving Berlin, and Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein, Genevieve & Ferdinand is McGarry's first duo project and highlights the special connection - musical and emotional - between the singer and her husband of 10 years.Recorded live in concert at Soundpure Studios in Durham, North Carolina, the album is titled after the name the duo performs under. “We both wanted a more poetic band name than just"Kate and Keith Duo’,” explains McGarry. “Genevieve is my middle name. It connects me to a more free spirited side of myself, my inner troubadour, if you will. Keith has always reminded me of Ferdinand, the peaceful bull from that old children's book who only wants to sit under a tree and smell the flowers while the other bulls are fighting. For us, Genevieve & Ferdinand evokes some of the imagery and atmosphere of a playful and mysterious realm we seem to fall into when we make music together.”
Durhamites, Kate McGarry and Keith Ganz return to Sharp Nine Gallery Friday July 25thwith their duo project Genevieve & Ferdinand. Their last show here sold out as did CD release shows in SF, Boston and N.Y.. Here's what critics are saying about the husband and wife duo and their music:
***** (five stars) “Every song on the record is a highlight, thanks to the way McGarry & Ganz play off each other. Ganz brings a subtle sophistication with his fingerpicking style of playing, complementing the eloquence of McGarry’s voice…Heartfelt and elegant, Genevieve and Ferdinand is simple perfection.” ~ Celebrity Cafe
“McGarry…has never been any one thing. Although she’s always identified herself as a jazz singer, she has long mixed jazz standards, hard-to-define originals, and a broad range of sources from contemporary to folk and pop…Between Ganz’s unique acoustic guitar vocabulary, McGarry’s jazz-singer technique (and a sound that matches delicate pliancy with raw physicality,) a broad repertoire, and a shared intuition about how a song wants to go Genevieve and Ferdinand can feel infinitely varied.” ~ The Boston Globe
"A peach of a new album", ~ The New York TImes
“Both have this marvelously expressive economy in their music, not one extraneous flourish, straight to the heart of the matter…the album is a concert recording without a blemish.” ~ International Music Review
“There is no greater beacon of sincerity, honesty and emotional purity than Genevieve and Ferdinand. It doesn’t contain bold proclamations or daring musical acts, but the disc is filled with some of the most genuine music that anybody is likely to ever hear.”
– All About Jazz