KAT EDMONSON, TAKE TO THE SKY

A girl tries out for American Idol. She makes it to the Hollywood round of 48 only to be told that she was not 'commercial enough' and 'didn't look like a star' and gets cut. Thank goodness. Who knows what musical path Kat Edmonson would be on had she gone further on AI. Over the past 6 years, Edmonson, a native of Austin, TX, has become a standout in the world of young, up and coming, jazz vocalists. Some refer to her as the Billy Holiday of her generation. While that is certainly a tall order to fill, I for one, find her captivating.

On Edmonson's only album to date, Take To The Sky, she shows off what she does so well. On it, she has taken classic standards and contemporary songs, and reworked them just enough to build bridges between songs that may span decades. Yet, she and her pianist/arranger, Kevin Lovejoy, have given each song the respect they deserve by holding on to the essence what what makes them great. But in the end, it is with her beautiful and easy sounding voice, that Edmonson creates classic sounding phrasings that make each song her own. 

Two songs that stand out on her Take To the Sky Album are Cole Porter's Night and Day, and the Cure's Just Like Heaven. With Night and Day, Edmonson takes this classic song and gives it a contemporary edge by throwing down rhythmic patterns with the drums, while the piano sits back in half time, and the base adds a little funk. On Just Like Heaven, Edmonson reinterprets the song as a bossa nova. Here her voice just simply floats over the music and takes the listener to that far away place that she sings about running away to. Honestly, this song has never sounded better.

Edmonson has been busy touring and a few new songs have popped up on her site. I can only hope that this all means that a new album is not too far off in the future. In the mean time, you can also check out her single Lucky. It is an original song that she sort of re-released back in September with a new video. While it strays further away from what she does on her album, it is a simple and beautiful song.