Kat Edmonson, Way Down Low

How a singer with a single album could get so under my skin might be a mystery, if I was talking about someone other than Kat Edmonson. 

Back in 2010, Edmonson, with her beautiful voice, enchanted with her debut album Take To The Sky. On that album she took classic standards and contemporary songs and reworked them just enough to build bridges between songs that spanned decades. It was a very special album in part because of her voice and because of her song choices and arrangements. It quickly became one of my favorite albums of the year and Edmonson, one of my favorite artists. 

Now, finally, Kat is back with her follow up album Way Down Low. To say that I am excited about this album is an understatement. Having said this, in full disclosure, I will admit that Edmonson could be singing the dictionary and I would be excited. Her voice is that good. 

On Way Down Low, Edmonson takes a bit of a departure from her first album. Gone are the reworked standards and contemporary songs, like the Cure's Just Like Heaven. Instead a perfect blend of Edmonson's self-written and purposefully chosen songs meld together to produce what she has described as a kind of 'breakup record.' Having this central theme, based on a breakdown in a relationship and her move from Austin to NYC, gives the album a more immediate purpose than her first album and it provides the listener with a direction and journey to follow through her songs.

As on Take To The Sky, Kat's voice shines like no contemporary female artist of her  generation. There is a timeless quality to her voice. As she weaves her stories and songs of love and loss, Edmondson's vocal style can sound at once like it fits in quite nicely with a bevy of mid-century female recording artists, and contemporaries who have the best of today's pop sensibilities. 

What Else Can I Do   

Mostly, Kat has just an amazing natural gift for filling the musical space that her voice occupies with warmth, grace, restraint, and subtlety. It create an emotional tie to her songs and lyrics that grabs a hold of the listener and simply won't let go. While this is not a completely lost art today, there are simply fewer and fewer artists that transcend today's musical trends and styles and own their own unique space. Edmonson is certain one of them and one of my favorites. I absolutely love Way Down Low and I am once again glad to be bewitched by her. 


Lucky

Sounding Out: Yellow Ostrich

Every once in a while I stumble across a band or album that completely excites me. The Mistress is one of these albums and Yellow Ostrich is one of these bands. Using mostly vocals and little else, Alex Schaaf, who records under the name Yellow Ostrich, has created an album that is fresh, interesting, and totally original.

When I first heard this album I was intrigued with the way Schaaf layers his voice to create these choral chamber-like vocal arrangements under what are otherwise very poppy and contemporary oriented songs. Wanting to learn more I tracked down Schaaf in NYC where he had recently moved from his home state of Wisconsin.

After listening to his album and talking with Schaaf, I was not surprised to learn that Schaaf grew up singing in church choirs, school choruses, and jazz a cappella groups starting in jr. high. The influences of his musical background, and his obvious appreciation for the human voice as a true instrument, can be heard throughout the songs and albums that Schaaf has written and recorded over the years.

Mary   

There are so many interesting facets to the way Schaaf constructed the songs on The Mistress, especially the way the vocals/voices and the other instruments are spaced and play off of one another.  I asked Schaaf how much of what the listener hears is by design. Schaaf said “For the album, I had a clear concept from the beginning, which was to make the album using only a few ingredients….to try and make a whole song using only vocals, one guitar, and one four top. I think that it is more interesting sometimes to put a limit on things.” He went on to add that he only wanted to add something if it was going to bring a new dimension to the song. “I wanted to keep things as focused as could be” he said.

This new focus is apparent. What struck me when listened to The Mistress and then earlier Yellow Ostrich recordings was how differently he uses his voice here. Schaaf said that he wanted to put out a sound that was more angular, aggressive, and harsh. He said, “I did not want to make the soft beautiful, and lush album. I wanted something more tribal.”

WHALE   

Given how open and sparse the songs on The Mistress can sound and feel, I was amaze to find out that there are as many as 30 tracks on a given song. After learning this, I commented to Schaaf that layering and building songs like this requires such commitment and patience. I asked him what this said about his personality and approach to song writing and playing. His initial response….a laugh, which I appreciated.

Schaaf is definitely a lover of the process of creating and building his songs. He told me that when he gets an idea he quickly lays down some rough tracks to keep the idea fresh in his mind. He then takes that idea and starts to play with it. He said that his favorite part about being a musician “is being in that moment when I begin to figure out how to turn that idea into a song.” He went on to say that he still likes the performing aspect of being a musician, but if he could only do one thing for the rest of his life, it would be to create.

Talking with Schaaf, I really felt a mid-West sensibility about him, which I think also comes through on his recordings. Given this, I was curious if his move to NYC was producing the kind of creative results that he expected when he left Wisconsin. He said that logistically the move was the right one. He said that access to other musicians and a wider audience has been great. He said in terms of the move's impact on his music and songs "it is hard to tell because I think even without moving here, the style would have changed....and I think that it should change. I don’t think that staying the same is healthy.”

Hold On   

One large change in Yellow Ostrich's approach to writing, recording, and playing has come with the addition of drummer Michael Tapper, who joined Schaaf a few months back. “It is really great to have someone else to bounce ideas off of and not feel so isolated…creatively” Schaaf said. He went on to say that a third musician, Jon Natchez, has also recently joined Yellow Ostrich, expanding the band's sound with horns, woodwinds and bass. 

As our conversation came to a close, I asked Schaaf if he has a favorite song. He said that his favorite song is always the one that he is creating at that moment in time. Circling back to a theme that we had visited earlier on in our conversation, he said he is happiest when he is creating something new. 

If The Mistress is any indication of how Schaaf plans on pushing himself creatively, I have no doubt that he is going to be a very happy musician for many years to come.

You can check out The Mistress and his other albums and EP's at Yellow Ostrich. There is a lot of great music here. I told Schaaf that I particularly enjoyed Happy Birthday on Carousels and the very brief Red Ribbon on Yellow Ostrich.

For those who live in Seattle, Yellow Ostrich will be playing at the Crocodile on March 31th.

Kat Edmonson

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.