Kate McGarry

Growing up as one of ten siblings in the Boston vicinity, Kate McGarry developed an early need to project her voice effectively. She enrolled at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she concentrated on Afro-American music and jazz with guidance from Dr. Horace Boyer and Archie Shepp. After completing her studies, she joined the Boston-based vocal ensemble One O'clock Jump. Regular performances in Monterey opened the door for her to appear as a guest singer alongside Clark Terry and Hank Jones at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Drawn to warmer climates, she relocated to southern California and established herself as a familiar presence on the Los Angeles jazz circuit through frequent sets at Catalina's, the Jazz Bakery, and Café. Her growing reputation prompted the 1992 release of Easy to Love on Vital Music, while her time in Hollywood also led to contributions for the soundtracks of Caught and Boiling Point. Seeking a new direction, she moved back east in 1996 and spent the next three years living and studying at a meditation ashram in New York's Catskills. She resumed her professional path in 1999 by settling in New York City, where she returned to club performances and issued her independently produced second album, Show Me, in early 2001. Palmetto Records later signed her and reissued Show Me in 2003. The 2005 album Mercy Streets presented her interpretations of material by Peter Gabriel, Björk, and Joni Mitchell together with the standards "How Deep Is the Ocean?" and "But Not for Me." The Target appeared to critical praise in 2007, followed by her fifth album, If Less Is More...Nothing Is Everything, in 2008.