Friday, March 16   9:00 p.m.
Elephant Room   (315 Congress Ave)

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  Kathleen Grace Band (KGB) - Songbird
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What happens when a lover of Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell gets a jazz education? The answer is found in the music of Kathleen Grace. Her repertoire is often compared to Madeleine Peyroux and Bill Frisell, and her voice to the pure sound of a bell ringing.

Following up her critically acclaimed debut CD, "Sunrise" (2005), Kathleen Grace has now embarked on an eclectic musical project, The Kathleen Grace Band. Their first recording, Songbird, features a mix of full band arrangements as well as intimate duo storytelling.

Straying from the confines of straight-ahead standards, they play Brazilian with the early Beatles and bring modern-day momentum to a classic, "Surrey with Fringe on Top." Grace adds her own lyric to the Pat Metheny hit, "Travels" (I Return to you) which describes the heartache of life on the road. The closing song, "Away with Me" written by Grace, highlights the unique musical communication between the composer and her guitarist Perry Smith. Their undeniable chemistry is the central ingredient in the Kathleen Grace Band.

The band grew out of the two-year musical collaboration between Grace and Smith, both graduates of the Thornton School of Music at USC. The two have been playing in clubs around the western US and Canada, performing their original songs and inventive arrangements. Kathleen Grace and Perry Smith are each award-winning composers in their own right: Grace was awarded a spot at the 2004 Betty Carter Jazz Ahead residency for young composers at the Kennedy Center, and Smith won ASCAP's 2006 Young Composer Award.

Rounding out the band are Ryan McGillicuddy on bass, Andrew Fockel on drums, Matt Politano on piano and Bobby Wilmore on percussion.