The unique and ever-twisting road to Karen Mack’s emergence as an indie jazz vocalist has been nothing short of fascination. Moving to NYC to pursue her career in the late 90s, the veteran multi-faceted songwriter and performer built on a strong behind the scenes resume to launch her recording career with a pop rock album.
In the 20 years since, she’s shifted gears dramatically, embracing her passion for jazz in various vocal ensembles – including Those Girls, an all-female quartet that performed at Carnegie Hall and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Since reassessing her future during the pandemic down time, she returned to her love of vocal jazz and songwriting and currently has a residency at Pangea in the East Village – a great place to share her beautiful, gently soulful vocals, love for ballads and exciting swing tunes and the overall freewheeling magic she brings to her long-awaited jazz debut Catch & Keep. Co-produced and featuring arrangements by Peter Eldridge (New York Voices), the compelling 12 track collection evolved organically from its original concept of an EP of standards as a gift for Mack’s mother in law’s birthday.
While a supple, adaptable voice like hers would make even a set of conventional Songbook tunes pop, it’s to her and Eldridge’s credit that they venture way outside the box for a batch of tunes that are mostly so obscure that they sound like new compositions. The only tune that’s even vaguely familiar to casual ears is her splendid, and percussively exotic twist on Basia’s “From Now On” (an album cut, naturally, not a hit) that combines Mack’s breezy voice with the simmering energy of her ensemble. This song fits into the idea of the album being a showcase in part for lovely, hip and sometimes humorous tunes written or co-written by female songwriters.
Other wonderful celebrations of this include the snappy, easy swinging opener “Nothing Like You” (Bob Dorough/Fran Landesman), a hip showcase for Mack’s witty phrasing; the dreamy acoustic gem “Here Is Everything” (by Italian jazz singer Chiara Civello); the clever, jaunty story song “I Wanna Get Married,” penned by Nellie McKay; and the spirited, humorous closing track “It’s Hard to Say Goodbye,” a duet with pianist Elliot Roth.
Mack shares her own formidable songwriting prowess in collaboration with Eldridge on the sweet, seductive “November Day” (co-written with Roth) and the bustling, easy swinging “Hurry Up and Wait.” Riffing off the album’s unique title, jazz vocal fans will want to catch and keep this album and hopefully many more future solo projects by the incredible Karen Mack.
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