The Kate Morrissey Band includes Kate Morrissey on vocals and piano, Charles Harvey on acoustic bass and cello, and John Norris on drums and acoustic guitar. Together, their sound blends elements of classical, folk, jazz, and pop into escruciatingly hip and heartfelt vibrations.
Kate Morrissey is a wandering songstress. From her childhood on the rolling hills of rural South Dakota through Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and now among the Southern bohemia of Athens, GA, she is perfectly at home behind her piano. But Morrissey is best known throughout this corridor for her dark velvet voice whose range and control stands on its own. Morrissey’s songwriting is literate and sincere, and her conversational live shows come punctuated with an off-beat sense of humor.
Charles Harvey was born in Kingsport, Tennessee, and began his musical career playing bluegrass music with his family. He later attended the Blue Bear Waltz School of Rock ‘n Roll in San Francisco, returning to Atlanta in 1974 to play acoustic bass for the local jazz group Unit Structure. He moved to Athens and earned a bachelors degree in music education and a master of performance in double bass. Harvey has performed with such greats as Eddie Harris, Dave Holland, and The Bob Hope orchestra. He has performed in the bass sections of the Savannah, GA and Chattanooga TN, regional symphony orchestras, and served as the musical director and conductor of the Sun Coast Symphony Orchestra. He currently tours out of the Atlanta area.
John Norris is best described as being not just a “human metronome”, but a “soulful metronome.” Trained in a variety of styles – from pop to jazz and Latin beats - Norris gives new meaning to everything he touches. Having played in a variety of jazz groups, Norris brings a level of virtuosity and nuance to his hip-shaking grooves as much as his more orchestral atmospheres. He plays a mean guitar, too.
Land! (2009)
Independent Release
As Reviewed in Flagpole - Feb 11, 2009
South Dakota native (and current UGA grad student) Kate Morrissey is obsessed with going places. At least, that is an apparent theme on her most recent album, Land!. Hell, the opening track is named after one of the most storied travelers in ancient history. On “Ulysses,” Morrissey sings of traveling around the world in a trademark croon that is the focal point of the band. The 27-year-old has a strong, almost acrobatic vocal style. For songs like these, which at times sound like folksy, somber show tunes and at others sound like Joni Mitchell numbers, Morrissey’s voice is vital.
She is not a one-woman show, however. On Land!, Morrissey, a trained pianist who has been playing gigs since she was a child, is joined by bassist/cellist Charles Harvey and drummer/guitarist John Norris. The backing musicians add to the already adult-contemporary quality of Morrissey’s sound, playing obediently behind the singer - mostly. From out of nowhere on mid-album track “Neptune,” drummer Norris breaks with the mild groove and performs an extended drum solo. How’s that fit in with the rest of the record? It doesn’t. But it is well done, and makes for an odd, if interesting, turn in an otherwise consistent, confident song collection.
Mark Sanders
1 Ulysses
2 Oui Tap Dance
3 Never Nothing
4 Born
5 Neptune
6 Emily
7 Messy
8 Stay
9 Andrew
10 The Show Goes On
12 The Little Prince
13 Grow
14 Sky Falls
Nobody, too (2007)
1 Emily
2 Messy
3 Lullabye
4 Nagasaki
5 5 am
6 Stay
7 Good Wishes
8 No Can Do
9 The Clouds
10 Sand
11 Mourn You
12 Nagasaki (Remix)
13 The Happiest Baby Dinosaur Of Them All
a girl in winter (2004)
1 Snow Angel
2 Story
3 Hypothetically
4 Swim
5 Weather
6 Frailty
7 The Little Prince
8 Pants
An Open I (2001)
1 Oui Tap Dance
2 The Show Goes On
3 Fade Away
4 Child
5 The Grateful
6 Jump Start
7 Alone
8 Oh, Love
9 The Me Song
10 The Little Prince
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