Kat Edmonson

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Scottsdale, AZ, February 15, 2020

Reviewed by Lynn Timmons Edwards

The Scottsdale Center for the Arts presents not just the familiar performers but up-and-coming artists of all genres. Kat Edmonson has a loyal following as I learned from the gentlemen, Ian and Jorge, who were seated next to me. They stream her music; it now amounts to five albums, the most recent of which is Dreamers Do. After the release of her first recording in 2009 she toured with Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett. A confident performer with a pixie look and a Texas twang, she has branched into a repertoire that ranges from the Great American Songbook to a catalogue of original story songs.

Edmonson opened her set with The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven,” which I only know thanks to Ian. She shared songs from her recent concept album, including the Disney classics “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” and “When You Wish Upon a Star.” Her arrangements can be very dark and rhythmic. I wondered WWT? (What would Walt think?) She began to find a little head voice with “In a World of My Own” from Alice in Wonderland. Her forte is not really her contemporary voice; it’s her honest and original songwriting, which she often mashes with old pop and jazz. Her anti-social media hit, “Old Fashioned Gal,” was the highlight, and she combined it with the John Coltrane tune, “I’m Old Fashioned.”

Her patter was charming, and she seemed genuinely happy to be at her Arizona debut. She told stories from when she was two years old and she and her divorced mother went to the same church with Fred Astaire. The first time she watched Singing in the Rain on television she knew what she wanted to be. “Someone’s in the House” is an interesting song that cabaret artists with bigger voices would be smart to cover; it provided musical interludes for her talented band. Her most vulnerable moment came with her song “A Voice,” which revealed a personally dark time in her past that she includes to try to inspire others to sing away their pain.

The guitarist Adam Levy’s parents were in the audience celebrating their 46th wedding anniversary.  She gave them a shout out and offered up the Gershwins’ “Love Is Here to Stay”— music to the ears of the Great American Songbook fans.

She was backed by Roy Dunlap (keyboards), Aaron Thurston (drums), Adam Levy (guitar), and Bob Hart (bass).