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July 31, 2024
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PROLIFIC RECORDING ARTIST, VOCALIST CATHY SEGAL-GARCIA
RELEASES FOLLOW-UP TO SOCIAL ANTHEMS, VOL. 1
SOCIAL ANTHEMS, VOL. 2
Released August 30, 2024 on Dash-Hoffman Records
SOCIAL ANTHEMS VOLUME 2, the newest album by vocalist CATHY SEGAL-GARCIA, is a follow-up to her 2021 release, Social Anthems Volume 1. Like Volume 1, the new release is compilation of songs that speaks to the tumultuous times we live in. SOCIAL ANTHEMS VOLUME 2 is her 16th project as a leader.
As a songwriter, teacher, impresario, and jazz writer, Segal-Garcia is a pillar of the Los Angeles jazz scene. A prolific recording artist and an exceptionally creative singer who’s not afraid to take chances, each of her projects is stylistically different than those that came before. All About Jazz says, “She's simply a weaver of dreams, a starry-eyed wanderer and free spirit who, nevertheless, possesses strong artistic instincts and the organizational savvy to pull off one unique project after another.”
From duets, to trios, to quartets, to a full-blown jazz orchestra, each of Segal-Garcia’s albums usually features a different band configuration. VOLUME 2 features some A-list Los Angeles musicians. CAREY FRANK (piano, B3, synths) has worked many top names in jazz and pop, such as Tedeschi Trucks Band, Michael Bublé, Veronica Swift, Mike Garson, Hot Tuna, The Wood Brothers, Jane Monheit, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Bruce Springsteen, to name just a few. NICK MANCINI (vibes) is a bandleader and much sought-after sideman who has worked with the likes of Arturo Sandoval, Peter Erskine, Poncho Sanchez, Kenny Werner, and Kamasi Washington. Guitarist WILL BRAHM has worked with Arturo Sandoval, the New West Guitar Group, Gordon Goodwin’s “Big Phat Band,” Kim Richmond, Otmaro Ruiz, Sara Gazarek, Jane Monheit, and Gretchen Parlato. The album also features three different bass players, ALEX BONEHAM, DAVID PILCH, and JOHN LEFTWICH, as well as three different drummers, STEVE HASS, JAY BELLEROSE, and CHRIS WABICH. She also shares the microphone with three of her favorite vocalists, MON DAVID, PAUL JOST, and KANGA LAVRADO. David and Jost also appeared on Volume 1.
A consummate jazz artist, Segal-Garcia has a warm, alto voice. Whether she is singing a swing tune or a tender ballad or scatting a bebop line, she captions the emotional depth of a song, conveying her innate honesty and deeply held convictions. For VOLUME 2, Segal-Garcia chose some of her favorite pop tunes from the 1970s through the 90s. They not only contain messages that resonate with her, but they had to be amenable to jazz arrangements. The events of the last few years -- Covid, wars, racism, the ecology disaster that is rapidly unfolding -- are all fodder for her art.
She opens the album with Peter Gabriel’s love song “In Your Eyes.” According to Gabriel, the lyrics can refer to either a romantic relationship between a man and a woman or a divine relationship between someone and God. Segal-Garcia was drawn to its soulful lyrics about hope and sadness. One of Marvin Gaye’s most socially conscious tunes is the funky “Inner City Blues,” from What’s Going On, depicting the bleak conditions of the inner-city.
Segal-Garcia does a bluesy duet version of Stevie Wonder’s “Living in the City” with Mon David, who also appeared on Volume 1. He and Segal-Garcia are good friends and have been collaborating for years. Segal-Garcia says, “Mon and I very compatible musically. We even have many of the same songs in our repertoire. We also share views about social justice. I just love his intensity.”
“Russians/My Russia” is a mashup of music by Sting and Prokofiev plus a Segal-Garcia composition originally on her Secret Life album. She wanted a marching feel for the tune to highlight its sobering message. David and Kanga Lavrado, a Los Angeles vocalist, sing backup on this song. “The Book of Love” is another song by Peter Gabriel. Segal-Garcia duets with New York vocalist Paul Jost. Jost, who also sang on Volume 1, is one of most inventive vocalists on the scene today.
Segal-Garcia is also a prolific songwriter and wrote the soulful, modern song, “The Beginning of You.” The bluesy tune is a paean to youthful love back in the free love days. Segal’s “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” is a Stephen Stills song that appeared on Crosby, Stills, and Nash in 1969. Segal-Garcia’s version is re-imagined via the creative arrangement by Mancini and features background vocals by David and Lavrado.
Much of the music in the late 1960s and early 70s reflected the social conscience of those times. The songs were early influences on Segal-Garcia’s growth as an artist, and their messages are still as relevant today. Segal-Garcia’s warm voice and deep attachment to the lyrics, combined with the hip, updated jazz arrangements and top-notch musicianship, make SOCIAL ANTHEMS VOLUME 2 a relevant and compelling project that reverberate in today’s social and political climate.
About Cathy Segal-Garcia
Cathy Segal-Garcia was born and raised in Boston. Coming from a musical family, she loved jazz since she was five years old. She attended the renowned Berklee College of Music from 1972-1975, studying flute and Arranging & Composition. Segal-Garcia is the co-founder of three organizations dedicated to jazz and the art of singing. She received an award from the “California Lawyers for the Arts” in 2011, from “Jazz Del Corazon” in 2015, and was declared a “Jazz Hero” by JEXA in 2021 for her position as a leader in the Los Angeles jazz community. Segal-Garcia is a respected vocal clinician and coach. Besides her extensive private teaching, she has been a jazz vocal professor at CSULA, Occidental College, Musicians Institute, LACM, and Idyllwild Arts Academy. Cathy travels to Buenos Aires, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Australia, Korea, England to record and perform, and considers Japan her home away from home, having traveled there frequently since 1990.
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SOCIAL ANTHEMS, VOL. 2 was released on August 30, 2024 on Dash-Hoffman Music and is available at Bandcamp and on all streaming platforms.
Online:
Cathysegalgarcia.com
Bandcamp: Cathysegalgarcia.bandcamp.com/album/social-anthems-volume-2
Facebook.com/cathysegalgarciamusic
IG: @cathysegalgarcia
Twitter: @cathysegalgarcia
Cathy Segal-Garcia Social Anthems, Volume 2
Dash Hoffman Records | 2024
Music Review by Wild Mercury Rhythm by C. Michael Bailey
Cathy Segal-Garcia has put together an impressive discography over the last decade: In2uition (Dash Hoffman Records, 2017), The Jazz Chamber (Dash Hoffman Records, 2018), Dreamsville (Dash Hoffman Records, 2019), Social Anthems, Volume 1 (Origin Records, 2021), Live in Japan (Origin Records, 2022). Social Anthems, Volume 1 featured Stephen Stills’ “For What It’s Worth” and keen mash up of the Youngbloods’ “Get Together” with Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home.” Volume 2 seeks more elusive fruit, songs precious to Segal-Garcia.
With this recording, Segal-Garcia recasts familiar songs in the guise of other artists. After transforming Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” from a love song into an international political mantra in her smoothest voice tempered by Nick Mancini’s vibraphone. They sharpened Marvin Gaye's definitive statement, "Inner City Blues/Make Me Wanna Holler," turning it into a Les McCann "Compared To What" funkfest propelled by Will Brahm's palm-muted guitar figure..
The wonderful Mon David joins Segal-Garcia on Stevie Wonder’s “Living For The City” again nudging Wonder’s original intention into a softer, gospel-tinged direction. guided by Carey Frank’s Hammond B3, pushed along by Brahm’s muted chords. Lattice like, the song remains potently effective. Segal-Garcia welcomes Paul Jost on a second Peter Gabriel offering “The Book Of Love.” Jost insinuates himself like a lover into Segal-Garcia’s vision, weaving in and out of the most elaborate arrangement on the disc. Segal Garcia transforms Stephen Still's "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" into an untethered song of wonder and suspicion. The most inventive and potent song is the intersection of Sting’s “Russians,” Segal-Garcia’s “My Russia,” and a ripple of Serge Prokofiev on “Russians/My Russia.” If this collection has a heartbeat, this is it.
Music Review by JW Vibe by Jonathan Widran
A brilliant lyricist and songwriter in addition to being a vocalist who sets the contemporary jazz standard for exciting, otherworldly re-imaginings of pop standards, L.A. Jazz treasure Cathy Segal-Garcia summed up the mission of her unique Social Anthems series brilliantly in the liner notes of her Volume 1 set in 2021. She wrote, “Music is capable of seeping into the cracks of our lives, touching on our pain and vulnerabilities, so ultimately it can offer us hope and healing."
A few years after the pandemic, the world is in even greater need of that, and Cathy continues to mine fresh ways to provide that on her equally impactful, adventurously arranged and powerfully performed album Social Anthems Volume 2.
Vibing with an ever-inventive ensemble of fellow L.A. greats, including pianist and B-3 master Carey Frank, vibraphonist Nick Mancini and guitarist Will Brahm, the singer’s approach to socially conscious jazz is to boldly address the fraught, anxious state of the sociopolitical zeitgeist of today via dazzlingly original interpretations of politically charged classic rock jams of previous generations. Perhaps her most imaginative fusions of past and present is the tense, hypnotic and bluesy-atmospheric take on Sting’s mid-80’s classic “Russians” where she cleverly updates the story by switching out Kruschev and Reagan for Putin and Biden and for good measure adding a few narrative bars of Prokofiev and her own 2022 composition “My Russia.”
Elsewhere, she continues the soulfully astute sensitivity of the Marvin Gaye aesthetic that she began on Vol 1 with “Save the Children” with a bubbly, passionately phrased (and vibes-infused) take on “Inner City Blues/Make Me Wanna Holler” – so much a centerpiece of the action here that Cathy includes a Remix as a bonus cut.
It’s testament to Cathy’s rich artistry as a songwriter that her lone original, the offbeat, slightly bluesy and crafty internal rhyme filled “The Beginning of You,” fits comfortably among two Peter Gabriel classics – the opener “In Your Eyes” and “Book of Love,” sung as a charming, world-wise duet with Paul Jost – and consciousness shifting classics by Stevie Wonder “Living for the City,” featuring powerhouse vocalist Mon David. Then ending it all with Crosby, Stills & Nash “Suite Judy Blue Eyes”.
Music Review by All About Jazz by Nick Mondello
Los Angeles-based Renaissance woman Cathy Segal-Garcia is well-known as an innovator, trailblazer and an artist who sets her own artistic paths. As a vocalist, composer/arranger, broadcaster, educator and more, she has never shied away from risk. Social Anthems, Vol. 2 follows the first volume which also was a production with socially conscious themed material. With this effort she sends up eight tracks comprised of well-known selections and originals, all with that same orientation.
"In Your Eyes" leaves the gate with Segal-Garcia's alto delivering Peter Gabriel's poetic words over a mild rock feel. It molds into a second chorus with a vocal chorus, brief piano and vibraphone statements, all leading to a symbolic board fade. The social statement of Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues/Make Me Wanna Holler" has Garcia launching over a polyrhythmic base. She moves into the tune's political/cultural message with unrestrained fury. There is integrity and honesty in how she inflects the lyric turmoil, encouraged by the action around and below. This is a very engaging track. The urban perspective continues with Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City" in a soulfully slow take with Carey Frank's B3 adding church and Mon David joining Segal-Garcia. The duo back-forth adds a significant dimension to the track. Segal-Garcia scats alternately with David as Nick Mancini's vibes and Will Brahm's guitar support. "Russians/My Russian" melds Sting's pro-peace piece and a Segal-Garcia original. The ominous nature of the message is presented with Segal-Garcia fervor, overall ensemble grandeur, and expansiveness. An organ solo and chorus, as well as a quote from Prokofiev's "Lieutenant Kije Suite" and martial snare reinforce the lyric.
Across the session, Segal-Garcia is deeply engaged into each of the various song types. She is chameleon-like, as she deftly moves from a rock to a jazz to a soul-blues format. One senses her penchant for lyrics and her flair for their vocal inflection. The musicians are all Los Angeles A-Listers and all provide a significant frame—and space—for her interpretations.
Vocalist Paul Jost joins Segal-Garcia in a folk vibe on Gabriel's "Book of Love." Not to be confused with the "Monotones" '50s doo-wop classic. The interplay between Jost and Segal-Garcia is expressive with both lyrically confident and neither artist giving way. It is very much a "performance" track, as their effort is at that kind of intensity level. "The Beginning of You" launches with a dark bass riff and a 12/8 shuffle feel. Segal-Garcia lets all emotion fly in this jazz-hip original. Frank's B3 solos over a pulsing march base and a Will Brahm guitar solo. The tone changes with "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes." With arguably one of the most frequent sing-along interludes of the '60s, Segal-Garcia presents the Crosby, Stills & Nash hit, as expected, in her own sweet way. With tempo a tad slower than the hit and with some re-harmonization, she enters over vibraphone and ensuing rhythm base. The stop-time adds a nice flair. The texture alters midway with tempo slowing and things more solemn. A remixed and harder-edged version of "Inner City Blues/Make Me Wanna Holler" is an included bonus track that is as interesting and hip as its prior, tamer presentation. The track has it all: drive, funk, and Segal-Garcia's electricity.
Track Listing
In Your Eyes; Inner City Blues/Makes Me Wanna Holler; Living for the City; Russians/My Russia; Book of Love; The Beginning of You; Suite: Judy Blue Eyes; Bonus Track: Inner City Blues (Kapitan Remix).