Although having had no formal training, the 27-year-old singer Kat Edmonson made her mark in the jazz world with her debut release, Take to the Sky . The album features this amazing rendition of "Summertime" (see video above) which I've been playing on repeat. Icing on the cake? An outro consisting of lines from Nina Simone's classic song, "Feeling Good". Check it!

As we did last year , below you will find a list of some of our suggestions for bands you should check out at this year's South by Southwest music festival in Austin. There's one listed for each letter of the alphabet, along with an MP3 sample and a show listing for when and where to catch each band. (Note: we've listed solo artists under the letter of their FIRST name and bands with "the" in their title as if there were no "the" simply because it looks better this way.) Please leave your own [...]

An artist from Austin and not a subtle chord change in sight. Yep this tune from Kat Edmonson is shorn of much of the decoration that you'd expect from that neck of the woods. That doesn't in the least bit inhibit its ability to sound spellbinding however; all you'll need this cold winter evening is Kat's voice and some background sounds made with a Fisher-price toy. 'Lucky' clocks in at sub 3 minutes but is blessed with such clarity you can be assured of a genuine jolt of happiness. KD Kat Edmonson - [...]
Wednesday, December 16, 2009 Top 5 albums of the year is always a love/hate list to write for me. First of all, I love going back through the posts I've written through the year and seeing what albums "stuck," and which ones didn't quite have the lasting power that I predicted. But I also have a ridiculously hard time choosing and then ordering the albums based on some kind of nebulous criteria. I feel fairly certain that these 5 represented those that I personally enjoyed the most, and the ones that I listened to [...]

I was never a real fan of goth-rock, though as I've written about before, pretty much anything that made the Top 40 in the 80s seems to linger in the minds and hearts of both my own generation and the artists it has since spawned. And The Cure was undeniably the most prevalent band of its type in mainstream mall culture when I was growing up: in my early adolescence, I dated several girls with somber black-and-white Robert Smith posters on their bedroom walls, and - looking back - can only suppose that the band's [...]

It's rare that I write about modern jazz and its rarer still that I find a modern jazz artist who stops me in my tracks after just one listen. Enter Kat Edmonson , a talented young jazz singer from Austin, Texas, who has done just that by literally throwing the brakes on nearly all of my forward momentum. Sure I'm a little late to the game, as Edmonson's debut album Take to The Sky has been available now for close to two months, but sometimes its better to be late [...]

RANDOM GOODNESS! Different genres, different time frames,from calming Jazz that is perfect for this rainy day here in Orlando, Florida to right out of the oven remixes from Doorly that will get you ready to party this weekend. It has been a very busy Friday so I was not able to write a short description about each song, but I will be updating this post soon. Jazz Kat Edmonson - Just One Of Those Things Download audio file (justoneofthosethings.mp3) [...]
Kat Edmondson probably shouldn't be a jazz singer. She's young, and from Austin, which means how she wound up singing jazz and not blues, country, folk or indie-rock is anyone's guess. (That said, if ... Continue reading "MP3 of the Day: Kat Edmondson" >
Kat Edmonson - Just One Of Those Things (mp3) * "Kittenish" jazz singer covers Cole Porter. From Kat Edmonson's new album Take To The Sky , on which she successfully covers everyone from The Cure and The Cardigans to Gershwin and Lennon. *mp3 hosted by & posted w/ permission of Shore Fire Media Buy @ Amazon ***** Alexa Woodward - Spoon (mp3) * Unusually pretty, melodic banjo ballad from Woodward's new album Speck . Recommended [...]
Esta semana en Planeta Pop las nuevas canciones de The Magic Kids, Yo La Tengo, Jack Peñate, The Clean, Wilco, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Savoir Adore, The Drums, O'Spada, Kat Edmonson, Los Glosters, Au Revoir Simone, Kennedy, Sr. Nadie, Cave Singers, The Sunday Drivers, Stellastarr, Bombay Bicycle Club, Jason Lytle o God Help The Girl, de los que puedes ver aquí un nuevo vídeo con la renovada Funny Little Frog . ¿Se nota que me gusta lo nuevo de Stuart Murdoch? Consulta la playlist completa y escucha Planeta Pop en Onda [...]
Sunday, June 7, 2009 This week we have the second offerings from two excellent Austin bands, one an up-and-coming master of pop and jazz, the other a group of diligent songwriters who make the meaninglessness of the moniker "indie rock" all the more apparent. Check it out! Kat Edmonson - Take To The Sky Kat Edmonson made waves last year with her socially-rousing single Be The Change, which overnight grew into a YouTube sensation (I'll never get used to that word) and a local best seller. [...]
Gliss - Morning Light Gliss @ MySpace Kat Edmonson - Just Like Heaven (The Cure Cover) Kat Edmonson @ MySpace Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics - Masenqo (Radio Edit) Mulatu Astatke @ MySpace, The Heliocentrics @ MySpace Papercuts - Future Primitive Papercuts @ MySpace Freeland - Under Control Freeland @ MySpace
Like Melody Gardot & Norah Jones, Houston born and now Austin based singer Kat Edmonson skirts worlds of jazz and pop with an intimate and relaxed approach to singing and performing. She covers songs by The Cure and Cole Porter, The Cardigans, Carole King and George Gershwin on her album Take To The Sky with the confidence and charm of a young Peggy Lee. Here's an original song that was featured

Kat Edmonson is a fresh, young voice to emerge in the jazz scene with her debut album 'Take To The Sky' recently released... No wait come back! Beside the obligatory standards like 'Summertime' & 'Night And Day', she also offers a unique spin on more contemporary hits, two of which is 'Just Like Heaven' and 'Lovefool'. To be honest, I was too suspicious of how she would reimagine these songs into her smooth, classic jazz style, but she seems to pull it off with ease. In short, I dig her versions. My favorite is probably 'Lovefool', though. [...]

Kat Edmonson is a fresh, young voice to emerge in the jazz scene with her debut album 'Take To The Sky' recently released... No wait come back! Beside the obligatory standards like 'Summertime' & 'Night And Day', she also offers a unique spin on more contemporary hits, two of which is 'Just Like Heaven' and 'Lovefool'. To be honest, I was too suspicious of how she would reimagine these songs into her smooth, classic jazz style, but she seems to pull it off with ease. In short, I dig her versions. My favorite is probably 'Lovefool', though. [...]

Austin's Kat Edmonson won me over before she'd even taken to World Cafe Live's upstairs stage. I was excited to see bongos on stage, even more so when when the upright bass appeared, but it was the trumpet that assured me I was in for a great set. Edmonson's introduction by headliner Kate Schutt solidified just what the crowd was in for. Schutt recounted the first time she saw Edmonson in Austin, saying she was "thoroughly impressed and overwhelmed" and that Edmonson is "on of the most importmant singers to come along." It was a big [...]
Filed under: Free MP3 of the Day Artist: Kat Edmonson Songs: 'Lucky' Album: 'Lucky' [ iTunes ] Sounds Like : Regina Spektor , Nellie McKay Download: 'Lucky' (MP3) [Get Winamp] [Download Help] Next [...]

Rollo & Grady is starting a new feature where we will highlight the Top 10 weekly sellers from our favorite independent record stores in the US. Waterloo Records - Austin 1. Bob Dylan - Together Through Life 2. Black Joe Lewis - Tell 'Em What Your Name Is 3. Flatlanders - Hills and Valleys 4. Slaid Cleaves - Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away 5. Kat Edmonson - Take To The Sky 6. Del [...]
Any young jazz singer that feels comfortable tackling The Cure or The Cardigans alongside Cole Porter and George Gershwin is OK in our book. And for 25-year-old Austin, TX artist Kat Edmonson that's just half the story. Described as "memorable and contagious" by NPR, the waif-like singer possesses a voice that matches her appearance with a lighter-than-air coolness that emphasizes interpretive phrasing over passionate power. The effect is startlingly simple and matter-of-fact...and disarmingly appealing. [...]