Her debut album was called ASCENSION, and you can certainly say that over the course of the next eighteen years, Kat Danser has seen her star both rise and shine brightly. Five releases since 2002 and a reputation for authenticity and integrity in all that she represents, this Canadian powerhouse has, once again, enlisted the rich talents of Steve Dawson as both producer and musician on this new outing. With a core band of Dawson (guitars), Gary Craig (drums) and Jeremy Holmes (bass), the album was conceived and written by Danser at her favourite, La Tienda Cigar Shop in Edmonton, Canada.
Having also studied Cuban culture, Danser has a strong passion for Afro Cuban jazz and the place where it intersects with traditional New Orleans music. Six of the tracks include a full horn section with Kat recording her vocals in Edmonton, and other musicians located at separate locations, while Dawson directed affairs from his Henhouse studio in Nashville. Although they were not able to record in the same room together, the many talents of Dominic Conway, Jeremy Cook and Malcolm Aiken on horns and Kevin McKendree on keyboards, plus Daniel Lapp on violin, trumpet and tenor guitar, all come together in a potent playing mix.
On this release, Kat has also used her love of blues to great effect, beginning the record with superb piano and guitar parts, a great horn arrangement and her vibrant vocal soaring above it all on Way I Like It Done. She ends the track with the words ‘welcome to the party everyone,’ and that really sums up the thirty-eight minutes of superbly crafted music included here. Blues and jazz have always influenced each other and the Mississippi delta, homeplace of the blues, is just a short distance from the New Orleans territories.
The vibrant arrangements include two cover versions, the first, a happy rendition of the late '20s classic, Bring It With You When You Come, by Gus Cannon and the Jug Stompers. They were the premier jug band of those heady days of genre fusion, from skiffle to barrelhouse blues. The joyous sound of this track , with lots of New Orleans sassy attitude and rhythmic swing is really all you need. The second cover, Get Right Church, is a Jessie May Hemphill country blues song from North Carolina that is given a new treatment and additional verses by Kat. The gospel blues feel is what roots music is all about, coupled with the message ‘Don’t get so high on yourself.’
The slow burn of Lonely and the Dragon is full of atmospheric restraint with great organ and guitar sparring, and the message ‘We go chasin’ dragons all through the night, Baby, baby, you are my rock and you are my pipe.’ Frenchman Street Shake is another horn fuelled workout that inspires, with great arrangement and groove, topped by the expressive guitar sound of Steve Dawson.
One Eye Closed is a chance for the core band to release their punkabilly demons with a fine piece of playing, all topped off with an angry, from the gut, vocal attack from Kat. The electric blues of Trainwreck has a fine drum shuffle to propel the guitar runs of Dawson and the slow bluesy feel of Please Don’t Cry follows, with a wonderful violin part from Daniel Lapp, dove-tailing guitar and upright bass and brushed percussion.
End Of Days was written on the cusp of the Covid-19 shutdown last year and is a salve to soothe the troubled spirit with a soulful groove and warm organ sound to bring hope for the future. Mi Corazon (My Heart) is sung in Spanish as a love song to Havana and the influence that it holds, ‘never again be what I was, But why would I want that anyway? Every moment of my life has brought me to you.’
The music of Kat Danser brings out the inner urge to connect with something primal and embrace the rootsy part of what makes us all want to move to a groove. Music to lose yourself in, time and again.