After Kate McGarrigle died of cancer in 2010, her children Rufus and Martha Wainwright and her sister and longtime singing partner Anna McGarrigle organized a series of tribute concerts in London, Toronto and New York. This album presents on two CDs a selection of some of the performances from those dates. In addition to Rufus, Martha and Anna, the artists represent a veritable who’s who of a couple of generations of independent voices in the Canadian and American folk, pop and Americana traditions.
For someone like me who is only peripherally familiar with Kate McGarrigle’s body of work, this collection is an astonishment of riches. And although she is sometimes referred to as a folk musician, these songs demonstrate the wide range of categories into which her songs can fit. Some are as deeply emotional and affecting as anything by her countryman Leonard Cohen, including “Kiss and Say Goodbye,” “I Cried For Us,” “Heart Like A Wheel” and “I Don’t Know.”
Some are pure cabaret, such as “The Work Song,” sung here with panache by Justin Vivian Bond, which deals with the music and performers of the American minstrel tradition. There are French songs like “Jacque et Gilles” and “Dans le Silence” sung by Anna with Lily Lanken and Robert Charlebois, respectively. Gospel-influenced songs like “Over The Hill” (Norah Jones). And so many, many deeply personal songs that are some blend of pop, folk, Broadway musical and European art song: “Go Leave,” in two versions, one by Antony, the other by Linda and Richard Thompson; “Matapedia” by Martha Wainwright; “I Eat Dinner” by Rufus Wainwright and Emmylou Harris. And another one in two versions, “Tell My Sister,” sung simply and powerfully by Peggy Seeger and more emotively by Martha. A good example is “I Am A Diamond,” sung here by Rufus and Martha, from a film of the concerts:
But there are indeed some that are just plain great folk songs, such as “The Swimming Song” (Jimmy Fallon), “Saratoga Summer Song” (Teddy Thompson), “On My Way To Town” (Anna) and more. This set is broad and deep in its reach, as is the music of Kate and Anna McGarrigle. It concludes with some performances even more poignant than the rest: Anna, Rufus and Martha singing “Dink’s Song” along with Chaim Tannenbaum and Lanken; Harris singing her “Darlin’ Kate”; the ensemble singing “Love Over and Over” and a recorded appearance by Kate herself.
You can listen to samples and learn more at the Nonesuch website [http://www.nonesuch.com/albums/sing-me-the-songs]. Enjoy this tribute album, then go seek out some of those great, great albums by Kate & Anna. I know I’m going to.
(Nonesuch, 2013)
