Kate McGarry & Keith Ganz

Genevieve & Ferdinand
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Artist: Kate McGarry & Keith Ganz
Genre: Jazz
Label: Sunnyside

Wife-husband combinations can be a double-edged sword: sure, there's the close connection and the telepathic understanding, and rehearsals are certainly easier to organise. But there's also the danger of a lack of artistic rigour, particularly if one partner is more famous or talented than the other. Such accusations cannot be levelled at Kate McGarry and Keith Ganz. McGarry is the perfect storm of a singer, combining authentic feeling as an interpreter with well-honed musical instincts and technical polish. Ganz's deft guitar accompaniments – here on songs from Paul Simon, James Taylor, Toninha Horta and others – are more like counter melodies, creating a mesmerising ebb and flow between the two. The result makes one hope that their first duo recording is not their last. katemcgarry.com

Cormac Larkin

Cormac Larkin

Cormac Larkin, a contributor to The Irish Times, is a musician, writer and director