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To: Kate — A Benefit for Kate's Sake(Western Beat) First Appeared in The Music Box, November 2005, Volume 12, #11 Written by John Metzger
Garry Tallent undoubtedly is best known as the bass player for the E Street
Band, but in crafting his latest project To: Kate — A Benefit for Kate’s Sake,
he assembled a cast of Nashville’s finest outsiders in order to raise funds for
the Children’s Organ Transplant Association. In particular, Tallent is concerned
about the fate of Kate Kirk, a 3-year-old who desperately needs a bone marrow
transplant in order to avoid the fatal effects of Niemann-Pick Disease Type A/B.
As a result, Tallent tapped many of his high-profile friends to perform on the
endeavor. Indeed, only the Big Happy and Bob Delevante can be classified as
unknown commodities, and they successfully hold their own against such
luminaries of the Americana movement as Steve Earle, Jim Lauderdale, and John
Prine. Unlike most Christmas-oriented compilations, the familiar fare on To:
Kate — A Benefit for Kate’s Sake is delivered from a decidedly fresh
perspective. BR549, for example, joyfully gallops through The Christmas Song;
Jeff Black gives Winter Wonderland a soulful twist that blends Billy Joel
with Ray Charles; and Jason & the Scorchers provides Oh! Holy Night with
a punk-infused charge. Even better, the outing largely forsakes more traditional
material in favor of original compositions and more obscure selections. Henry
Gross of Sha Na Na fame explores a jangly, Byrds-ian groove on What a
Christmas; Joe Ely gently waltzes through Bob Dylan’s Winterlude; and
Rosie Flores bastes Christmas Everyday in a shimmering, horn-splattered
arrangement that comes straight out of Motown. Granted, there’s nothing
particularly earth-shattering among To: Kate — A Benefit for Kate’s Sake’s
contents, but all in all, the effort is remarkably consistent and cohesive, and
the proceeds that it generates certainly will be donated to a worthy cause. To: Kate — A Benefit for Kate's Sake is available from For Canadian orders, please Click Here! For UK orders, please Click Here!
Ratings 1 Star: Pitiful
Copyright © 2005 The Music Box
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