Kaki King astounds at World Cafe Live
Mishael Devlin
Issue date: 2/25/05 Section: Entertainment
- Page 1 of 1
Instrumental guitarist Kaki King gave a jaw-dropping performance at the World Cafe Live last Friday.
The concert, which was part of WXPN's Free at Noon Concert Series, was broadcast live on WXPN and hosted by DJ Helen Leicht.
Seated onstage with her hair in a ponytail and wearing a pink tank top, black pinstriped jacket and jeans, King looked very much like some of the college students in the audience. Although she looks likes an ingénue, King's acoustic guitar skills distinguish her as a certified master of musical ingenuity.
King began the concert with "Playing with Pink Noise," a track from her latest CD Legs to Make Us Longer from Epic Records. (King focused on pieces from her latest album for the concert.) Not once during the entire piece did she play in a traditional manner. She fretted and tapped the fingerboard overhand- sometimes with both hands- and intermittently slapped the guitar's body, providing herself with all the percussive beats and rhythm that her melodic runs would need.
Considering the speed of the notes, one would have expected her hands to look like a blur, but they didn't. Even more amazing than her arsenal of techniques is the fact that she can unleash those techniques with effortless, fluid motions.
On her second piece, "Neanderthal," King played in the traditional manner, demonstrating that she has mastered this technique as well.
She continued using the traditional technique on "Magazine," a piece with a jazzy, tropical feel. She added some percussion to the piece by striking the bracelet on her right wrist against the guitar as she played. King said that it makes her day each times she plays the speeding deluge of chords that end "Magazine." Judging by the applause and delighted laughter, it made the audience's day also.
After switching guitars to perform the ironically bright-sounding "Lies," King was briefly interview by host Helen Leicht. King said that some of her musical influences include finger style guitarists like Alex DeGrassi, Nick Drake and Michael Hedges.
King also said that she played drums between grades four and 12, even playing in concert band, which may explain why she frequently taps into [pun intended] the percussive potential of a hollow-body guitar.
After the interview, King tapped into a different type of guitar, a lap steel, to perform the haunting "Can the Gwot Save us Now?", on which she showed that she can even juggle sliding with her other guitar-playing skills.
After returning to her black acoustic guitar from the lap steel, King introduced "Doing the Wrong Thing," by saying that part of the piece was angry. If "angry" is characterized by beautifully intricate folk-inspired music, I wish I could experience her type of "angry."
While attempting to change her guitar's tuning, she broke a string. She nonchalantly responded to the audience's collective gasp with "Don't worry; I have another one," referring to another guitar. As she began tuning her tan acoustic guitar, another string popped. This time, King was just as surprised as the audience, however she didn't panic. After confiding in the audience that she rarely breaks that many strings in such a short time span, she announced with confidence "Don't worry; I have a third," and reached for her lap steel to begin playing "Ingots."
To accompany herself on "Ingots," King recorded and looped different melodic and rhythmic patterns using a foot pedal, adding layer upon layer. Apparently, her dexterity is not limited to her hands.
The official end to the show was when King briefly danced in her seat to the groove that she created on "Ingots."
She did, however, return to the stage to perform a one-song encore; she played the track hidden on "My Insect Life" from her latest CD on the kotar, a guitar-like instrument which she played like the lap steel and which sounds like the lap steel's Eastern cousin.
In a time when it seems like there are artists who are more product than they are productive, it's refreshing to see a musician like Kaki King who can command an audience while armed with nothing more than raw talent, irreverent wit and an acoustic guitar.
Rating: 5 Triangles
 Media Credit: Mishael Devlin Kaki King changes a string. Hey, that rhymes! |
The concert, which was part of WXPN's Free at Noon Concert Series, was broadcast live on WXPN and hosted by DJ Helen Leicht.
Seated onstage with her hair in a ponytail and wearing a pink tank top, black pinstriped jacket and jeans, King looked very much like some of the college students in the audience. Although she looks likes an ingénue, King's acoustic guitar skills distinguish her as a certified master of musical ingenuity.
King began the concert with "Playing with Pink Noise," a track from her latest CD Legs to Make Us Longer from Epic Records. (King focused on pieces from her latest album for the concert.) Not once during the entire piece did she play in a traditional manner. She fretted and tapped the fingerboard overhand- sometimes with both hands- and intermittently slapped the guitar's body, providing herself with all the percussive beats and rhythm that her melodic runs would need.
Considering the speed of the notes, one would have expected her hands to look like a blur, but they didn't. Even more amazing than her arsenal of techniques is the fact that she can unleash those techniques with effortless, fluid motions.
On her second piece, "Neanderthal," King played in the traditional manner, demonstrating that she has mastered this technique as well.
She continued using the traditional technique on "Magazine," a piece with a jazzy, tropical feel. She added some percussion to the piece by striking the bracelet on her right wrist against the guitar as she played. King said that it makes her day each times she plays the speeding deluge of chords that end "Magazine." Judging by the applause and delighted laughter, it made the audience's day also.
After switching guitars to perform the ironically bright-sounding "Lies," King was briefly interview by host Helen Leicht. King said that some of her musical influences include finger style guitarists like Alex DeGrassi, Nick Drake and Michael Hedges.
King also said that she played drums between grades four and 12, even playing in concert band, which may explain why she frequently taps into [pun intended] the percussive potential of a hollow-body guitar.
After the interview, King tapped into a different type of guitar, a lap steel, to perform the haunting "Can the Gwot Save us Now?", on which she showed that she can even juggle sliding with her other guitar-playing skills.
After returning to her black acoustic guitar from the lap steel, King introduced "Doing the Wrong Thing," by saying that part of the piece was angry. If "angry" is characterized by beautifully intricate folk-inspired music, I wish I could experience her type of "angry."
While attempting to change her guitar's tuning, she broke a string. She nonchalantly responded to the audience's collective gasp with "Don't worry; I have another one," referring to another guitar. As she began tuning her tan acoustic guitar, another string popped. This time, King was just as surprised as the audience, however she didn't panic. After confiding in the audience that she rarely breaks that many strings in such a short time span, she announced with confidence "Don't worry; I have a third," and reached for her lap steel to begin playing "Ingots."
 Media Credit: BruceMoore.com Apparently, Kaki King rarely breaks guitar strings. In Philadelphia, she was going through them left and right. Maybe it´s something about our pollution levels? |
To accompany herself on "Ingots," King recorded and looped different melodic and rhythmic patterns using a foot pedal, adding layer upon layer. Apparently, her dexterity is not limited to her hands.
The official end to the show was when King briefly danced in her seat to the groove that she created on "Ingots."
She did, however, return to the stage to perform a one-song encore; she played the track hidden on "My Insect Life" from her latest CD on the kotar, a guitar-like instrument which she played like the lap steel and which sounds like the lap steel's Eastern cousin.
In a time when it seems like there are artists who are more product than they are productive, it's refreshing to see a musician like Kaki King who can command an audience while armed with nothing more than raw talent, irreverent wit and an acoustic guitar.
Rating: 5 Triangles
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Anonymous
posted 7/29/06 @ 6:23 AM EST
You bet!
audrey newhouse
posted 5/08/07 @ 8:57 PM EST
she is sutch a babe!!
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