Marina & The Kats
Band
Just one year ago Marina & The Kats, the smallest Big Band on Earth, released their Debut LP “Small“. Now they are back in the studio. And this time the outcome is a vinyl double-album called “Wild“, with enough room for 16 songs.
Marina and her cats are remaining faithful to their style and their slogan SWING SWING SWING. Having the experience and know-how of over 100 live-concerts under their paws, they’re diving even deeper into the driving sound of the Juke Joints and Ballrooms. Racy gypsy guitars, nimble melodies, airy snare drums and Marinas uniquely charming voice meld into a nostalgic cocktail - ready to be enjoyed either at breakfast or in the evenings at the dance café, bringing immediate smiles to everyone.
While on “Small“ Marina sang about how life goes if one’s a bit short of stature, she shows us on “Wild“ that behind a sweet, innocent exterior there can lurk a rascal. In “Easy does“ she wonders why everyone rushes to work in the early morning after her having just come back from a wild and crazy dance party. She loves playing pranks on “Bamboozle Boogie“, squabbles with her lover on the bluesy “Mrs. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde“ and tries to distract with a syrupy, innocent air all that she got away with (“Wild“). Marina is a girl who wears the pants, and in the outspoken “Treat me nice“, she makes things clear on how a man should treat a woman.
She knows how to help herself to the candy on the top shelf and she dances the seductive Cha Cha of a Femme Fatale (“Sweets On The Top Shelf“).
Once in a while she’ll dream of peaceful times like on “Moon On The Hill“, that’s spiced with a swift vibraphone, or she’ll wonder about impermanence (“Forever Young“.)
She declares her love of coffee (in the heartwarming C O F F E E) and to her hometown (“I Feel For You“); she tries to seduce with recipes (“Superb“), and just likes dancing her feet to a red hot glow. (“Shim Sham“).
The album is topped off with two cover versions: Guns N’ Roses classic “Paradise City“, and “And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine“, once already sang by the unforgettable Anita O’Day along with Stan Kenton.
With Marina & The Kats you take a dreamy journey into the times of Djano Reinhart and Cab Calloway, the Divas and the Crooners, the Lindy Hops and the Collegiate Shags, the Radio shows and the Revue theatres, the Miròs and the Picassos, the Peek-A-Boo’s and the Victory Rolls, the Buick Rivieras and the Cadillac Convertibles, between the dim Cotton Club of Harlem and the sun sparkling palm trees of Santa Monica, and you still land softly in the here and now.