Kaia Kater
Janice Reid/Courtesy of the artist
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Janice Reid/Courtesy of the artist
Kaia Kater
Janice Reid/Courtesy of the artist
- “The Web”
- “Maker Taker”
- “In Montreal”
- “Rising Down”
There was a degree early in her profession when Kaia Kater was starting to really feel constrained by the banjo and the historical past tied to her instrument.
“I puzzled, ‘Why am I, as a mixed-race girl residing in Canada, enjoying this Appalachian music that has critical associations with the white [American] South?’ “
Kaia Kater’s newest album is named Unusual Drugs.
Janice Reid/Courtesy of the artist
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Janice Reid/Courtesy of the artist
Kaia Kater’s newest album is named Unusual Drugs.
Janice Reid/Courtesy of the artist
However Kater’s perspective modified utterly after seeing The Carolina Chocolate Drops carry out. The string band, which included Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla and Dom Flemons in its rotation, helped Kater join the dots between the banjo and its roots in West Africa.
“It truly made me really feel like I might really declare this instrument,” Kater says. “I might do no matter I needed. I might simply be as inventive as I needed to be on this instrument. Previous to this, I used to be making an attempt to suit into this concept of what old-time music was — ‘Oh, I’ve to play this completely’; ‘Oh, I’ve to honor the traditions of the place this comes from as a result of this isn’t my music’ — and I feel it flipped the script for me. There is a purpose you are interested in this sound — that is an revolutionary instrument. You do not have to be a museum for this factor. You may put your personal stamp on it, like so lots of your ancestors did.”
On this session, Kater talks about utilizing the banjo in thrilling new methods on her newest album, Unusual Drugs. It is an revolutionary and adventurous file that includes appearances from Allison Russell, Aoife O’Donovan and Taj Mahal.
Kater additionally talks about a number of the file’s extra unconventional influences, like minimalist composer Steve Reich.
“I began to consider it much less as, ‘Okay, what style is that this? What sort of album am I making?’ and extra ‘Okay, what sounds do I like collectively?’,” she says.
Plus, Kaia Kater performs dwell for World Cafe.
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This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and reserving coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.
