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Yeah, I know, Kat's been off Idol for almost 2 years now, but I stumbled across a rendition of "'Ain't Got Nothin' but the Blues" from the '80s by Joe Williams, a famous jazz singer who was the vocalist of choice for the Count Basie Orchestra (not shown here - a different big band's backing him). If Kat had been allowed more time for this song, I wonder if she would've gotten as crazy as he did in the last half of the tune.
The late Joe Williams was cool (and probably underappreciated).
Thanks, trsf, for finding that. In a way, I almost consider that to be the definitive version of the song--even though I think Ella Fitzgerald's 1950's version (with the songwriter, Duke Ellington and his Orchestra) is still numero uno. I actually like it when it's stretched out like that to help complement the blues sound. Kat's was a little faster tempo--but obviously done to cram it into a 90-second time frame.
I can't see Kat getting that histrionic with the song--even though I hope she records it eventually for whatever project that's apropos. Joe Williams always used those over-the-top vocal touches at the end of some blues songs--just to get the audience into it. And it always worked. He didn't have the greatest voice of all time, yet somehow was compelling--especially with anything blues-related.
There's a lot of lyrics to the song that Kat didn't get to sing that would be interesting to hear her interpret. Her taking the time with that song would probably give you a complete lesson in not only her artistry--but also how she feels about what's happened before (and presently) in her life.
Katharine McPhee fans around the world