Kal Cahoone and the Dirty Pretty at the Walnut Room

With an Edith Piaf-esque warble, Kal Cahoone's vocals could be heard warming the music of Roger Green and Munly with its Old World charm. Cahoone's most prominent role in a project up to now was in the Latin-flavored Americana of Tarantella. Her strong presence could be intense at times, but...

By Tom Murphy

September 29, 2010

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With an Edith Piaf-esque warble, Kal Cahoone's vocals could be heard warming the music of Roger Green and Munly with its Old World charm. Cahoone's most prominent role in a project up to now was in the Latin-flavored Americana of Tarantella. Her strong presence could be intense at times, but there was no denying her mysterious charisma. With Kal Cahoone and the Dirty Pretty (due on Saturday, October 2, at the Walnut Room), she's departed from adopting any style but her own while creating a compelling alloy of the vocal tricks she learned along the way. This project's pacing is reminiscent of the languid and gently soulful phrasings of Cesaria Evora, while the dusky atmospheres and spare melodies strike a perfect balance of the earthy and the otherworldly, like a particularly hushed Jeff Buckley working with Tarnation on an interpretation of Joy Division.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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