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"My mother was a
piano teacher. We had a beautiful black grand Bluthner in our house
when we grew up. We all played on it but I was obsessed with it from
the age of around four. I was teaching myself and basically it was
my recluse and my best friend. I started lessons when I was around
six years old, I was already playing and then when I got to Grade V
Piano I had an entirely different relationship with it, apart from
exams and classical music.
I was already
composing on it. It didn't seem like a piano to me, it seemed like
this other being that I was discovering that had all these teeth, and
the teeth made sounds, and I couldn't believe that one fitted
with another one to make all these chords. So it was my life. I
started the cello at seven and although I primarily am a cellist, the
piano helped the cello and visa versa. The piano became like an
orchestra because I could play
so many of the parts at the same time.
I discovered jazz
chords and started playing very much by ear which is why I stopped
classical piano after Grade V, I found that the reading just slowed
me down. I knew I wasn't going to be a professional
classical pianist but I would always use the piano. So I started
memorising every single Beatles song I knew, and Elton John,
Kate Bush – anything with the piano. I spent my teens at school
entertaining people with it in the lunch hour. It got me friends, it
didn't necessarily get me boyfriends. It certainly brought musical
attention to me. I wanted to share it. I was writing many piano
pieces and then I began to write songs. When I was 14
I won Birmingham BBC
radio young composers competition with a piano piece called ‘Day
Time Blues and Early Morning Rag’.
When I went to
music college I stopped writing as I wanted to focus on the cello but
I went back to it after. In my second year at music college I
formally started jazz piano lessons and then I realised that the
chords I'd created when I was thirteen actually had a name to them,
and that other things could happen to them; you could invert them and
extend them – that was quite awesome. After college I started to
teach and use a lot of piano for that; I still do. In 2006 I brought
out an album. ‘Something To Tell You’
It's a collection of songs that I had
written over the years; I did all the arrangements for these songs
for the accompanying instruments (string
quartet etc) on the piano. I slightly
take the piano for granted now; it's become part of my body now so I
don't feel quite as obsessed as I used to feel. It's been a
background and a backdrop to the rest of my musical life. I started
jazz piano lessons again last year, it's been a lot of fun to
rediscover this, it's more than a hobby but not particularly in my
professional life as a performer – it is integrated I would say. I
will try to write more songs again soon.
In 1990 I began
my solo show where I perform my own songs. I started out using piano
and later on the cello came in. Now I use both piano and cello in
this show. I integrate singing and comedy.
The piano songs are a mixture of comedy and ballads. ‘That
was spectacular, totally hilarious and genius!’ (audience member)
‘Wide ranging vocals and very funny’ (The Stage) ‘Emotionally
rich songs, thoughtful harmonies, heartfelt reflections on life’
(Musicians Union magazine).
Connect with Kate:
shortt.kate@gmail.com
Next gigs:
Komedia -
Brighton Festival 12th
May
Latest Music bar
– Brighton festival 31st
May
Moors Bar –
17th
May
Moors Bar –Crouch
End Festival – 14th
June
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