Catherine Russell Review Quotes on Debut CD World Village 468063
“After listening to a continuous stream of releases by purported rising jazz singers - who couldn’t have lasted through a chorus in a contest with Ella Fitzgerald or Betty Carter - it’s a delight to hear the real thing in Catherine Russell... at the center of gravity that has always kept the music alive is ‘the groove’ that Cat Russell embodies.”
— Nat Hentoff, The Wall Street Journal
“She is a fresh and original voice. Cat is the most exciting debut album I’ve heard in a long time.”
— Will Friedwald, New York Sun
“It’s not every singer who can comfortably handle material by Louis Armstrong, Peggy Lee, Sam Cooke, and The Grateful Dead... but Catherine Russell isn’t just any singer... her sheer talent places her in the elite of new songstresses like Madeleine Peyroux, Lizz Wright, and Norah Jones.”
— Steve Futterman, Barnes and Noble.com
“Catherine Russell stands out from the crowd…it’s a joy to hear someone singing outside the usual box of standards. She’s one of the more adventurous - and friendly - singers mining the seem of jazz-blues. ⭐⭐⭐⭐”
— Chris Nickson, All Music Guide
“…Incredibly Talented and Classy…”
— Andrew Aber, The Village Voice
“Russell delivers the brightness of expression and personality we’ve been waiting for, reinventing a little heard song in a new and exciting way.”
— David Freeland, Blues Revue
“A talented jazz singer with pop connections deserving of wider recognition, Russell gets right to the heart of songs out of the Great American Songbook.”
— Frank-John Hadley, Downbeat
“The best thing about Catherine Russell and her new CD is that she’s great....a top flight Jazz and Blues singer...Her’s is one powerful and convincing voice.”
— Grammy Award winning Jazz Historian, Phil Schaap, from Cat liner notes
“Her primary instrument is a rich voice - smoky, brassy and unflailingly assured in its delivery. Call her a jazz singer if you must categorize, but Russell is so adept at wrapping her voice around everything…she can truly be labeled a great interpreter of the American Song.”
— Todd Whitesel, Goldmine
“On Cat, Catherine Russell goes straight to the soulful, swingin’, sexy-smart heart of the matter. Russell’s grace and artistry shine through on every note of this eclectic, groovy mix.”
— Christine Ohlman, Elmore Magazine
“Cat is a consistently involving and surprising recording that marries jazz-informed, rhythmically sophisticated and varied singing to instrumentation more associated with country - from mandolin to pedal steel to banjo.”
— Barry Mazor, No Depression
“She has an infectiousness that not only spurs the band on, but also grabs the listener by the ear...a wonderful debut.”
— Tad Hendrickson, JazzWeek Pick of the Week
“…she delivers a pastiche of jazz, pop, blues, deep soul, and torchy cabaret with daunting technical precision and heart-stopping intensity.”
— David Whiteis, Chicago Reader
“...the daughter of jazz pioneer Luis Russell has a long resume...she’s finally done her own debut album and it’s glorious. Russell needs to be on the Jazz Festival next year.”
— Mike Regenstreif, Montreal Gazette
“...a glorious genre-defying debut CD...the proof is in her music - a mix of jazz, blues, soul, and country elements blended with breathtaking ingenuity...consistently imaginative...there not a track that doesn’t sparkle with musical surprise.”
— Lee Hildebrand, Living Blues
“The music is a mix...that will appeal to fans of both Norah Jones and Madeleine Peyroux. Yet this seasoned veteran brings more gravitas than the latter and an infectious sense of fun often missing in the former.”
— Newark Star Ledger
“Russell is blessed with a voice as big and authoritative as Linda Ronstadt’s, the uncorked energy of early Motown (predominantly Mary Wells, with a little Tammi Terrell on the side) and the brass of Dinah Washington.”
— Christopher Loudon, JazzTimes
“The breezy, free-swinging approach to jazz singing is something of a lost art…light and lively, “Cat” is proof positive less can be more.”
— Kevin B. Convey, The Boston Herald
“On her overdue debut, “Cat,” she brings a refreshingly rootsy, almost sunny quality to jump blues, Patsy Cline-like country, swing jazz and folk-pop. A highlight is “Back O’ Town Blues,” which her father, bandleader Luis Russell, wrote for his boss, Louis Armstrong.”
— Jon Bream, The Star Tribune, Minneapolis-St. Paul
“Traversing the rich, alluvial terrain between the poles of blues and country swing, Catherine Russell charges and shimmys through barrelhouse and society cabaret alike, taking us to the rooms where jazz was born.”