Catherine Russell - Cat (2006)

Catherine Russell is that rarest of entities - an honest-to-goodness, genuine jazz singer. In a field where any vocalist who attempts the classic canon is granted that sobriquet as a matter of course, she stands out like a diamond among rhinestones. Ms. Russell’s voice is full-blown femininity incarnate, a dusky, stalwart and soulful instrument that radiates interpretive power yet remains touchingly vulnerable. Her phrasing is pristine and miraculously free of the slithery hailstorms of notes so commonly employed as camouflage by lesser talents. She launches fearlessly into each tune straight from the "and-one," getting inside the melody and capturing every emotion -- and the lady can swing! Whether she’s shimmying amid a barrel-house stomper, channeling fifties R&B, dragging her weary heart through a torchy juke-house number or kicking up her heels honky-tonk style, the lady can stand comparison with her greatest forebears.