Cat

1	Sad Lover Blues 3:51
2	Can't We Be Friends 2:43
3	The Late, Late Show 2:17
4	Where Can I Go Without You 3:46
5	Put Me Down Easy 2:35
6	My Man's an Undertaker 2:48
7	Blue Memories 2:42
8	Juneteenth Jamboree/Royal Garden Blues 2:26
9	Back O Town Blues 3:00
10	Someday You'll Want Me to Want You 3:13
11	The Poker 2:46
12	You Were Made for Me 2:23
13	Darn That Dream 2:37
14	Deep in a Dream 2:56
15	New Speedway Boogie 3:49

Barnes & Noble

It's not every singer who can comfortably handle material by Louis Armstrong, Peggy Lee, Sam Cooke, and the Grateful Dead on one album, but Catherine Russell isn’t just any singer. The daughter of the legendary Swing orchestra leader Luis Russell, she's an in-demand backup singer who has worked with everyone from Jackson Browne to Steely Dan. And, as her repertoire proves, she is equally adept at (and brings the same passion and poise to) the blues, jazz, R&B, and pop. Through a judicious use of such nontraditional jazz instruments as mandolin, pedal steel guitar, and accordion, Russell blends in delightfully unexpected textures, making her signature music even more slippery to define. Although she sounds more robust than any of these others, Russell’s inclusive nature, as well as her sheer talent, places her in the elite of new songstresses like Madeleine Peroux, Lizz Wright, and Norah Jones. Steve Futterman

All Music Guide

The world is never short of new jazz/blues singers, but with Cat, Catherine Russell stands out from the crowd. The child of very musical parents, she's inherited their genes, but added her individuality, which can move from the pop-blues of Sam Cooke's "You Were Made for Me" (one of two Cooke songs here, both with real identity) to the New Orleans style of "Juneteenth Jamboree." Interesting touches in the arrangements help the album, too, such as the mandolin on "Sad Lover Blues" (it features elsewhere, too) or the pedal steel that colors "The Late, Late Show." Russell isn't a belter. She prefers to shade her material and does it well. There are a few surprising choices, the most obvious being "New Speedway Boogie," the cover of a Grateful Dead song that more or less works (they were so idiosyncratic that anything written specifically for them seems a little misplaced done by anyone else), but it's a joy to hear someone singing outside the usual box of standards. Whether she'll become a major star remains in the lap of the gods. But she's definitely one of the more adventurous -- and friendly -- singers mining the seam of jazz-blues. Chris Nickson