Review: Russell gives her all at Caffe Lena Show
Brian McElhiney, February 14

SARATOGA SPRINGS — When Catherine Russell sings, she does so with her entire body.

And this fact made her performance at Caffe Lena on Friday night all the more compelling. Throughout her roughly 90-minute set, Russell swayed, swung and slinked all over the small stage, savoring every consonant she sang and every note peeling off of Mark Shane’s piano.

But of course, all this would be nothing without Russell’s powerful pipes. Actually, “powerful” doesn’t even begin to describe her voice —throughout much of the evening, Russell didn’t even need a microphone. In fact, she completely eschewed it for “Kitchen Man,” which closed out the set proper.

Perhaps nowhere was her vocal prowess on display more than on the evening’s ballads, especially on a strong run-through of “New Orleans,” easily the evening’s highlight. Here, Shane’s cascading piano lines interlocked wonderfully with Russell’s dynamic voice, as the two musicians built the tension until Russell drew the final note out in climactic fashion...

The quirky drinking song “Quiet Whiskey” was just flat-out fun, with Russell beginning with a spoken chorus before belting out the lyrics, told from the point of view of a whiskey bottle and its other alcoholic friends. This song perhaps best embodied the spirit of Russell’s carefree, loose and yet intense performance. (full review)