Revered jazz vocalist Catherine Russell's third album for World Village, Inside This Heart of Mine, showcases the ever-deepening interpretive wiles of her ripe, honey-dipped alto, as she personifies the living heart and proud history of each of the thirteen songs that make up this set. Opening with the title tune, a Fats Waller torcher that paces like a disappointed lover pulling an all-nighter, she then launches into "All The Cats Join In," a sepia-tone snapshot from the heyday of 1940s swing. On "Troubled Waters," she is a misunderstood but undeniably shady lady, her musky musings shadowed by a scorching muted trumpet and speaking solo piano that abet - and perhaps contradict - her hopes of redemption. "November," a lyrical, poetic vignette, likens the dark turn of the year to loneliness and heartbreak, while a plangent banjo and rueful fiddle mark "Just Because You Can," in which a man is warned to straighten up or deal with the consequences. Whether demanding stamina from lover ("Long, Strong and Consecutive"), playfully bemoaning the evils of the demon alcohol ("Quiet Whiskey"), or celebrating New Orleans-style swagger ("Struttin' With Some Barbeque"), Russell is never less than achingly feminine, impassioned, genuine, vulnerable - and utterly indomitable.
