Catherine Dupuis Celebrates The Cole Porter Songbook

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Jazz vocalist Catherine Dupuis will perform in concert with The Russ Kassoff Trio in Joyce Auditorium Murphy Hall at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York on Tuesday, April 17th. Vocalist Catherine Dupuis comes to her craft with the soul of a great actress and the facility of a highly-skilled instrumentalist. Joined by critically-acclaimed pianist Russ Kassoff and his powerhouse trio, Catherine celebrates her jazz roots with a fresh look at one of the giants of the Great American Songbook, Cole Porter.

Russ is an accomplished jazz pianist, conductor, composer, orchestrator, and arranger, whose varied talents are much valued and on display in the music world. Russ's solo/trio CD, Somewhere, has received raves from the jazz press; his appearance on Marion McPartland's Jazz Piano on NPR will air in early May. Russ was praised by the New York Times in 2004 as possessing a "precision and enthusiasm that is riveting." As an accompanist and musical director, he has worked and continues to work with an extraordinary list of who's who in the entertainment industry. Russ toured as pianist to Frank Sinatra from '80-'91, served as pianist/accompanist for Liza Minnelli from '82-'01 and Minnelli's music director and conductor for the acclaimed Minnelli on Minnelli national tour ('00). Russ was pianist for The Ultimate Event Tour ('88-'89), televised nationally on PBS and featuring Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, and Minnelli.

About Rules of the Road (2005) (arranged and conducted by Russ Kassoff, featuring, the Russ Kassoff Trio, Bucky Pizzarelli, Ted Nash, Marvin Stamm and Joe Cohn), Scott Yanow (All Music Guide) writes: "Although not overly famous, Catherine Dupuis shows on this CD that she is one of the most interesting jazz singers of the early 21st century. Her song selection is particularly strong, with a few standards performed in fresh ways and joined by vintage obscurities and newer material. "I've Never Been in Love Before" and "Lonesome Road" are reinvented. The Rules of the Road is highly recommended and a perfect introduction to the singing of Catherine Dupuis."

Zan Stewart (Downbeat / Newark Star-Ledger) describes Catherine as gifted with a stunning alto voice, a stellar sense of time and deep intuition about how to render a lyric — a rising star to keep your eye on.

Says Michael Bourne, Jazz-88, WBGO Newark NJ: "Come out when she's gigging around – the only artist who's ever sent me a publicity photo that I thought was frameable!"

Catherine is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Music and has been a member of Actors' Equity Association since the blushing age of 19.

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