"…some of the best jazz I have ever heard!" Edinburgh Evening News

CATHIE RAE, Flow, Jazz Base
Rob Adams, The Herald, Saturday 13 Aug 2005

THE senior sibling of the Rae family’s jazz sextet may have been the last to enter the swing business but she’s making up for lost time now with a second album that shows growing assurance over a wide range of jazz styles.
Coy, confident and brave enough to try old songs in new ways she (Cathie) sings with clarity and feeling whether in deep ballad mode or tempting the dance remix deejays with her own soul-jazz-styled “Tired of Lovin’ You”.
Her partner, Julian Argüelles, lends sympathetic production and there are fine contributions from a band including saxophonist Martin Kershaw on an album that should take Rae’s career up another notch.


Cathie Rae's hard work is evident in her confident performance. One of Scotland's rising stars"
The Herald, September 04

"One of the top 50 most talented and influential young artists in Scotland"
Scotland on Sunday poll, August 04

"A voice that just flows"
Mark Murphy, August 04

“Rae’s wide ranging stylistic reference points run the gamut from Ricky Lee Jones to Nat King Cole…the musicianship is impeccable.”
Jazz UK Magazine, 03

"She has the tone of a top quality singer, that nebulous thing 'timbre' that makes you enjoy a note produced by one voice maybe more than the same note produced by different voice. The 'don't make a meal of it' approach brings out the lyrics and makes you sorry for or even worried for her as intended in the 'love lost' ballads. The songwriters dream... Look at her picture and listen to her sing 'Save your love for me' and Elvis Costello's 'Almost Blue' and I swear you'll want to take her home with you."
Glasjazz Website, CD Review

“Rae’s wide ranging stylistic reference points run the gamut from Ricky Lee Jones to Nat King Cole and, reflecting this same catholicity, the debut cleverly counterpoints the tried and tested (an affecting ‘Skylark’ plus a laconic ‘You are my Sunshine’) with Elvis Costello’s ‘Almost Blue’, a hard-hitting arrangement of the Randy Crawford classic ‘Rio de Janeiro Blue’ plus an original ‘Colourful Place’, co-composed with her father, bassist Ronnie Rae. She (Cathie) does possess a sure sense of timing and an appealing vibrato that is used to great effect at the end of phrases. The musicianship is impeccable.”
Jazzwise Magazine, Review “Time Out” CD

“Strong debut from vocalist Cathie, the latest member of the Rae dynasty to appear on disc. Ronnie (dad) is certainly one of this country’s boss bassists, and with John (brother) on drums, the band grooves along throughout. Pianist Paul Harrison and guitarist Graeme Scott help to establish the particular mood of each piece, while trumpeter Colin Steele adds splashes of colour. An interesting selection of superior songs, and Cathie Rae’s precise phrasing makes for a compelling treatment of each one.”
Jazz UK

"Fronting a band that includes her dad, Ronnie, providing the bass backbone, Cathie showed all the right stuff: good phrasing, clear diction, a pleasing tone, a technique that doesn't get in the way of the song and, above all the singer's ultimate necessity, believability."
The Herald, (given a 4 star rating)

"…this Rae has an engaging stage presence and a wide vocal range which, unlike some other technically gifted singers, she uses sparingly but effectively. Cathie chose classy but seldom-heard songs which revealed the greatest of her considerable talents - she has a natural sense of swing…and one of the songs "Time Out" revealed the singer to be no mean songwriter."
Inverness Courier