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The Record Review
by Harry Currie
July 15, 1999
Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival Gala

Featured throughout the evening was jazz vocalist Cathy Menard, tying the Gala into the release of her first CD entitled I’m Old Fashioned, and she has never sounded or performed better.

Always possessing a marvelous feel for the songs she sings, Thursday night was probably one of the finest performances of her career. I can’t remember when Menard stretched herself to this extent, reaching for high notes with ease and improvising lines with a relaxed, no-strain flow that started and landed just right.

Her time bending worked, too, adding those moments of chancy tension to phrase ends – will she make it back or not? – and she always did. Young and Foolish was a good example.

Menard knows how to pick a program and balance it with the right elements whether ballad, bossa, easy swing or up, and her choice of styles for each song was perfect for the mix. You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To was great as a bossa nova, Old Devil Moon was a solid groove, Sentimental Mood was soft and mushy, Under My Skin was introspective and It Don’t Mean a Thing tore the roof off.

It was a great start to what promises to be a wonderful two days of jazz.

Editor’s Disc Drive
Philip Bast – Entertainment Editor 
The Record – Thursday, August 26, 1999
Night Life Section

This album was “an enormous labour of love”, in the words of Kitchener chanteuse Cathy Menard. And her love for these jazz standards shines through on all 12 tracks. Recorded in a single day(!) at MixMeisters in Scarborough, I’m Old Fashioned simply sparkles.
Menard’s voice is smooth and mellow, terrific on the title track and other ballads such as Laura, Almost Like Being in Love, The Song is You or (my personal favourite) All My Tomorrows.
As always, the backup musicians contribute to the success and Menard surrounds herself here with a top notch crew. Don McDougall provides elegantly understated percussion. Pianist Mark Eisenman is effortless at the keyboard and Dave Rodenburg soars on the saxophone. Duncan Hopkins proves once again he’s one of the best bass players in the business. And guitarist Dave Patterson is cool, man cool.
If you missed Menard’s sensational set during the Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival in July, you have another chance to hear her perform live in an intimate gig, Tuesday evening at The Loo Bistro. See you there. 

 

From Barry Elmes Quintet Review
The Record
March 9, 1998 

A word about the opening act: Menard sang four tunes including a couple of beauties rarely hard – I Wish You Love and Every Time We Say Goodbye. She is singing so well, with assurance, variety and style, and she is just as at home with swingers as she is with ballads.

 

Doug Riley/Phil Dwyer Review
The Record
February 23, 1998

Opening the concert was a trio consisting of vocalist Cathy Menard, guitarist Glenn Murch and bassist Pat Collins, and their laid back, easy swing and ballads were in sharp contrast to the featured group, but every bit as musical.

Cathy Menard Jazz Quintet Review
John Kiely - Entertainment Reviewer
Kitchener-Waterloo Record
1993 

The billing is The Cathy Menard Jazz Quintet. It is not Cathy Menard and someone else’s quartet, or any other variation you might come up with. That may seem a minor semantic point, but for this job, a weekend at the Library Lounge at the Charcoal Steakhouse, the billing says a great deal about the music.
Menard is a veteran of the local music scene and a singer who has spent more time than anyone should ever have to experience in a cocktail lounge setting.
What she has this weekend (the gig continues tonight) is a band capable of giving her the support her finely-crafted voice deserves.
There are two points to make about this band. The first is that Menard is a very capable singer by any standard. She knows the music, and is a singer of subtlety and taste.
She is also very much a part of this band. She stands in the middle, a rather brazen position for many singers who are often most comfortable out front, a few steps removed from the musicians. Menard is perfectly at home in the middle, sharing ideas with the band and taking up the challenge of making the standards sound fresh.
As Betty Carter has said jazz singing is not about the melody, and while Menard is certainly very melodic, she wants to have her way with these tunes.
The first sent had a distinct Errol Garner touch – Autumn Leaves, Misty, I Remember April – while the second looked south toward Brazil – Wave and One Note Samba. These were solid, professional sets with some excellent playing and some graceful singing.
But, Menard is the focus point here. It is her music and in a rare opportunity to sing to her capacity, she doesn’t disappoint.

 

Jazz an early Passion for Cathy Menard
Harry Currie
Kitchener-Waterloo Record
April 19, 1995

 “In my mind, jazz players, even today, are still somewhat intimidating to me and it’s always a thrill when I think Gee! I get to sing with these guys. You know, it sort of puts me on an even plateau with them, even though I think I’m not quite there yet!”
Perhaps it’s only for that one gig, but the acceptance by the musicians is the most satisfying thing in the world.
“When it happens, it’s absolute magic, if one of these guys you know is an incredible player and after you’ve sung a phrase, he looks up and with a little smile he nods and you think, Yeah that was okay.”
Menard has ha a lot of those nods over the years, probably more than she would ever admit, for she is held in very high esteem by all of the musicians who have ever worked with her.
She is the consummate professional, with a rich, full sounding range and a way of delivering lyrics that shows her love and respect for the words and their meaning.
She may not sing it the same way every time, but that’s what jazz is all about, and whatever the interpretation on that particular performance, since it’s Cathy Menard, it will be full of music and magic.

	For Booking Information Contact: Don McDougall Tel: 519.571.7490 Fax: 519.571.0233 Email: menmcdou@golden.net	Web Design & Creation by dcsolutions Page modified: August 26, 2004 02:13 PM