My first date with a stunning woman, who is herself a gifted jazz singer and choral music director, was for a Cathy O'Connell Concert at John Devins' Old World Music Company in Beverly on the south side of Chicago a year ago this February. The elegant and lovely young woman declined my offer to 'pick her up on the North Side' and instead took the Metra south to the 103rd street stop, not knowing whether or not I possessed a fully dressed family of five in my basement freezer as well a gift for chat. She was dressed in an elegant black ensemble and looked like the girl Dr. Zhivago would marry. I escorted her into John's concert hall and was met with admiring and curious eyes from friends of many years, who seemed as rattled by the delicate dark haired beauty in my company as I was myself.
Cathy O'Connell greeted my date and graciously ignored the litany of my epic sins, transgressions, vices and penchant for dining while bibbed in a drop cloth.
Cathy is a wonderful woman and brilliant artist. She performed with Irish musicians John Williams, who appeared in Road to Perdition and the fiddle genius Liz Carroll. My date was enchanted and reassured. In fact, she allowed me to drive her home, having secured hundreds of witnesses and easily verifiable cross references as to my intrinsic harmlessness. She even agreed to go out in public with me in the future. I am forever grateful.
Do yourself a favor this Valentines Day - take your Love to Old World Music Company and be carried off on the gossamer wings that wrap the voice of Cathy O'Connell!
Singer Catherine O'Connell grew up in Chicago and in love with Chicago. Her affection for performing was nurtured by her parents, James and Mary, who shared with her their passions for music and theater. Her father, a talented amateur singer, gave her this early advice: "Tell the story and sing the song with a tear in your voice. Her mother, an accomplished actress, offered this: "Enunciate or no one will understand you."
Catherine, who was the St. Patrick Day Parade Queen in 1976, later developed her distinctive style and dramatic stage presence by performing in dozens of pubs, saloons and cabarets in Chicago, New York and the Caribbean.
Leaving the club scene to raise three boys, she switched direction in her career to focus on more intimate spaces in the city and suburbs, where the emotional impact of her singing has gathered her a large and devoted following. Bill Fraher, director of music at Old St. Patrick’s Church, calls her "the best communicator" he has ever worked with and one friend said "I never thought I could live through my mother’s funeral and you made me sing."
The Chicago Tribune's and WGN's Rick Kogan says, "Catherine is an original, as gifted a singer and as sensitive a performer as I have ever heard and seen. She might easily have become a star in the New York scene but, God love her, she's tied to our town."
March 2002 Catherine released her CD entitled 'I Arise Today' and December 2003 released 'Songs From My Father' available at Irish shops around the city and catherineoconnell.com.
From saloons to Symphony Center, chapels to cathedrals, funeral homes to festival halls, Catherine has touched the hearts and lifted the spirits of thousands of Chicagoans. She is currently working on a Christmas CD.
Saturday, February 14th
~ One night only ~
Two (2) shows - 5:00pm & 8:00pm
Catherine O’Connell
and
The Usual Suspects
Jimmy Moore, Dennis Cahill and Kathleen Keane
at
The World Music Company
1808 West 103rd Street
Chicago, IL 60643
For Tickets call:
Tickets are $25.00
(773) 779-7059
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