Wild Woman Tells All Kate Kortum

• 1 Welcome (Into My Mind) 01:49
• 2 Lucky To Be Me 05:15
• 3 I Feel Pretty 02:17
• 4 Little Lullaby Lucy 04:33
• 5 The Devil 04:06
• 6 Love Me Or Leave Me 04:06
• 7 Perpetual Searching 03:54
• 8 I Can't Say No 04:27
• 9 Obsession 04:23
• 10 I Don't Know What Kind of Blues I've Got (feat. The Sunhouse Singers) 03:25
• 11 Notice The Love 06:43
• 12 The Man That Got Away 05:32
• 13 When I Get Low 02:34
• 14 Everything I've Got Belongs to You 02:34
• 15 Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered 07:27
• 16 Miss Brown To You 02:45
• 17 You Are There (Orchestral Version) 05:44
• 18 The Best Is Yet To Come 02:42
• Total Runtime 01:14:16

Info for Wild Woman Tells All

Armed with her versatile ensemble from horns to orchestra, Kate Kortum presents a defiant musical statement of female independence.

Throughout the twelve tracks, Kortum musically illustrates the liberation to feel emotions that are societally considered “unbecoming” of a woman in this spiritual successor to her first album “Good Woman” - with over 4 million streams.

Kate Kortum is only in her early 20s and yet her voice reminds me of the great late Lena Horne, particularly her reinterpretation of “Love Me or Leave Me,” in which she sings at double time and swings like hell too. I just discovered her sophomore release, Wild Woman, and I am digging it. The album kicks off with the Cuban-flavor intro, in which Kortum welcomes listeners into the favorite corner of her mind: “The sweet and inviting sound of my voice / The sweet solitary thoughts of my mind.”

On “Lucky to Be Me,” Kortum flips the scripts on Tony Bennett and Bill Evans’ ballad. She swings hard and I love the way she sings the bridge, “I am simply thunderstruck / At this change in my luck / Knew at once I wanted you / Never dreamed you’d want me too.” With “I Feel Pretty,” she turns the “West Side Story” tune into a swing number and you can feel the sarcasm in her singing: “I feel charming / Oh, so charming / It’s alarming how charming I feel / And so pretty / That I hardly can believe I’m real.”

When not giving a new twist to old standards, she sings her own songs. “Little Lullaby Lucy” is a hypnotic piece, particularly with the dope-ass double bass tone and her sensational scatting skills. “Obsession” is another original, in which she is backed by a lust orchestra. It’s such a splendid bluesy broadway piece.

Wild Woman is a lovely jazz-singing album to be enjoyed at this time of the year. I am dealing with so much stress recently and I just can’t wait to escape to the snowy mountains to ski, ride, and listen to jazz.

Kate Kortum

Kate Kortum
is a 23-year-old breakout jazz vocalist from Houston, Texas, whose warm, distinctive sound blends bebop, blues, the Great American Songbook, and musical theatre with captivating, story-driven lyrics. Her artistry bridges tradition and innovation, offering audiences a fresh, contemporary take on the jazz vocal legacy.

Kortum discovered her passion for music at Houston’s legendary High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, where she studied flute and saxophone before ultimately falling in love with singing. She went on to earn a degree in jazz voice from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and a master’s degree from the Juilliard School, studying with some of the leading voices in modern jazz.

Her debut album, Good Woman (Bandstand Presents, 2023), reimagines jazz standards originally written by men, reclaiming them through bold arrangements and a distinctly female perspective. The album struck a chord with listeners, surpassing one million streams in its first month and now boasting over 3.5 million streams. Critics have praised her ability to revitalize the tradition with authenticity and daring:

"It's incredibly rare to hear an artist who has such a distinct sound with total command, demanding the attention of audiences and artists alike" — Christian Wiggs, Bandstand Presents

"Kortum’s music has an old soul but a young heart. She takes big liberties on every swinging little number and those interpretative skills make her familiar music sound fresh.” — Matty Bannond, Jazz Journal UK

This album contains no booklet.