"Survivor Unleashes a Voice Overflowing With Passion"
New York Times"Bettye LaVette got down to business within minutes after her set began on Friday night at Joe's Pub. ''Pain,'' she sang, on one fierce, annunciatory note, then shouted, ''Ow!'' Her band locked into a vamp, with horns answering a bluesy guitar. ''Pain,'' she sang again, in two notes leaping downward. ''Ow!''
"Down-home LaVette sings with a sting"
Pioneer Press
"Lowell Pickett says he booked Bettye LaVette into his Dakota Jazz Club because he read a rave review in the New York Times of her performance at a Big Apple jazz club. But one listen to her "A Woman in Me," recorded in 2002 with Robert Cray producer Dennis Walker, shows that she's one of the grittiest, most deeply felt R&B singers on the planet."
"Bettye LaVette held nothing back at Dakota" - Star Tribune
"Monday night was the opening of the third season of "American Idol," the TV talent show to find the best young undiscovered singers in the United States. Monday was also the opening of a three-night stand at the Dakota Jazz Club for Bettye LaVette, the best 'old' undiscovered R&B singer in the United States."
"Long after Motor City sputter,
LaVette comeback
in overdrive"
Chicago Sun-Times
"The Motor City was burning red-hot in the 1960s for female R&B singers: Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Martha Reeves ... and Bettye LaVette. While LaVette's career rise was certainly not as meteoric as the other aforementioned Detroit vocalists, she now is enjoying a resurgence on the blues/R&B circuit. LaVette, who's on the bill tonight at the Shubert Theatre, sees a positive side of avoiding instant stardom."
Bettye LaVette: "The Great Unknown"
Wisconsin State Journal
"Rhythm-and-blues belter Bettye LaVette should be famous. Her show at Luther's Blues Saturday night should be a momentous event. Her albums should be easy to find. Her bio should find space in music encyclopedias. Instead, the lively LaVette, who recorded her first major label single at age 16, finds herself in classy, small clubs. She'll also play lengthy nightclub stints in New York and Paris this year."
OTHER PERFORMANCES
Chicago Blues Festival, Sweetwater San Francisco, Porretta Soul Festival