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Catherine Russell

Catherine Russell is that rarest of entities, a genuine jazz and blues singer who can sing virtually anything. Her voice is full blown femininity incarnate; a dusky, stalwart and soulful instrument that radiates interpretive power yet remains touchingly vulnerable. She launches fearlessly into each tune, getting inside the melody and capturing every emotion. Whether she's shimmying through a barrel-house stomper, channeling fifties R&B, dragging her weary heart through a torchy juke joint number, or kicking up her heels honky tonk style, Ms. Russell can stand comparison to her greatest fore bearers

Catherine Russell is a native New Yorker, born with an enviable musical pedigree. Her father, the late Luis Russell, was born in Panama and moved to New Orleans and then New York City, becoming a pioneering pianist/bandleader, and Louis Armstrong’s long-time musical director. Her mother, Carline Ray, is an outstanding bassist and vocalist and holder of advanced degrees from Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music, who has performed with Mary Lou Williams and Wynton Marsalis. Not surprisingly considering her roots, Catherine Russell is a one of a kind vocalist. She has toured the world, performing and recording with a wide array of trend setting artists, including Paul Simon, David Bowie, Steely Dan, Cyndi Lauper, Jackson Browne, and Rosanne Cash.

Since the 2006 release of her debut album, "Cat," on Harmonia Mundi's World Village label, Catherine Russell has been making fans and friends and grabbing listeners by the ear. “She is a fresh and original voice. The most exciting debut album I’ve heard in a long time.” writes New York Sun critic and Sinatra biographer, Will Friedwald, who picked "Cat" among his top 10 cds of the year. “It’s a delight to hear the real thing in Catherine Russell.”, writes Nat Hentoff in The Wall Street Journal.

Ms. Russell has been a hit on major events like Chicago Blues Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Bern International Jazz Festival, JVC-New York Jazz Festival, Detroit International Jazz Festival, Tanglewood Jazz Festival, Lotus Festival, and at premier venues like The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Sculler's in Boston, The Dakota in Minneapolis, and The Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. She has appeared on the nationally syndicated shows Mountain Stage, JazzSet on NPR, Studio 360, and The Tavis Smiley Show on PBS-TV. Reviews and profiles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Living Blues, Blues Review, Downbeat, Goldmine, No Depression, Boston Herald, Newark Star Ledger, JazzTimes, Chicago Sun Times, and many more.

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19
Album Review

Jon-Erik Kellso and the EarRegulars: Live at the Ear Inn

Read "Live at the Ear Inn" reviewed by Jack Bowers


As trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and his EarRegulars had been performing every Sunday night for more than sixteen years at New York City's historic Ear Inn, Kellso reasoned it was time that one of their concerts should be recorded to share more broadly the fun and enthusiasm that animates every session. Once the ties had been bound, parts of two concerts were recorded, on January 15 and 29, 2023. The music is a hybrid, with one foot planted ...

1
Album Review

Catherine Russell: Send for Me

Read "Send for Me" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Il valore della tradizione. È l'aspetto che la cantante Catherine Russell ribadisce dal 2006, quando pubblicò il suo primo album da leader, dopo anni di lavoro come corista con Donal Fagen, gli Steely Dan, Wynton Marsalis, Madonna, David Bowie e altri. Quando terminò la collaborazione col cantante britannico dopo l'uscita di Reality (Iso Records 2003), Catherine era prossima ai 50 anni ed era restìa a intraprendere un percorso solista. Invece fu una scelta indovinata, come dimostra il successo dei suoi ...

3
Radio & Podcasts

New Releases From Catherine Russell Plus Jazz Birthday Celebrations For Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Dorothy Donegan & More

Read "New Releases From Catherine Russell Plus Jazz Birthday Celebrations For Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Dorothy Donegan & More" reviewed by Mary Foster Conklin


This broadcast presents new releases from vocalists Catherine Russell, Katriona Taylor and pianist Lisa Hilton with birthday shoutouts to Dorothy Donegan (100!), Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Barbara Lea and Marilyn Maye (going strong at 94) among others. Thanks for listening and please support the artists you hear by purchasing their music during this time of pandemic so they can continue to distract, provoke, comfort and inspire.Playlist Dorothy Donegan “Donegan's Blues" from The Explosive Dorothy Donegan (Audiophile) 00:00 Abbey ...

1
Bailey's Bundles

March 2022: Send For Me

Read "March 2022: Send For Me" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Catherine Russell Send For Me Dot Time Records 2021 Where can one separate nostalgia from performance practice? Vocalist Catherine Russell prefers to engage her art using older formats. On Send For Me, Russell infuses her performances with a certain New Orleans-cum-Chicago flavor, circa 1930. She does not do this as a gimmick, rather it is the style in which she best works. Of the material on Send For Me, Russell states that she, ..."loves romance ...

1
Radio & Podcasts

Catherine Russell, Wobjie, Steven Bernstein, Umberto Petrin & More New Releases

Read "Catherine Russell, Wobjie, Steven Bernstein, Umberto Petrin & More New Releases" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


Good vibes, genre-bending projects, charismatic singers and creative use of electronics are the defining features of this set of recent and upcoming albums.Happy listening!PlaylistBen Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra “Yes We Can" Good Time Music (Community Music, Vol. 2) (Royal Potato Family) 0:16 Host talks 6:44 Catherine Russell “At the Swing Cats Ball" Send for Me (Dot Time) 8:14 Youn Sun Nah “Round and Round" ...

23
Album Review

Andy Farber and His Orchestra: Early Blue Evening

Read "Early Blue Evening" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Saxophonist Andy Farber's New York-based orchestra came together and cut its teeth as the onstage band for three hundred performances of After Midnight, a Broadway revue that paid tribute to Jazz Age nightclub luminaries from Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford and Count Basie to Harold Arlen, Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh. As one might presume from the orchestra's provenance, echoes of Ellington and Basie can readily be discerned on its first recording since After Midnight closed in 2014--but Farber, who wrote ...

6
Live Review

2021 Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland

Read "2021 Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland" reviewed by John Chacona


Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland Cain Park September 11-12, 2021 Witnessing the moment-by-moment interaction between musicians is one of the sublime pleasures of attending a jazz concert. There were plenty of opportunities to do just that during the Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland, but for me the sweetest such encounter didn't occur onstage. It happened between sets on Sunday when the arrival of the shuttle van backstage set off a scrum of embraces, clapping and exclamations of joy.

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Video / DVD

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Catherine Russell & John Pizzarelli pay tribute to "Billie & Blue Eyes"

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Catherine Russell & John Pizzarelli pay tribute to "Billie & Blue Eyes"

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Today, StLJN's video spotlight shines on singer Catherine Russell and singer and guitarist John Pizzarelli, who are coming to St. Louis to present their show “Billie & Blue Eyes" starting Wednesday, May 22 through Sunday, May 26 at Jazz St. Louis. Both Russell and Pizzarelli are well-known as headliners in their own right, with Pizzarelli being a particular local favorite thanks to multiple St. Louis appearances over the last couple of decades. They first joined forces last year to create ...

1

Music Industry

Dot Time Records Welcomes Catherine Russell

Dot Time Records Welcomes Catherine Russell

Source: All About Jazz

Dot Time Records is honored to announce that it has signed Catherine Russell, a celebrated vocalist and one of the greatest voices in jazz and blues, to release her upcoming album. The label and artist are joining forces with the shared goal of enriching the contemporary music scene with the release of new tracks, renditions of jazz classics which highlight the genre’s history, diversity and lasting impact on 21st century music. The new album, titled Alone Together, will be released ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: Catherine Russell, Mardra Thomas, Brooke Michael Smith, and more

Jazz this week: Catherine Russell, Mardra Thomas, Brooke Michael Smith, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis features a pleasing variety of female vocalists, both visiting and local, as well as a tribute to saxophonist Dexter Gordon's work in the 1986 film Round Midnight, and more. Let's go the the highlights... Wednesday, November 16 Singer Catherine Russell will perform for the first of four nights continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Russell, the daughter of pianist and bandleader Luis Russell and singer/guitarist Carline Ray, ...

1

Video / DVD

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Catherine Russell has Harlem on her mind

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Catherine Russell has Harlem on her mind

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week, StLJN's video spotlight shines on singer Catherine Russell, who will be returning to St. Louis to perform Wednesday, November 16 through Saturday, November 19 at Jazz at the Bistro. Russell, lauded as one of the most gifted contemporary interpreters of vintage jazz and blues songs, will be making her first St. Louis appearance since her debut as a headliner here in 2014 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. It's been an eventful year for Russell, who in July released ...

1

Radio

Swinging At The Pearl: Catherine Russell, Dick Hyman & The Jim Cullum Jazz Band

Swinging At The Pearl: Catherine Russell, Dick Hyman & The Jim Cullum Jazz Band

Source: Don Mopsick

For this week’s Riverwalk Jazz radio show, bandleader Jim Cullum welcomes two guest artists. One is piano master and old friend Dick Hyman, a guest on our first radio show in 1989. The second is a new friend, making her Riverwalk Jazz debut in 2010—jazz singer Catherine Russell. The program is distributed in the US by Public Radio International. You can also drop in on a continuous stream of shows at the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound. Hyman joins The ...

1

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Poncho Sanchez, Catherine Russell, the Cunninghams, and More

Jazz This Week: Poncho Sanchez, Catherine Russell, the Cunninghams, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

As Jazz Appreciation Month 2014 continues past the halfway point, the live performance calendar this week in St. Louis includes several touring performers visiting our town, the return of a veteran of Gaslight Square, and the usual variety of activity from local musicians. Let's go to the highlights... Tonight, percussionist Poncho Sanchez and his band (pictured) open a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. One of the standard-bearers for mainstream Latin jazz, Sanchez' group over the ...

1

Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: In the Tradition with Catherine Russell

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: In the Tradition with Catherine Russell

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Today, let's get acquainted with singer Catherine Russell, who will be making her St. Louis debut as a headliner next Saturday, April 19 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Russell is from New York, born in 1956 to Luis Russell, a pianist, composer and longtime bandleader for Louis Armstrong, and Carline Ray, a bassist and vocalist who performed with Mary Lou Williams and the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. While she's been active in the music business for many years, Russell's career ...

1

Radio

Catherine Russell In Concert This Week On Riverwalk Jazz

Catherine Russell In Concert This Week On Riverwalk Jazz

Source: Don Mopsick

This week on Riverwalk Jazz, Catherine Russell joins The Jim Cullum Jazz Band with frequent guest artist Dick Hyman on piano, at the historic Pearl Stable in San Antonio. They present a selection of songs from Catherine's recent CDs. Catherine talks about her beginnings as the daughter of a pioneering woman of jazz, to what she looks for in choosing songs and how she feels the spirit of her father in her music. The program is distributed in the US ...

Radio

Catherine Russell And Dick Hyman In Riverwalk Jazz Jam Session

Catherine Russell And Dick Hyman In Riverwalk Jazz Jam Session

Source: Don Mopsick

For this week’s Riverwalk Jazz radio show, bandleader Jim Cullum welcomes two guest artists. One is piano master and old friend Dick Hyman, a guest on our first radio show in 1989. The second is a new friend, making her Riverwalk Jazz debut in 2010—jazz singer Catherine Russell. The program is distributed in the US by Public Radio International, on Sirius/XM satellite radio and can be streamed on-demand from the Riverwalk Jazz website. You can also drop in on a ...

18

Event

Catherine Russell: A Swing-Jazz Singer Emerges

Catherine Russell: A Swing-Jazz Singer Emerges

Source: John Kelman

By Daniel Kassell Catherine Russell Singers Over Manhattan The Allen Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center New York City, NY March 30, 2012 At the start of singer Catherine Russell's Jazz at Lincoln Center performance, MC Todd Barkan (Dizzy's Jazz Club Manager), roused the crowd with, “Thank you for all you bring to music," and introduced the evening's Singer Over Manhattan. Combining jazz club intimacy with educational dialogue and a little Big Band—packed ...

"Incredibly Talented and Classy" - Village Voice

her phrasing is impeccable and her delivery relaxed and effortless...highly-recommended." (Karen Hogg/AllAboutJazz-New York)

Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Live at the Ear Inn

Arbors Records
2023

buy

Send for Me

Dot Time Records
2022

buy

Early Blue Evening

ArtistShare
2021

buy

Harlem on My Mind

Harmonia Mundi Jazz Village Music
2016

buy

Bring It Back

Harmonia Mundi Jazz Village Music
2014

buy

Videos

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