Catherine Russell
Jazz and blues vocalist Catherine Russell, a native of New York City, was born with distinctive bloodlines. Her father was Luis Russell, the renowned big-band leader who was born in Panama and lived in New Orleans and New York City. He was a groundbreaking vintage jazzman -- a pianist, composer/arranger, and most prominently, the music director for Louis Armstrong in the mid-'40s. Her mother was Carline Ray, a veteran jazz bassist, vocalist, graduate of the Juilliard and Manhattan Schools of Music, and famous for performing with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Mary Lou Williams, and Wynton Marsalis, among many others. Naturally, Catherine Russell was influenced by old-time blues and jazz singers like Bessie Smith, Ruth Brown, and Etta James, as well as the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Nancy Wilson, Abbey Lincoln, and gospel and opera music. But she was a late bloomer, not establishing a recording career as a leader until much later in life.
Ray has appeared at numerous festivals and on nationally syndicated radio and television shows. As a backup singer, she has worked with Paul Simon, David Bowie, Steely Dan, Cyndi Lauper, Jackson Browne, Rosanne Cash, Joan Osborne, and Madonna. One may have also heard her voice on TV and radio commercials for Bud Light, Oil of Olay, J.C. Penney, and Dairy Queen, or singing jazz with groups including bassist Earl May, pianist Larry Ham, drummer Eddie Locke, or Jimmy Wormworth. Russell emerged as a retro old-school vocalist for the ages. She finally debuted on her own in the 2000s with Cat (2006) for the World Village label, with guitarist Frank Portolese and banjo/mandolin player Stuart J. Rosenberg, followed by Sentimental Streak (2008) featuring guitarist/producer Larry Campbell and special guests Howard Johnson and Steven Bernstein, recorded at the studios of Levon Helm in Woodstock, New York. The following decade, Russell released Strictly Romancin' (2012), Bring It Back (2014), and Harlem on My Mind (2016), the last of which was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Jazz Vocal Album. In 2019, she issued Alone Together, which featured contributions by guitarist Matt Munisteri, trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso, saxophonist Evan Arntzen, and others. It too earned a Grammy nomination.
© Michael G. Nastos /TiVo
Discography
17 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Harlem On My Mind (Bonus Track Version)
Vocal Jazz - Released by Jazz Village on 9 Sep 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Send For Me
Vocal Jazz - Released by Dot Time Records on 1 Apr 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bring It Back
Jazz - Released by Jazz Village on 10 Feb 2014
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Harlem On My Mind
Vocal Jazz - Released by Jazz Village on 9 Sep 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Strictly Romancin'
Vocal Jazz - Released by world village on 6 Feb 2012
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Inside This Heart of Mine (Catherine Russell)
Miscellaneous - Released by world village on 9 Apr 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Want To Talk About You
Vocal Jazz - Released by Dot Time Records on 10 Feb 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Make It Last
Vocal Jazz - Released by Dot Time Records on 25 Feb 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
At The Swing Cats Ball
Vocal Jazz - Released by Dot Time Records on 4 Feb 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Alone Together
Vocal Jazz - Released by Dot Time Records on 1 Mar 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sentimental Streak (Catherine Russell)
Miscellaneous - Released by world village on 4 Feb 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Good Time Music (Community Music, Vol. 2)
Steven Bernstein, Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra, Catherine Russell
Vocal Jazz - Released by Royal Potato Family on 7 Jan 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cat (Catherine Russell)
Miscellaneous - Released by world village on 11 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blue And Sentimental
Vocal Jazz - Released by Dot Time Records on 18 Mar 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
You Reap Just What You Sow
Vocal Jazz - Released by Dot Time Records on 12 Jun 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
River's Invitation
Steven Bernstein, Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra, Catherine Russell
Vocal Jazz - Released by Royal Potato Family on 19 Nov 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Yes We Can
Steven Bernstein, Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra, Catherine Russell
Vocal Jazz - Released by Royal Potato Family on 17 Dec 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo