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 Catherine
Russell’s musical prowess transcends genre. Accordingly,
Cat, Ms. Russell’s debut album, set for release
on April 11th, 2006 on Harmonia Mundi’s World Village
imprint, showcases a mature, one of a kind, vocalist, who defies
easy categorization. Her singing encompasses jazz balladry,
bordello blues, dance hall swing, jump blues, country, pop,
and soul. Catherine Russell embodies the deepest heart of American
music in a single voice.
A native New Yorker, Catherine was born in 1956 with an enviable
jazz pedigree. Her father, the late Luis Russell, was a pioneering
pianist, composer, and bandleader who sat at the center of several
of the seminal bands of 20th century American jazz and popular
music. In 1935, Louis Armstrong, a fellow transplant from New
Orleans to New York, named Luis Russell as his musical director
and Russell's orchestra as his backing group. Catherine's mother,
Carline Ray, is an outstanding bassist and vocalist and holder
of advanced degrees from Julliard and Manhattan School of Music.
Carline has performed with Mary Lou Williams and Wynton Marsalis.
Ms. Russell attended the High School of Music and Art and later
graduated with honors from American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Professional singing opportunities soon beckoned. Catherine
toured Europe singing gospel music with a group fronted by Carrie
Smith including Catherine's mother Carline Ray on bass.
Returning to New York City, Catherine sang blues and soul with
Jimmy Vivino's Little Big Band where she met Donald Fagen in
the fall of 1989. Soon after, Catherine joined Donald Fagen,
performing in the N.Y. Rock N Soul Revue, which also included
Boz Skaggs, Michael McDonald, Phoebe Snow and Chuck Jackson.
When Donald Fagen returned to Steely Dan for tours of the U.S.
and Japan, Catherine Russell came along as a backing vocalist.
Catherine's growing reputation as a versatile and expressive
singer led to a call from Paul Simon and a month long run in
1992 at the Paramount Theater in New York. Every night Catherine
had the thrill to step out on a vocal duet with Paul Simon along
with gospel legends The Mighty Clouds of Joy on "Slip Slidin'
Away".
Today, Catherine Russell lives in Manhattan, her apartment walls
adorned with the gold and platinum records on which she appears.
She toured the globe with David Bowie as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist
on the hugely successful and critically acclaimed "A Reality
Tour", which earned the #1 top-grossing tour for the first half
of 2004, according to Billboard.
In addition, Ms. Russell has performed or recorded with a dizzyingly
impressive array of trend setting artists, including Jackson
Browne, Rosanne Cash, Cyndi Lauper, Joan Osborne, Michael Feinstein,
Madonna, Al Green, J. Geils Band, Dolly Parton, and Isaac Hayes,
among others. Catherine has also joined the faculty as Associate
Professor of Voice at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Catherine Russell is that rarest of entities – a genuine
jazz and blues singer – who can sing virtually anything.
Her voice is full blown feminity 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 forebears. As Grammy
Award winning Jazz historian, Phil Schaap, crows in his liner
notes, Sarah Vaughan, Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie
Holiday finally have a worthy descendant.
| Purchase
Catherine Russell's Music Online: |
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