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 World Village/Harmonia Mundi
proudly announces the release of CATHERINE RUSSELL's Sentimental
Streak on FEBRUARY 12, 2008 , the follow-up to her critically-acclaimed
debut album Cat. On Sentimental Streak, recorded
at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY and produced by multi-instrumentalist/producer
Larry Campbell (Bob Dylan, Levon Helm, Willie Nelson, Ollabelle,
Marie Knight), Catherine Russell and her swinging band have
distilled the robust, good-time essence of Southern juke joints
and lindy-hopping Northern dance halls, where confessing the
blues was as good for the soul as getting frisky in the first
place. The material, heard in arrangements inspired by Chick
Webb, Hoagy Carmichael, Louis Armstrong, Willie Dixon, Frank
Sinatra, and Ms. Russell’s own father, Luis Russell, and much
of it originally associated with legends like Bessie Smith,
Alberta Hunter, Nellie Lutcher, Pearl Bailey, Ella Fitzgerald,
and Lena Horne, harks back to tales of lusty, big-hearted women
who knew what was what and spoke out accordingly. Universal
vignettes speak of how little time there is for what really
matters, a sensuously unrepentant lady of leisure, a woman lamenting
the loss of the culinary (and other!) talents of a departing
lover and, memorably, of being caught in the clutches of ruinous
vamp named Luci. Guided by the keen touch of Larry Campbell,
Ms. Russell’s glorious voice once again reigns supreme, making
every note count as she lovingly animates fourteen indelible
songs with timeless appeal.
The critical raves that greeted Cat (2006 -- WV 468063),
Russell’s debut album on World Village, have understandably
raised the bar for this, her sophomore CD. But from track one,
it’s obvious that this impassioned and versatile vocalist is
more than equal to the challenge! Ms. Russell’s late father,
Luis Russell, was born in Panama and moved to New Orleans, and
then New York where he became a famed orchestra leader and Louis
Armstrong’s longtime musical director. Her mother, Carline Ray,
vocalist, bassist, and a graduate of Juliard, has performed
with Mary Lou Williams and Wynton Marsalis. Born in New York
City, Catherine attended Music And Art High School and graduated
with honors from the American Academy Of Dramatic Arts. She
has performed and/or recorded with Paul Simon, Steely Dan, Cyndi
Lauper, Joan Osborne, Madonna, Jackson Browne, Rosanne Cash,
and David Bowie, among others, and participated in several gold-and-platinum
selling recordings. Since the release of Cat, Catherine has
taken her show-stopping intensity to major events like Tanglewood
Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, and Chicago Blues Festival,
while appearing on the nationally syndicated Tavis Smiley Show
on PBS-TV, Mountain Stage Radio Show, and JazzSet on NPR. Cat
spent weeks on JazzWeeks national airplay chart while one of
its tracks, Back O Town Blues, reached the top Ten on I-Tunes
Jazz Chart.
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 forebearers
| Purchase
Catherine Russell's Music Online: |
| Amazon.com |
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