[Dixielandjazz] Catherine Russell interviewed

[Robert Ringwald]

Jazz, Blues Singer Catherine Russell Backs Steely Dan
by Bill Lynch
Charleston (West Virginia) Gazette, August 4, 2011
The last time Catherine Russell shuffled into Charleston was 2007. Bob Thompson brought
the jazz and blues singer in to sing with the Bob Thompson Unit for his annual "Joy
to the World" holiday special.
Russell remembered she had a good time.
"We need to do that again," she said. "I'd love to come back for that or do another
'Mountain Stage.' It's been too long."
It's a little early for Christmas, but Russell returns to Charleston Tuesday with
Steely Dan. Russell is traveling with the band for their Shuffle Diplomacy tour,
providing background vocals.
She's looking forward to playing the Clay Center. A sold out show is great, but so
is playing inside where there's air conditioning.
"After our show in Toledo, you could have wrung my clothes out like a washrag," Russell
said. "But at least the humidity is good for the voice."
Being a backing vocalist is a change of pace from her other job as a solo artist.
When she's not out on tour with Steely Dan or performing with David Bowie, Cyndi
Lauper or a host of others, Russell sings at jazz clubs and arts centers around the
world.
She also has three albums to her credit, with a fourth due out early next year.
"We finished it before we started rehearsals with Steely Dan," she said. "There are
more horns this time and lots of music from well before 1950."
Russell laughed then added, "We like to swing."
Her favorite song on the upcoming record is "Eventide," a Hoagy Carmichael tune ("Stardust,"
"Georgia on My Mind"). It was written especially for Louis Armstrong, and the jazz
great recorded the song in the 1930s.
"I don't think anybody else has done it since," Russell said.
Russell has a particular appreciation of music from that era, particularly Armstrong's
songs. Luis Russell, her father, was Armstrong's bandleader through most of the 1930s
and into the early '40s.
She's looking forward to getting the record out, but that's a long time away. The
tour with Steely Dan goes well into November. After that, she's doing a couple of
Christmas shows, including one with '60s rocker Darlene Love ("He's a Rebel").
Russell keeps busy, and she wouldn't have it any other way. "I'm having a great time,"
she said.
It doesn't hurt that she's touring with one of the most critically beloved rock bands
of all time, though to just call Steely Dan a rock band is something of an understatement.
The band is a fusion of blues, jazz, rock and soul.
"Their music is everything. It's all encompassing, and that's the kind of music I'm
comfortable with."
Russell met Steely Dan in the late 1980s through Jimmy Vivino, the future music director
for late night host Conan O'Brien. Russell and Vivino performed at the Catch a Rising
Star comedy club in New York as part of trio playing between comics.
Vivino asked her to sit in with him in another band, The Little Big Band, he was
playing with at another club. Steely Dan's Donald Fagen would drop by from time to
time.
Steely Dan was on hiatus. Fagen had his solo career, but sometimes he'd also sit
in with the club band and play keyboards.
Russell said they just hit it off and Fagen invited her to come sing with his rock
and soul revue, a series of shows in New York in the late 1980s and early '90s. Russell
performed with Fagen, Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald. When Steely Dan reformed,
he asked her to join them on tour.
"I was with them from 1993 to 1995, then they invited me back in 2008. I've been
back ever since."
It's been a pretty good run so far. She's working with a fantastic band and working
for two of rock n' roll's finest, Fagen and Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker.
"Donald and Walter are very encouraging people," she said. "I've heard about other
tours where the band didn't see the artists very much, but we eat meals together,
we talk, we go out. It's very comfortable for us."
Even with this summer's stifling heat, everyone is shuffling along just fine.


--Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
Fulton Street Jazz Band
530/ 642-9551 Office
916/ 806-9551 Cell
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