[Dixielandjazz] Catherine Russell interviewed

[Robert Ringwald]

Catherine Russell interviewed

A Leading Lady at Last
Longtime backup vocalist Catherine Russell steps into the spotlight
by Tad Hendrickson
Newark Star-Ledger, January 28, 2011
A career backup plan usually involves banking, accounting or something else proud
parents refer to as "stable." But singer Catherine Russell worked from a different
perspective.
She started out as a dancer, performing in a Katherine Dunham Dance Company production
of "Aida" at the Metropolitan Opera. Then after a sojourn to California, the New
York City native returned to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Unsatisfied
with the way she was typecast for roles, she turned to singing.
"I loved theater, and the study of acting helped me get through some stuff emotionally,"
Russell said recently from her apartment in Manhattan. "It saved my life, but it
is difficult to pursue as a profession. Music turned out to be a lot easier for me."
The daughter of pianist Luis Russell (Louis Armstrong's longtime musical director)
and Carline Ray (a bassist and vocalist who graduated from Juilliard and played with
many jazz legends), she found herself in the enviable position of having both the
talent and the connections to make a go of it as a singer.
"Naturally you want to do something different than your parents do," she said. "But
I figured out that it's really the only thing I can do."
Russell and her trio will play two sets at the Shanghai Jazz restaurant/club on Saturday
as part of a Chinese New Year celebration ushering in the Year of the Rabbit. The
singer calls the club her New Jersey home; she has played there regularly for the
last 13 years and led her first bands there after bassist Earl May brought her along
as a member of his group.
Russell, 54, has been singing professionally since the 1980s, but has worked as a
backup singer for most of that time. Her credits include Rosanne Cash, Cyndi Lauper
and Jackson Browne, and she has been with Steely Dan since the veteran jazz-rock
group began touring again in the 1990s. She was so busy supporting other musicians
that it wasn't until 2006 that her debut album, "Cat," came out.
While her credits are varied, her three albums are a classic mix of early blues and
swing jazz.
"When I listen to music from the '20s, '30s, '40s, some '50s and some early rhythm
and blues, I just start smiling." Russell said, citing Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller,
Duke Ellington, and Jimmie Lunceford as favorites. "Or maybe it's because my dad
was a pioneer in that music. So it was some of the first music I remember hearing.
That may be why I identify with it. I feel good when I listen to it."
Whatever the reason, her excitement and emotion are projected to the audience when
she performs. Russell draws upon her theater background to tell the songs' stories,
choosing not to sing a song unless the lyrics make sense and she feels transported.
Like all great singers, she takes the audience along with her as she tackles classics
like Willie Dixon's "Spoonful" and Jimmy Van Heusen's "Darn that Dream," or even
her father's "Back o' Town Blues."
"I never thought I was going to be a bandleader," she said of her late arrival as
a solo artist. "I'm happy about it because I feel like this is the prime of my life.
"I'm actually ready now. All those years of touring allowed me to get out all my
bad habits and partying. So now it's working out the way it's supposed to."


--Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
Fulton Street Jazz Band
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