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<DIV>Catherine Russell Returns to Jazz Alley for Four Nights</DIV>
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<DIV>by Paul de Barros</DIV>
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<DIV>Seattle Times, October 2, 2016</DIV>
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<DIV>Catherine Russell, who plays Jazz Alley Thursday-Sunday (Oct. 6-9), has
just released a fine new album, “Harlem on My Mind,” which presents a brace of
smartly selected vintage tunes such as Fats Waller’s “Blue Turning Grey Over
You,” Benny Carter’s “When Lights Are Low” and Clarence Williams’ hilarious
double entendre, “You’ve Got the Right Key But the Wrong Keyhole.”</DIV>
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<DIV>Russell has a leg up when it comes to jazz history. She is the daughter of
band leader Luis Russell, whose band featured Louis Armstrong for years, and
guitarist and vocalist Carline Ray, who played with the International
Sweethearts of Rhythm. But it’s her talent, not her lineage, that carries this
album. Thanks to the clarity and theatricality of her delivery, and what appears
to be an innate emotional honesty, Russell inhabits these tunes so plausibly
they feel simultaneously old and new, never falling into the cutesy tone that so
often makes old songs feel like curiosities in an antique shop.</DIV>
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<DIV>The title track, by Irving Berlin, is an interesting slice of history that
references African-Americans in Paris in the 1920s longing for home (“I’ve
become too darned refined … I’ve got Harlem on my mind”), a period vividly
documented in Claude McKay’s novel of the same era, “Harlem Glory.”</DIV>
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<DIV>“The Very Thought of You,” written by the great Ray Noble (“Cherokee,” “I
Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now”) is lavished with a languid tenor saxophone solo
by Fred Staton. The variety of arrangements throughout is a pleasure.</DIV>
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<DIV>But the real coup here is that Russell, who used to work as a professional
backup singer (including a road tour with David Bowie), caps this album of
mostly ’20s tunes with such ’50s fare as Little Willie John’s slow-dance hit
“Talk To Me, Talk To Me” and Dinah Washington’s “Let Me be the First to Know,”
which brings it all back home, showcasing the continuity between one era’s “soul
music” and another’s.</DIV>
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<DIV>Russell played Jazz Alley for two nights last year. Her powder keg stage
presence and winning stage persona has prompted the club to bring her back this
year for four. –30-</DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000"><BR><BR>Bob
Ringwald piano, Solo, Duo, Trio, Quartet, Quintet <BR>Fulton Street Jazz Band
(Dixieland/Swing)<BR>916/ 806-9551<BR>Amateur (ham) Radio Station
K6YBV<BR><BR>"Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the
end, the faster it goes. <BR>-Andy
Rooney</DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>