Catherine Russell

Catherine Russell – Live  at Jazz at Lincoln Center

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Catherine Russell – Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center marks a milestone as the gifted vocalist and bandleader’s first live album. The album was recorded at the Appel Room on March 29, 2024, as part of the season theme, “Community and Consciousness.” Catherine Russell, who could have easily drawn from her vast catalog, stayed with her focus on vintage jazz by honoring The Hot Club of New York, a community of enthusiasts who gather weekly to listen to vintage jazz and blues on 78rpm shellac records. Given Russell’s musicologist talents, she opted for lesser-known tunes originally recorded by Hot Lips Page, Tiny Grimes, Jeter-Pillars Orchestra, Blanche Calloway, Cab Calloway, Helen Humes, Eddie Barefield, her father, Luis Russell, and others.  She sourced the material from 78s and 1930s-1940s “soundies” (short films).

Russell augmented her usual quintet by inviting tap dancer Michela Marino Lerman, who appears on four tracks, as well as a three-piece horn section with arrangements by Mark Lopeman.  The horn section features Jon-Erik Kellso (trumpet), John Allred (trombone), and Evan Arntzen (tenor sax, clarinet). While her core unit had mainstays Matt Munisteri on guitar and Ben Paterson on piano, she recruited the high-profile bass-drum tandem of Russell Hall and Domo Branch. Co-producer Paul Kahn provides a handsome booklet with lyrics to these rarely heard songs.

The horns deliver an upbeat ensemble intro to “Now You’re Talkin’ My Language” and later shine in their brief, crisp solos. We first hear tap dancer Lerman making strong contributions to “Tiny” Grimes’ “Never Too Old to Swing” in concert with Hall’s walking bass and Branch’s steady beats. Tempo slows for Russell’s sultry, swaggering take on “I Refuse To The Blues,” underpinned nicely by Paterson’s piano and the horns, as Artzen steps forward with a gutsy tenor solo followed by his fellow horn bandmates. Russell and the band take on the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra’s rather salacious “I Like Pie, I Like Cake” with her bandmates contributing on the shout choruses, with Paterson, Hall, and tap dancer Lerman all shining in their brief spots.

Blanche Calloway’s “You Ain’t Livin’ Right” is an up-tempo swinger, replete with staccato horn bursts from the old school blend of trumpet, trombone, and clarinet. The Alex Hill/Irving Mills “Long About Midnight” attests to the hot dancing of the swing era that leads to even hotter activity later in the evening. It’s a feature for Paterson as well as three horns, and guitarist Munisteri. Leonard Feather’s “Keep Your Mind on Me” is yet another of the sultry blues that were so popular at the time (“He calls it intellectual romance/I call it plain old jellyroll’). Alfred cuts deep along with Kellso and ARtnzen (clarinet) in their steamy takes.

Kern and Hammerstein’s “Old Man River” is the oft-covered show tune, rendered up-tempo and in the upper register, unlike the many interpretations that go entirely the opposite way. Tap dancer Lerman returns for the snappy “F’Taint One Thing It’s Another,” a prime example of Russell’s acute flair for phrasing in this vintage material. Another up-temp tune, “You Can’t Pull the Wool Over My Eyes,” subscribes to an older colloquialism and proves ripe for each horn voice, as well as for Paterson. Russell takes it to a dynamic close. Russell’s lusty plucking and Lerman’s tapping lead into and continue through “Everybody Loves My Baby,” closing the show on an uplifting note.

As you likely know, Russell is the daughter of pioneering pianist/bandleader/composer Luis Russell and trailblazing vocalist-guitarist-bassist Carline Ray. This vintage music is in her DNA, and this live date has given her the strongest platform to display her gifts.

• Jim Hynes

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