Event

Catherine Russell

Catherine Russell is a New Yorker, born into musical royalty. Her father, the late Luis Russell, was a native of Panama who moved to New Orleans and then New York City, becoming a pioneering pianist/composer/bandleader, and Louis Armstrong's long-time musical director. Her mother, Carline Ray, an outstanding bassist and vocalist, has performed with Mary Lou Williams and International Sweethearts of Rhythm. Considering her roots and family pedigree, itâs no surprise that Catherine Russell is a one-of-a-kind singer and musician.

Her new album, "INSIDE THIS HEART OF MINE", to be released on April 13, is a collection of 13 songs -- tied together by the special place these songs hold inside the heart of Catherine Russell.It's a heart that's warm and effusive, bluesy and erudite, bold yet vulnerable, passionate yet ethereal.

This decades-spanning collection of songs, originally performed by the likes of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Peggy Lee, Maxine Sullivan, Howlinâ Wolf, Wynonie Harris, Fats Waller, and Catherineâs father, Luis Russell, draws from Vaudeville wit, Tin Pan Alley tune craft, New Orleans swagger, Swing Era sock, the European Cafe, Jump Blues jive, modal Delta Blues, and Django-esque swing, with an immediacy and a timeless quality.

No wonder the music critics love her:

"A masterful singer who knows how to inject her own personality into the heart of a great song."
Nick Cristiano- Philadelphia Inquirer

"The singer's gutsy blues croon - one of the best this side of Bessie Smith - could melt the ice in a bourbon on the rocks."
Tristram Lozaw - The Boston Globe

" A wonderfully charismatic performer with a show-stopping voice and an unabashedly old-fashioned repertoire."
Mike Joyce - The Washington Post

Russell sang with a laundry list of pop stars David Bowie, Paul Simon, Jackson Browne before releasing her debut album (Cat) in 2006. Her last record, Sentimental Streak, featured full-band arrangements, as she mines old songs and makes them her own.