Catherine Russell is, among many other delightful things, a certifiable party-starter. We’ve known this for some time now — certainly as far back as a decade ago. That’s when she was part of the gang that won Best Compilation Soundtrack at the Grammy Awards, for Boardwalk Empire Volume 1: Music from the HBO Original Series.
As a singer and bandleader, Russell has often drawn from an adjacent wellspring of throwback swing. It’s a bounding style that is her birthright. Her father, influential pianist and orchestrator Luis Russell, counted King Oliver and Louis Armstrong as contemporaries. Her mother, Carline Ray, was a guitarist and singer in the trailblazing International Sweethearts of Rhythm, and a mentor to generations behind her.
But Russell took a circuitous path to claiming her own perch in the jazz tradition. She recorded countless pop sessions as a backup singer, and touring with David Bowie and Steely Dan. Her bond with Levon Helm provides the subtext of a fine new album with Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra.
Russell has her own high-spirited new release on the near horizon: Send For Me, named for an Ollie Jones tune made famous by Nat “King” Cole. The first single from the album is another chestnut, “At the Swing Cats Ball.” Here is an accompanying video featuring Russell and her band in the studio; first premiered on WBGO.