The current queen of jazz vocalists, Catherine Russell, is in full glorious form on her eighth album as leader. Her last release, Alone Together, received a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album and was the most played album on jazz radio in 2019. So we know she has mass appeal but does she have what TST readers are looking for? The answer is a resounding YES! When she is not busy awing crowds on tour she has been a welcome addition as guest vocalist on studio albums featuring our New York City favorites. Some of them join her here.
I wasn’t going to list everyone but she calls out the musicians by name during “At The Swing Cats Ball,” so if she can scat it in I can fit it in. Two distinct lineups include Matt Munisteri (guitar, musical director, banjo), Tal Ronen (bass), Mark McLean (drums; tambourine), Mark Shane (piano), Sean Mason (piano), Jon-Erik Kellso (trumpet), John Allred (trombone), Evan Arntzen (reeds), Paul Nedzela (bari sax), Mark Lopeman (tenor), Aaron Heick (tenor), Philip Norris (Tuba), and Paul Kahn (hand claps). If you need s swinging band in NYC these are the guys you call.
I won’t tell her whole story but as the daughter of Luis Russell and Carline Ray, Catherine Russell grew up around music and already had an impressive career as a singer before finding her calling as a jazz vocalist 16 years ago. She draws on personal memories and research into h
