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Catherine Russell - Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center
Release Date: April 24, 2026
Label: Dot Time Records

GRAMMY®-nominated vocalist Catherine Russell’s first live album Catherine Russell - Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center, was captured during a special weekend at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Appel Room. This vibrant album fills a long-requested gap in Russell's discography, documenting her mastery as a vocalist, bandleader, and curator of classic jazz and blues material in a “live” performance.

When invited to perform at the Appel Room for JALC's 2023-2024 season theme "Community and Consciousness," Russell crafted a program 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. Drawing from this rich wellspring of musical history, she assembled a set list of lesser-known gems 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. The material, sourced from 78s and 1930s-1940s "soundies" (short films), feels fresh and contemporary in Russell's expert interpretation.

"Performing at the Appel Room, with New York City's Central Park as a scenic backdrop, was truly an honor," Russell notes. "Once again, I was able to work with the finest musicians, plus my special guest, the incredible tap dancer, Michela Marino Lerman. Good music and great musicians bring me joy."

Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center showcases Russell's remarkable command of phrasing, tone, and enunciation as she navigates eleven selections spanning swing, blues, and early jazz styles. The horn arrangements, adapted by Mark Lopeman, evoke the spirit of Harlem Nightlife, Territory Bands, vintage New Orleans jazz, Swing Era and Rhythm & Blues traditions, performed by a seasoned ensemble of first-rate soloists. Matt Munisteri on guitar, Ben Paterson on piano, Russell Hall on bass, and Domo Branch on drums provide a swinging foundation, while the horn section of Jon-Erik Kellso (trumpet), John Allred (trombone), and Evan Arntzen (tenor sax, clarinet) demonstrates remarkable precision and cohesion throughout. Special guest Michela Marino Lerman adds tap dancing to four tracks, bringing rhythmic vitality to the proceedings.

The repertoire includes delights such as "Now You're Talkin' My Language," "Never Too Old To Swing," and "I Like Pie, I Like Cake," alongside "Old Man River," "You Ain't Livin' Right," and "Everybody Loves My Baby." Russell maintains focus on the songs' stories and emotional content, breathing new life into material that few contemporary singers keep in active circulation. In the ensemble passages and shout choruses, the horns breathe and phrase as one, demonstrating the spontaneity and tightness that only comes from accomplished musicians working at the highest level. The daughter of pioneering pianist/bandleader/composer Luis Russell and trailblazing vocalist-guitarist-bassist Carline Ray, Catherine Russell owns this repertoire by birthright. Her deep drive and pocket are utilized in the service of “fun” and keeping the audience enthralled.

Catherine Russell has appeared on over 200 albums and has been nominated for three GRAMMY® Awards in the Jazz Vocal Album category for Harlem On My Mind (2016), Alone Together (2019) and My Ideal (2024), with pianist Sean Mason. Russell has performed and recorded with artists including David Bowie, Steely Dan, Paul Simon, Wynton Marsalis, and many others, while touring internationally with her band and appearing as a featured vocalist with major big bands and symphony orchestras.

Live at Jazz At Lincoln Center captures Catherine Russell doing what she does best: celebrating iconic jazz artists and their traditions with spontaneity, panache, and depth of feeling. This long-awaited live recording documents a singular artist at the height of her powers.

My Ideal
Duo Release with Sean Mason
Release Date: August 23, 2024
Label: Dot Time Records

GRAMMY NOMINEE

My Ideal is the breathtaking new album from acclaimed GRAMMY®-nominated vocalist Catherine Russell and prodigious pianist Sean Mason. This modern classic marks a significant milestone in both artists' careers, capturing a powerful and intimate musical dialogue. My Ideal is a very special project even in the very rarified strata where Catherine works; this is not only her first complete set of voice-and-piano duets, but her partner on this project is a remarkable piano prodigy whose technical skill is only rivaled by his soulfulness.

Since her debut solo album in 2006, Catherine Russell has captivated audiences with her rich, soulful voice and exceptional interpretative skills. Her eight previous solo albums have garnered critical acclaim, with Send For Me (2022) marking her first collaboration with Sean Mason. My Ideal elevates their partnership to new heights, featuring a complete set of voice-and-piano duets that hark back to classic jazz traditions. Sean Mason, a remarkable talent, 25 years old at the time of this recording, complements Russell's vocal artistry with his sophisticated and nuanced piano playing. Despite his youth, Mason's deep understanding of jazz's history and techniques allows him to support and enhance Russell's performances brilliantly.

Catherine Russell and Sean Mason share a profound connection that transcends their impressive individual talents. Both masters of jazz, their repertoires span the vast landscape of African-American and American popular music, from the blues and R&B to the Great American Songbook, Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley. This collaboration represents a unique convergence of experience and youthful virtuosity, offering a fresh yet timeless sound.

"Singing with the great pianist Sean Mason allows for the freedom to have fun and be in the moment. We understand each other," says Catherine Russell. This synergy is palpable throughout My Ideal, as the duo effortlessly blend their talents to create a compelling musical experience. My Ideal tells the history of the jazz art form, from the early beginnings of the music with homages to James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, to the confluence of jazz and popular music with tributes to Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra. The adept duo imbue each piece with nuanced authenticity, sincerity and originality.

The album’s opening track, "Porter's Love Song" is a witty and charming piece written by Andy Razaf and James P. Johnson for a musical revue celebrating African American achievement. Mason demonstrates his soulful stride proficiency, supporting Russell’s signature warm and declarative melodic refrains. "You Stayed Away Too Long" is a lively and rhythmically sharp interpretation of a Fats Waller classic.

"I Don’t Need No Doctor" and "Ain’t That Love" pay homage to Ray Charles, blending blues and gospel influences with a modern harmonic sensibility. "Grind My Coffee" is a playful take on a classic blues double entendre, originally accompanied by the legendary Fats Waller. A nod to the great Earl “Fatha” Hines and Nat King Cole, “You Can Depend On Me" features an intricate shift from a double tresillo rhythm to a stride feel and back again. "On the Sentimental Side" offers a melancholy rendition of a song written for Bing Crosby, highlighting Russell's emotional depth. "The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing" is an Irving Berlin classic, reimagined here as a graceful voice-and-piano dance.

"South To A Warmer Place" – A nuanced performance of a song popularized by Frank Sinatra, showcasing Russell's stealth humor. Mason delivers an intoxicatingly emotive solo leading back into the tender melody. On “Waitin’ For The Train To Come In”, the train pulls out of the station with spirited musings from Mason. Russell’s arresting vocals make the listener hang on every last lyric, striking a tone of longing. This Peggy Lee classic closes out my ideal with a healthy dose of the blues.

My Ideal stands alongside legendary voice-and-piano duet albums such as Ella Fitzgerald's Ella Sings Gershwin with Ellis Larkins, Tony Bennett's collaborations with Bill Evans, and Nina Simone's Nina Simone and Piano. This new album draws from this venerable tradition while carving its own path, showcasing Russell and Mason's unique synergy and collective brilliance.

The daughter of early jazz pioneer Luis Russell and the great trailblazing vocalist-guitarist-bassist Carline Ray, Catherine Russell’s musical roots run deep. She has appeared on over 200 albums, and since her debut album as a leader in 2006, she has steadily garnered tons of international acclaim. She has been nominated for two GRAMMY awards in the Jazz Vocal Album category, including in 2016 for Harlem On My Mind and in 2019 for Alone Together. Her versatility and prowess has lead her to perform and record with a notably diverse range of artists including David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, Jackson Browne, Michael Feinstein, Levon Helm, Carrie Smith, Toshi Reagon, Rosanne Cash and notably Steely Dan, of which she is a current member.

Rising star pianist Sean Mason has been featured on National Public Radio’s Jazz Night In America on its “Youngbloods” series, and played on the soundtrack for the Netflix production Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre on The History Channel. His debut record of original compositions, The Southern Suite, was produced by Branford Marsalis and released last Fall on Blue Engine Records, the label of Jazz At Lincoln Center to wide acclaim.

Send For Me
Release Date: April 1, 2022
Label: Dot Time Records

GRAMMY®-nominated vocalist Catherine Russell, when asked to characterize her new album, Send For Me, replied, “I love romance that swings.” Send For Me features a baker’s dozen of newly recorded tunes on her eighth album as a leader, meeting a simple exacting standard. “Songs that inspire or touch me in some way. When I find a song I like, it haunts me until I learn it.” Her mission is finding songs that you might not have heard but deserve attention.

Russell’s deep connection to her chosen material is part of a calling. As the daughter of pioneering and legendary musicians, pianist/orchestra leader/composer/arranger Luis Russell, and bassist/guitarist/vocalist Carline Ray, Catherine Russell was born into jazz royalty. In culling material for her new album from the likes of Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Luis Russell, Betty Carter, Kay Starr, Joe Liggins, Earl King, Jack Teagarden, Helen Humes, Frank Sinatra, Dakota Staton, Henry Red Allen, and Louis Armstrong, the vocalist swims in familiar waters. She sings a language that comes naturally, furthering a profound legacy.

Send For Me is a follow up to Russell’s 2019 release Alone Together, which received a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album, and landed on the JazzWeek year-end radio chart as the #1 most played album. “I like to invite the people in,” she says of her new album, which is also her philosophy of performing live. The album is an invitation, welcoming the audience to come along on a journey.

“Send For Me”, the title track, was first recorded by Nat King Cole, and became a crossover hit in 1957, reaching #1 on the U.S. R&B charts, and #6 on the U.S. Pop Chart. “Nobody thinks of Nat King Cole as a blues singer, but he sang some really great blues,” observes Russell.

“At The Swing Cats Ball” has a strong family connection. Russell recalls, “My mother had given me sheet music a long time ago, saying, ‘your father co-wrote this tune, and Louis Jordan covered it.’” The song was among the first recordings by Louis Jordan. Luis Russell never recorded his tune, although he performed it on gigs. “We found a live version performed by my dad’s orchestra on a radio broadcast, and we adapted his arrangement. I love the image of people going to a swing dance.”

Another highlight is “Make It Last,” a gorgeous standard written by Dick Haymes and Bill Paxton, made famous by Betty Carter in 1958. “A good friend of mine sent me “Make it Last” and when I heard it I said, ‘wow, this is another great tune with an interesting chord progression, and a Melba Liston horn arrangement.’ Another connection: Russell’s mother worked with trombonist/arranger Liston and a young Russell had seen Betty Carter perform, leaving a great impression. “Make It Last” is about holding onto what’s really important, and hoping it will continue. “It’s not wanting to lose a beautiful moment, because tomorrow the moment may be gone,” the singer reflects.

“Going Back To New Orleans” was written and originally recorded by Joe Liggins, who shared bills in the late 1940s with both Luis Russell and His Orchestra and The International Sweethearts of Rhythm, including Catherine’s mother, Carline Ray, on guitar and vocals. Interestingly, these intersections happened years before Luis Russell and Carline Ray first met in 1955; Luis was 23 years her senior and they married before Catherine was born in 1956.

Russell’s professional life began at age 7, when she first took the stage as a dancer with Katherine Dunham’s company for four seasons at The Metropolitan Opera’s production of Aida. After graduating with honors from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she was fortunate to work with David Bowie, Steely Dan, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, Jackson Browne, Michael Feinstein, Levon Helm, Wynton Marsalis, Dr. John, Rosanne Cash, Toshi Reagon, and Carrie Smith, among others. Russell performed extensively as a backup singer, multi-instrumentalist, and lead singer, before launching her solo recording career in 2006. She amassed decades of experience touring and recording with cutting edge songwriters and iconic artists, appearing on over 200 albums.

Co-producers Katherine Miller, Paul Kahn and Catherine Russell, the team behind Russell’s albums, Alone Together (2019) and Harlem On My Mind (2016), both GRAMMY® nominees for Best Jazz Vocal Album, are reunited on Send For Me, their 6th album together. The winning streak began with Inside This Heart of Mine (2010), which reached #1 on iTunes and Amazon jazz charts. Strictly Romancin’ (2012) was awarded the Prix du Jazz Vocal (Vocal Album of The Year) by the French Jazz Academy and Grand Prix du Hot Club de France. Her fifth solo album, Bring It Back (2014), received a 5 Star Review in Downbeat Magazine.

Significant film and TV credits include Russell contributing the song, “Crazy Blues,” as a featured artist on the 2012 GRAMMY® winning soundtrack album of the HBO series, Boardwalk Empire. In 2017, she performed the song on PBS-TV’s Great Performances special, ‘Grammy Salute To Music Legends’. In 2019, she had a cameo in the feature film Bolden, a biopic about jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden, while also contributing lead vocals on two songs to Wynton Marsalis’s soundtrack album.

Russell’s versatility shines through on an array of new recordings released over the past 18 months. She added harmony vocals on albums by Sarah Jarosz (a GRAMMY® Award winner for Best Americana Album in 2021), Brett Eldredge, and Little Feat, while also contributing a song on renowned banjo player Tony Trischka’s new album Shall We Hope. In addition, she appeared as a guest lead vocalist on albums by Andy Farber and His Orchestra (Early Blue Evening), reedman Evan Arntzen (Countermelody), and on Steven Bernstein’s MTO featuring Catherine Russell, Good Time Music, the second album in the four-part Community Music series by trumpet player and arranger, Steven Bernstein. Russell continues to tour with Steely Dan, as recently as in the fall of 2021, and she sings on two new releases including Northeast Corridor Live! and a live version of the acclaimed album by Donald Fagen, The Nightfly Live.

Sixteen years into her solo career, Catherine Russell is on the move. Her band, including guitarist/musical director Matt Munisteri, pianist Mark Shane, bassist Tal Ronen, and drummer Mark McLean, has performed at major festivals on four continents, while also selling out concert halls from SFJazz Miner Auditorium in San Francisco, to Zankel Carnegie Hall in New York City, to Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow. In addition, Catherine has appeared as a featured vocalist with today’s leading big bands and symphony orchestras including the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, Count Basie Orchestra, Andy Farber and His After Midnight Orchestra, Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra of St. Petersburg, Russia; Miami’s New World Symphony, The Philly Pops, and The Pasadena Pops Orchestra. Most recently, Russell joined forces with John Pizzarelli to perform a salute to Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra.

As Catherine sings on the title track of her new album, “Anywhere, Oh Yeah, Send For Me, and I’ll be there.”

Alone Together (VINYL Edition)
Release Date: July 26, 2019
Label: Dot Time Records

GRAMMY Nominee for Best Jazz Vocal Album

On Alone Together, Russell reinvigorates rare gems and stalwart standards from the Great American Songbook, lending her voice to the compositions of Nat King Cole, Irving Berlin, Eddie de Lange, Jimmy Van Heusen, Al Dubin, Louis Jordan and Harry Warren. The vinyl edition features 10 tunes including Louis Jordan’s “Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby” and “Early In The Morning”, the swing-era classic “You Can’t Pull The Wool Over My Eyes”, the tongue in cheek “He May Be Your Dog, But He’s Wearing My Collar,” and the classic “I Only Have Eyes For You”, among others.

D. OSCAR GROOMES
O'S PLACE JAZZ MAGAZINE
This is the pairing of the polished, New York, jazz vocalist Catherine Russell with rising, young pianist, Sean Mason from Charlotte, NC. They trace traditions with samples from the Great American Songbook, Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley. This collaboration represents pages in music history presented in true form, notable for the young Mason who exhibits poise end to end with excellent support of Russell. Her depth and warmth are effortless. They take us back, including a church feel on “Ain’t That Love”, moving to blues stories like “Ain’t Got Nobody”, the soulful “South To A Warmer Place”, and a few show tunes. My Ideal is one to listen to repeatedly and we’ll wear the grooves of our vinyl edition!

JAZZTIMES
JazzTimes is honored to premiere a previously unreleased track by singer Catherine Russell, “You Reap Just What You Sow.” The song, written and first performed by the great Alberta Hunter (1895-1984), will be officially released tomorrow (June 12) on all digital platforms, in association with Dot Time Records and Symphonic Distribution. All proceeds from streaming and downloads will be donated to the Jazz Foundation of America’s COVID-19 Musicians’ Emergency Fund, which supports musicians affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Read the full premiere here.