About Catherine Russell
Catherine Russell is an American jazz and blues singer. She is best known for her 2016 album Harlem on My Mind and for touring with David Bowie and Steely Dan.
Her father was Luis Russell, a Panamanian-born "pianist and leader of one of the most impressive big bands on the early New York jazz scene after leading a group in New Orleans and moving to Chicago, where he worked with King Oliver, who gave Louis Armstrong his first big break." He later became Louis Armstrong's long-time musical director. Her mother, Carline Ray, held degrees from both Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music and performed with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm following World War II. She later performed "with Doc Cheatham and Wynton Marsalis, among others."
Russell's interest in music began as a child. As a young girl, she was "steeped in early jazz—from '20s and '30s recordings by her father's orchestras to '40s and '50s R&B." She was also enamored with country music—including the early George Jones, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, and Merle Haggard—as she liked "anything that swings."
In the mid-1980s, she often visited a Manhattan club where guitarist Jimmy Vivino was the bandleader. One evening she was invited to sing on stage with musician Donald Fagen of the band Steely Dan. Soon afterwards, Russell was invited to tour with Fagen's "New York Rock and Soul Revue" in 1992. When Steely Dan reunited in 1993, Fagen invited her to join them, and she toured with them until 1996. She spent "many years on the road with rock, blues, jazz, soul and gospel bands." She preferred to tour with acoustic string bands as she did not have to compete with electric guitars. She performed background vocals on the 1990 Madonna recording "Rescue Me".
From 2002 until 2004, Russell worked with David Bowie as a band member, providing backing vocals and featured contributions on guitar, keyboard and percussion for Bowie's Heathen Tour, A Reality Tour, and his late-2003 album Reality. Recalling these experiences, Russell remarked: "Working with David was a dream come true. I’d been a fan since 1971. He was such a gracious man, and musically generous. He brought out the best in me. In addition to background singing, he let me play several instruments: keyboards, percussion, guitar and mandolin. He allowed me to stretch beyond what I thought I was capable of. He was caring, funny and loved his family. I am blessed to have known him."
When Bowie's touring career was suspended in 2004, Russell's business partner and later husband Paul Kahn suggested that she record a solo album. However, Russell initially rejected the idea as she believed she already had "a nice career as a backup singer." Nevertheless, she eventually consented to record song tracks at a friend's studio in Skokie, Illinois. Kahn then invited executives from a record company to hear Russell sing in New York, which led to a recording contract with Harmonia Mundi. The earlier tracks recorded in Illinois became her first album, Cat .
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