By Andrew Poretz***If you thought you saw smoke coming out of Birdland the other night, you are correct. Jazz singer extraordinaire Catherine Russell returned to Birdland with a quartet for a recent five-night, ten-segment stint. And for the second night only, jazz fans were treated to a rather unique evening: as 
Russell put it, “I’m opening and headlining for myself!” She fronted her quartet for a short set before fronting Colin Hancock’s Jazz Hounds, a seven-piece trad jazz band, in a longer segment to introduce their extraordinary new album, Cat and the Hounds. For both segments, the focus was on jazz songs recorded by the great Black female singers of a century ago. Many numbers were risqué and passionate “my man” songs filled with hurt and some sexual innuendo.
New York native Russell is a well-known and beloved singer and recording artist whose parents were jazz royalty. Her father, Luis Russell, was a legendary pianist-composer and bandleader, as well as Louis Armstrong’s long-time musical director. Her mother, Carline Ray, was a pioneering vocalist-guitarist/bassist. Luis Russell played on several of the original recordings represented on the new album.
Russell, dazzling in an outfit flecked with gold, was backed by pianist Ben Paterson, bassist Tal Ronen, guitarist and musical director Matt Munisteri and drummer Domo Branch, Russell opened strong with “Getting Some Fun Out of Life” (Joe Burke, Edgar Leslie), made famous by Billie Holiday. A call and response between Ronen and Branch added fire to the arrangement. Dina Washington’s recording of “You’ve Been a Good Old Wagon” (Bessie Smith,Van Ronk), a slow blues, inspired Russell’s version, with hot takes by Paterson and Munisteri on a stunning Gibson L-5 archtop. Russell sings with sass, verve and well-earned confidence, her expressive face and body often acting out the lyrics. Her blues have an authenticity to them that makes the desires and emotions of the story come to life. After a fun and sizzling “You Got to Swing and Sway” (Ida Cox) that had the joint jumpin’, the bandstand cleared to bring up the Jazz Hounds.
The Jazz Hounds consist of leader Hancock (cornet, C-melody sax), Dion Tucker (trombone), Evan Christopher (clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax), Jon Thomas (piano), Kerry Lewis (tuba) and Ahmad Johnson (drums). The legendary Vince Giordano was a special guest on 
bass sax, banjo and bass tenor guitar for this session as well as the album. Hancock is more than just a gifted instrumentalist. This young man is an erudite musicologist who does much to research, restore and preserve the great recordings of trad jazz and blues. Between some songs, Hancock told fascinating stories behind many of the numbers in the set/album.
Russell, warmed up from her mini-set, was in spectacular voice for the Cat and the Hounds segment. Though words like “reimagined” are used in the liner notes, the overall vibe was more like being in the room when these songs were first played and recorded, the 78s coming to life at Birdland. It’s especially rewarding when such masters of trad jazz play these tunes and keep them alive (which Giordano is legendary for himself).
Of special note was the terrific “Cake Walking Babies (From Home)” (Clarence Williams, Chris Smith, Henry Troy), first recorded by Victoria Spivey (with 
Russell’s father among the musicians). This arrangement was based on the Bessie Smith recording rather than the more famous Louis Armstrong arrangement, to better suit Russell’s style. The band played an instrumental of “Gypsy Blues” (intro: “Serenade Blues”) by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, which included Hancock muting with just a hand, Christopher’s muted tenor sax and Giordano strumming the banjo so hard he broke a string.
The highlight of the set, and perhaps the entire evening, was “Goin’ Crazy With the Blues” (Andy Razaf, J. C. Johnson). Introduced by Mamie Smith in 1926, this tune was one of the finest examples of Smith recording with a mic after the practice of “recording horns” was abandoned. This hot number had Hancock using a hat as a cornet mute. Russell was on fire here.
NOTE: Cat and the Hounds is available on vinyl and CD as well as the usual streaming platforms.
Photos by Andrew Poretz
