Catherine has enjoyed a long career as a back up singer with everyone from David Bowie to Jackson Browne but is now focusing on the music of her father, Luis Russell, who was music director for Louis Armstrong and led his own bands in the 20's and 30's. Catherine discusses her love of New Orleans music and early jazz and what it means to come to this music at this stage of her career. The following was recorded in 2009, early in Catherine’s pursuit of a career under her own name.

Catherine Russell 2

Catherine returns to discuss newly discovered recordings of her father, Luis Russell.

Luis Russell At The Swing Cats Ball is a collection of recordings from 1938 to1940 of Catherine’s father playing stride piano solos, leading his band and Louis Armstrong’s, alongside some of the greatest musicians of the era.

Catherine and I talked about these recordings and the lasting effect her father has had on her life and music in 2023.