Twice Grammy Nominated Vocalist Catherine Russell's New Album, Send For Me, Is Out Now

Twice GRAMMY-nominated vocalist Catherine Russell, when asked to characterize her new album, replied, "I love romance that swings." The masterful songstress released Send For Me on April 1 via Dot Time Records, which 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.

The album has garnered worldwide acclaim. In early February, the release of a first video/single, At The Swing Cats Ball, was followed by an appearance on NPR's Tiny Desk (Home). The Wall Street Journal, Downbeat Magazine, The Absolute Sound, No Depression, WBGO, London Jazz News, and other top tier outlets have praised Send For Me, and jazz radio is loving it too: currently Send For Me sits at #1 on both the JazzWeek radio and NACC Jazz chart.

Russell has been celebrating her album on a coast-to coast tour, which will continue through mid-May. The week of the album's release included six performances, revealing the breadth of Catherine's artistic reach, from a sold out show with her band at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston, to a festival performance in Fort Worth, Texas, sharing the headlining slot with Rock 'N Roll Hall of Famer Steve Miller, backed by an all-star band including Nathan East on bass. In between, Catherine served as educator/performer on a tribute to International Sweethearts of Rhythm for families and kids at Montclair Art Museum, a WBGO sponsored show, at the invitation of NEA Jazz Master Dorthaan Kirk. In Richmond, Virginia, Catherine led a seven piece band along with vocalists Brianna Thomas and Charenee Wade on their Tribute to early blues women, Ladies Sing The Blues. Catherine appeared for a second time within two weeks at Carnegie Hall, as a guest on Michael Feinstein's Standard Time, where Theater Pizzazz critic Marilyn Lester noted, "the extraordinary jazz singer Catherine Russell, added tremendous energy to an already vibrant program." On an evening covering James Brown songs to celebrate City Winery founder Michael Dorf's 60th Birthday, Catherine sang "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag," and "Cold Sweat," backed by Steven Bernstein's MTO.

Trumpet player and arranger, Bernstein, who had tapped Russell's vocals to front his band on their early 2022 release, Good Time Music, says of Catherine in The Absolute Sound, "she's singing from a higher power and a higher place," continuing "she's the rarest combination of spirit and science, the kind of human being who makes the world a better place by just being in the room." Night after night, from jazz clubs to concert halls, from festivals to Performing Arts Centers, from cabaret to rockin' soul and blues, Catherine Russell delights in sharing the healing power of music with ever growing audiences.

Before setting out with Steely Dan at the end of May, Catherine will take to the stage in Greensboro, GA at the end of this month, and next month, she will perform across New York in Queens, Brooklyn and Buffalo. The remaining album tour schedule and date-specific information can be found below.

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.

Upcoming Catherine Russell Tour Dates 2022
Apr 29 / Oconee Performing Arts Society / Greensboro, GA
May 6 / Kupferberg Center for The Arts / Queens, NY
May 7 / Kingsborough Community College / Brooklyn, NY
May 13 / Kleinhans Music Hall / Buffalo, NY
June 11 / OKM Music Festival, Bartlesville, OK

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