In late September, Catherine Russell, 60, bustled into the little French restaurant in Greenwich Village exactly at the stroke of 2 p.m. Just back from a weekend concert at a jazz festival in Bogota, Colombia, she had come to talk about her latest album of classic jazz, blues, standards and R&B, Harlem on My Mind (Jazz Village).
She is grateful for, if a bit surprised by, the midcareer surge that has taken her from in-demand, first-call backup singer to rock and pop stars (Steely Dan, David Bowie and Cyndi Lauper among them) to her new status as the foremost vocal interpreter of vintage jazz and R&B songs from the ’20s to the ’50s. Her respect for musical tradition was forged by her parents: famed bandleader and longtime Louis Armstrong musical director Luis Russell and Carline Ray, the Juilliard-trained bassist, guitarist and singer who performed with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Mary Lou Williams and Ruth Brown.
