Hearing Catherine Russell, I am always reminded of Eddie Durham’s sentence in praise of Ed Hall: “He didn’t know how not to swing!”
And when you put Catherine in front of a hot band — the evidence follows immediately! — the effect is happily seismic.
Here she is at the 22nd International Bohém Ragtime & Jazz Festival in Kecskemét, Hungary, singing EVERYBODY LOVES MY BABY (the arrangement is by Andy Farber and Attila Korb) with the Hungarian Bohém Ragtime Jazz Band . . . József Lebanov, trumpet; Attila Korb, trombone; Zoltán Mátrai, reeds; Tamás Ittzés, piano; György Mátrai, guitar; József Török, string bass; Alfréd Falusi, drums. Recorded March 23, 2013. More information: bohemragtime and catherinerussell.
Here Catherine ventures into Hungarian melody and lyrics. True, she has to put on her glasses, but she does such a nice job — her singing comes from the heart! The band is almost the same, but Tamás Ittzés switches to violin, with Miklós Lázár alongside him. The song is “miért szerettem bele magába,” which I believe translates to WHY I FELL IN LOVE, and it’s a neat rhythm ballad. Can’t you hear Louis or Fats doing it, around 1936? (I am sure that one of my readers can tell us all more about this composition by Mihály Eisemann and László Szilágyi.
And some wonderful swing dancing, too.
For those who wish to sing along, the lyrics are:
Mért szerettem bele magába? Gondolkodom, de már hiába.
Bármi rosszul esik, a szív beleesik egy ilyen kis hibába.
Ki gondolta volna előre, hogy ez lesz a végén belőle?
Máris odavagyok, majdnem belehalok, mi lesz ebből jövőre?
Ez egy olyan dolog, amin muszáj zokogni,
E sok közül éppen magát kellett kifogni.
Mért szerettem bele magába? Gondolkodom, de már hiába.
Bármi rosszul esik, a szív beleesik egy ilyen kis hibába.
Catherine Russell is a star — wherever we find her!
And that reminds me. If you don’t see yourself as going to Hungary in the next two weeks, or you have mislaid your passport, swing relief is in sight. Catherine will be appearing with a beautifully hot band on Monday, April 15, 2013, at a concert given by the Sidney Bechet Society.
That, as Keats said, is all you need to know. See you there!
May your happiness increase.
JAZZ LIVES 
From Catherine’s fb page: “Monday April 15 at Symphony Space NYC for Sidney Bechet Society, Catherine Russell (voc), Matt Munisteri (g), Mark Shane (p), Jon-Erik Kellso (trumpet), Dan Block (sax, clarinet), Ed Howard (b), Rocky Bryant (d). In swing we trust~!”
http://www.symphonyspace.org
Hi Michael,
Thanks very much for your April 3 post on Catherine Russell. The Festival in Hungary was amazing and we are looking forward to Symphony Space on Monday April 15!
Cheers,
Paul Kahn
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As a member of the audience I can tell you: it was amazing. All the three days were fantastic! Thanks to Tamás and his staff for the awesome work they did! The videos give only a small part of the mood we were in. Thanks again and I am looking forward to the next year’s festival at last weekend of March.
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