My wife and I rang in the new year at the Jazz Forum in Tarrytown, New York with the incomparable jazz singer Catherine Russell. It became 2024 during the performance, but we were transported back to a simpler era when the Great American Songbook produced hits, and blues was the entertainment at South Side Chicago clubs.

Catherine Russell brings in New Year’s Eve with guitarist Matt Munisteri and bassist Tal Ronen. (Jim Motavalli photo)

We were issued party hats and beads, and there was a countdown, but the main attraction was Russell and her great band. I was intrigued by guitarist Matt Munisteri, who also backs singer Kat Edmondson. He was fine on the swing stuff, but really shone on blues—of which there was an abundance. Ben Paterson (piano) and Tal Ronen (bass) acquitted themselves well. The amiable Ronen has played with another fine singer, Tamar Korn.

Russell has the pleasant habit of introducing songs with the author’s name(s). That’s how I know that New Orleans R&B artist Earl King wrote “Let the Good Times Roll,” and that vocalist Al Hibbler recorded “After the Lights Go Down Low.” Hibbler got to number 15 with Phil Belmonte, Allen White and Leroy C. Lovett’s composition circa 1956. “Shiny Stockings” is from the pen of horn man Frank Foster. None of that matters to the enjoyment of a contemporary Catherine Russell concert—she just sings great songs, but from a far more elegantly curated repertoire than the average jazz singer. And she’s a practically flawless singer, never missing a note, never failing to put the tune over.

Guitarist Matt Munisteri is equally at home in swing and blues. He also accompanies Kat Edmonson. (Jim Motavalli photo)

The brilliance of seeing Russell is that even if the sound was off you could enjoy her performance. She’s a very physical performer, celebrating the song as much with her mobile face as with her voice. And you learn about a lot of tunes! She went through Steve Allen’s “Cool Yule,” Irving Berlin’s 1938 “Change Partners,” Hoagie Carmichael’s 1937 “The Nearness of You” and a lot more. I hadn’t heard King Oliver’s 1926 “Doctor Jazz” in a while.

And then, of course, there was her dad’s “At the Swing Cat’s Ball.” Luis Russell was a noted bandleader, as well as Louis Armstrong’s musical director, and a bunch of his performances were recently pulled out of a closet by his daughter and released on a Dot Time album.

Catherine Russell with bassist Tal Ronen. (Jim Motavalli photo)

It’s a colorful family. Russell’s mother, Carline Ray, an excellent singer as well as a bassist and guitarist (International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Mary Lou Williams and Sy Oliver), told her, “Child, you’ve got enough mouth for another row of teeth.” Both parents imbued their daughter with a great love for a century of great American music. Russell is both an historian and a peerless interpreter.

I’ll be back at the Jazz Forum for the great vocalist Roseanna Vitro, who’s entertaining on Valentine’s Day, February 14.