Catherine Russell at Ronnie Scott’s

Catherine Russell’s duo album with pianist Sean Mason “My Ideal” (Dot Time) from earlier this year is a gem. I reviewed it for The Arts Desk (link below), and have gone on listening to it for pure pleasure, often wondering as I was doing so if I shouldn’t have given it a fifth star. The pianist with his youthful energy and encyclopaedic grasp of early jazz piano idioms, and the singer with her matchless legacy and history do seem to really spark off each other as they re-visit songs from the past.

Catherine Russell was proud to be making her Ronnie’s debut on Monday 30 September 2024 in her own name (finally), although she recalled that her mother, bassist Carline Ray had played there with Ruth Brown. That memory dictated the choice of the encore, a rousing “Everytime it Rains I Think of You”.

Ronnie’s looked good. It has been newly refurbished with much lighter coloured walls, and all the photos and pictures hsve been invitingly re-hung. The club always carries with it a strong sense of occasion, even for this first (full) house of the week, starting at 6 30pm on a Monday.

Some of the songs which work truly magically on the record, notably a brilliant re-thinking of Ray Charles’s “Ain’t That Love”, and Tiny Grimes’s “You Stayed Away Too Long”, were also very effective in the club. The clarity of the words, Russell’s way of bringing the listener in to the story she has to tell were appealing.

Russell also has a sense of mission about reviving neglected songs, unearthing curiosities . Of the many ways to mark the Dinah Washington centenary, Catherine Russell avoided the obvious – “What a Difference a Day Makes”, for example – to give a provocative and menacing rendition of a rarity, “My man’s an undertaker / (And he’s got a coffin just your size)”.

I did wonder, however, if she wasn’t – understandably – holding a little bit of drive and energy in reserve for the second house. Others may beg to differ, but the whole experience felt (to me) slightly underpowered. The trio with her – Roy Dunlap a stylish and elegant pianist, Tal Ronen a fluently melodic bass player and Domo Branch an infinitely subtle drummer – are all top flight New York players, and they particularly came into their own in moments of lightness where less is more.

That said, it was good to witness an artist who is so deeply part of the history and traditions of jazz going through the rite of passage that is a Ronnie’s debut, and I have no hesitation in recommending a very strong album indeed, “My Ideal”.