New York Christmas Magic Comes to Kansas City

Holiday music gets the big band treatment in jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra concert.

Jazz vocalist Catherine Russell loves Christmas in New York. From the mechanized fairy tale department store windows and the tree at Rockefeller Center to the jazz services at her parish church of St. Peter’s, for Russell, there’s no place like New York during the holidays.

She’ll bring that New York Christmas magic to Kansas City, when the Harriman-Jewell Series presents Russell and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis in Big Band Holidays at Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland on December 1.

“One of my favorite things about Christmas is just giving thanks for everything that we have,” Russell said. “Everything kind of slows down so that everyone can enjoy being with each other. New York City, one of the fastest cities in the world, just comes to a stop. Christmastime in New York is really great.”

Russell is a New York native. Her mother, Carline Ray, was a distinguished musician, graduating with advanced degrees from Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music. Her father, Luis Russell, was born in Panama, but eventually found his way to New Orleans and New York to become Louis Armstrong’s musical director and collaborator.

With this lineage it’s not surprising that Russell exudes musicality. Her gorgeous voice is on full display on her just-released album, Harlem on My Mind. But Russell sings much more than jazz. In fact, she’s one of the most versatile performers around, having worked with Steely Dan, Cyndi Lauper and David Bowie.

“Back in 2002, David was looking for someone to sing back-up vocals and play keyboard parts,” Russell said. “David was an exceptional human being and a great leader and mentor because he brought the best out of the people that worked with him. He was exceptionally classy, and I feel so fortunate to have gotten to work with him on his last two tours and on one of his recordings.

“I never dreamed I’d work with David Bowie and I never dreamed I’d work with Wynton Marsalis.”

Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis is another versatile performer, moving comfortably between the worlds of classical music and jazz. He’s won nine Grammy Awards for music ranging from jazz standards and classical trumpet concertos to a spoken word album for children. Marsalis won the Pulitzer Prize for his oratorio “Blood on the Fields” in 1997.

In 1987, Marsalis co-founded the jazz program at Lincoln Center where he is now artistic director of the 15-member Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

“The orchestra sounds so wonderful,” Russell said. “Most of the people in the orchestra are arrangers, so they’ve reworked our beautiful holiday material. It’s all familiar holiday music. Nothing you haven’t heard before, but it’s all so beautifully arranged.”

Being the guest vocalist for Big Band Holidays brings back memories of Russell performing in holiday programs with her mother.

“My mother and I did holiday concerts in 2007 and 2012 here in New York,” she said. “But we also sang all those things in church. I grew up singing those things in harmony and so forth. It’s been a lifelong relationship with Christmas music.”

In addition to Big Band Holidays, the Harriman-Jewell Series is wrapping up 2016 with other musical gifts. On November 15, the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Choir will bring its joyous sound to the Folly Theater. Founded in 1994, the 55-member, multiracial choir is known for its rousing performances of Western and African music.

Joyce DiDonato and the lively ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro present In War & Peace: Harmony Through Music December 7 at the Folly Theater. Any concert by DiDonato is an event, but this promises to be especially exciting with a selection of some of the flashiest arias from the Baroque era.

The Harriman-Jewell Series concludes the year with a special gift to the community: a free Discovery Concert featuring the WindSync wind quintet at the Folly Theater. The five young musicians will perform selections from The Nutcracker, as well as folk tunes and carols.

For tickets and more information, call the Harriman-Jewell Series at 816-415-5025 or visit hjseries.org.

–Patrick Neas