VOA标准英语2010年-Catherine Russell Releases Blues Influ

Vocalist Catherine Russell is always searching for that next great melody.  She's found more than a dozen of them to sing on her latest album, Inside This Heart Of Mine. 

 

Catherine Russell is a perfectionist when it comes to choosing her material.  Her first rule is it has to swing, as heard on her interpretation¹ of Ray Gilbert's "All The Cats Join In."

Catherine's love for the stage began at home.  She says her parents, noted² jazz composer Luis Russell and singer and bass⁴ player Carline Ray, introduced her to music and dance without any pressure of following in their footsteps.   

"They didn't want to be 'stage parents', so they went with what I wanted to do more than [what they wanted me to do]," she says.  "I had a mean piano teacher when I was little so they didn't make me study with her.  My mother was playing for dance classes at Katherine Dunham's dance studio, and then I actually got the opportunity to study dance, and join her company as a result of that.  So, it happened organically [naturally] rather than people forcing me to be on stage."

Catherine launched her career as a backup singer for Jackson Browne, Steely Dan, Paul Simon and others.  Since the release of her first solo album in 2006, Catherine has carefully chosen songs with a personal connection.

"I like so many different kinds of music," she says, "and I've been influenced by so many different kinds of music that I do a lot of research; because doing this project has really encouraged me to listen to a lot of different things all the time, and really find songs that I like.  The process is if I like a melody, the story of the lyric⁵, and the harmonic structure of a tune⁶, then that makes me want to learn it, and sing it and research it.  So, that's pretty much how I find everything."

Among Catherine Russell's diverse collection of vintage jazz and swing is a tune titled "Spoonful" by legendary⁷ Chicago bluesman Willie Dixon.  Catherine says all of her songs have some element of blues⁸ in them.

"It seems to me that blues is a way of working out how you feel.  So, blues has always been very personal for me because it really is a process of how we explore our feelings and feel better about ourselves in the mist of that sadness.  That's what it kind of means to me," she says.  "[In the] history of the blues, people were just making themselves feel better in adverse⁹ circumstances."

Also featured on Catherine's new CD are works by Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Lillian Hardin Armstrong, and Catherine's father Luis, as well as the Tin Pan Alley¹⁰ classic by Harold Arlen and Ted³ Koehler, "As Long As I Live."
 

1 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

5 lyric   

n.抒情诗，歌词；adj.抒情的

参考例句：

• This is a good example of Shelley's lyric poetry.这首诗是雪莱抒情诗的范例。
• His earlier work announced a lyric talent of the first order.他的早期作品显露了一流的抒情才华。

6 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

7 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

8 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

9 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

10 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。