Colin Hancock’s Jazz Hounds Featuring Catherine Russell – Cat & The Hounds

Maybe Hancock and the band are dusting off old tunes—but they’re having a blast, playing like this music never went out of style.

Turtle Bay Records

Colin Hancock – cornet, C-melody sax; Catherine Russell – vocals; Dion Tucker – trombone; Evan Christopher – clarinet, soprano and alto sax; Jerron Paxton – banjo, guitar, harmonica, vocals; Jon Thomas – piano; Ahmad Johnson – drums; Kerry Lewis – tuba; Vince Giordano – bass sax (4,7)

Don’t let the vintage song list deter you—Cat & the Hounds, is one of the most exciting jazz albums of the year. Led by cornetist, multi-instrumentalist, and historian Colin Hancock, with powerhouse vocals from Catherine Russell, this record dives deep into the music of the 1920s and brings it to life with energy, style, and a whole lot of soul.

Catherine Russell—three-time GRAMMY nominee—leads with a voice that’s both earthy and regal. Trombonist Dion Tucker plays with bite and swagger, while Evan Christopher’s clarinet lines are fluid and full of character. Jerron Paxton switches effortlessly between banjo, harmonica, and vocals, adding a bit of comic timing whenever needed.

Pianist Jon Thomas brings serious stride chops, drummer Ahmad Johnson drives the rhythm with a tight, swinging feel that’s both relaxed and focused, and Kerry Lewis’s tuba isn’t just holding down the bass—he’s playful, precise, and you can feel the whole band locking in around him. Together, they sound like a Creole territory band that never made it onto shellac but absolutely should have.

Hancock and his band take this music’s roots seriously. The idea started with George Wein’s 2020 Newport Jazz Festival plan for a “History of Jazz” show spotlighting Black traditionalists. When the pandemic canceled the festival—and Wein passed soon after—the project stalled. Then, in 2023, a Brooklyn jam session with Hancock, ragtime legend Terry Waldo, and Catherine Russell reignited the spark—and Cat & the Hounds came to life.

“Panama Limited Blues” sets the tone right away, nodding to the Illinois Central line that ran from New Orleans to Chicago. Pianist Luis Russell—Catherine’s father—made that same move in 1925 before joining King Oliver’s band, and while we don’t know if he took that exact train, the track feels like a tribute to that journey. Paxton’s train-whistle harmonica, the rolling groove, Hancock’s tight cornet lines, and Russell’s commanding vocals all capture the motion and momentum of musicians on the move.

Yes, there’s “Cake Walkin ’Babies From Home,” famously recorded by Bessie Smith with Louis Armstrong. But there’s also Edna Hicks“ ’You’ve Got Everything a Sweet Mama Needs But Me,” a charming number with Catherine Russell’s playful vocals riding a click-clack percussion rhythm. The band takes turns showing off—banjo, clarinet, trumpet—all stepping up for cheerful, spirited solos. “Gypsy Blues,” from Shuffle Along (1921), is a swaggering instrumental, led by a cornet that sounds like it’s kicking off a horse race, with the banjo high in the mix and Thomas’s piano channeling Eubie Blake. The Jazz Hounds dig deep for early gems and treat them with both reverence and playfulness.

‘Elevator Papa, Switchboard Mama” is pure fun, a double entendre call-and-response duet made famous by Butterbeans and Susie in 1930. Russell and Paxton go toe-to-toe on the lyrics, …while Hancock’s muted cornet adds a plaintive counterpoint—full of vocal bends and sighs, like a horn with something personal to say

‘Everybody Mess Around,” originally by Alberta Hunter, swings with loose-limbed energy, with Russell leading the charge and Lewis tossing in a tuba solo full of rhythmic swells and impish syncopation. Mamie Smith’s “Goin ’Crazy with the Blues” charges ahead with a stomping rhythm section and blasts of brass, while “Crazy Blues,” which Russell first recorded for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, takes a darker, moodier turn here.

Colin Hancock isn’t just keeping early jazz alive—he’s embodying it. A third-generation jazz obsessive, he was captivated early by his grandfather’s WWII-era Bix Beiderbecke records, formally trained on string bass and trumpet, and then taught himself nearly every instrument he could find. By fifth grade, he was overdubbing full ensembles of himself onto wax cylinder recordings.

Maybe Hancock and the band are dusting off old tunes—but they’re having a blast, playing like this music never went out of style. It’s rooted in history, but it hits with the spark of something happening right now.