Arts & Culture

Written on the Dock of the Bay is your weekly guide to literary and bookish happenings in the pleasantly literary and bookish Bay Area.

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Vocalist Catherine Russell performs a great mix of jazz, blues, and soul. The daughter of two famous jazz musicians, Russell draws on her swing era jazz roots to create a distinctive style.

Some of Catherine Russell's earliest memories are of visiting Louis Armstrong's house in Queens, New York. Her father Luis Russell and her mother Carline Ray were both prominent jazz musicians in the 1930s and 40s. She remembers what happened when Satchmo Armstrong picked her up as a child.

Whenever I hear the words film, slum, Kolkata my heart sinks a little. Whether it’s an Oscar winning documentary or a feature film, it always feels a little queasy – the poor as the object of pity.