Brenda Russell: Chronicling The Songwriter And Artiste

African American singer, song writer and pianist Brenda Russell appeared on the music scene in the late seventies, initially as part of a duo and later as a solo artiste.

She made her name equally as a recording artiste and a competent songwriter who wrote for herself and other musicians like Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Sting. Russell’s music covers several genres like soul, pop, jazz and adult contemporary.

Brenda was born Brenda Gordon on April 8, 1949. She grew up in an environment which encouraged music with her father Gus being a former member of the Ink Spots. When she was 12, Brenda’s family relocated to Canada, where she spent the rest of her growing years.

Brenda started performing as a teenager singing with local bands. While in her late teens she was a part of the Toronto production of Hair. This is also when she learnt to play the piano.

In the early seventies Brenda married Brian Russell another musician. The couple hosted the Music Machine on Canadian TV and then moved back to the US. There they signed to Elton John’s Rocket label and as the duo Brian and Brenda, released two albums, World Called Love (1976) and Supersonic Love (1977).

Later that decade the couple separated. Brenda then signed with Horizon Records as a solo artist. She made her debut with the hit single So Good So Right in 1979. Horizon folded soon after and Brenda signed to A&M, making her label debut with Brenda Russell. The album included If Only For One Night and In The Thick Of It. The former later earned a hit for Luther Vandross.

In the eighties Brenda released Love Life (1981) on A&M and Two Eyes (1983) on Warner Brothers. Soon after she moved to Sweden, where she concentrated on writing songs for her next album.

Brenda’s commercially most successful album Get Here was released in 1988. It contained Piano In The Dark, a duet with Joe Esposita of Brooklyn Dreams. The single would give Brenda the biggest hit of her career while the album earned her 3 Grammy nominations. In 1991 the title track was covered by Oleta Adams and went on to become an international hit.

After the release of Kiss Me With The Wind(1990) and Soul Talkin’ (1993), Brenda took a hiatus from recording and began focusing mainly on writing for other artistes. She was responsible for the score of How Stella Got Her Groove Back and also appeared in the film Liberty Heights in 1999, performing two of her own songs, written especially for the film.

Brenda resurfaced on the music scene in 2000 with Paris Rain on Hidden Beach Records. This critically acclaimed album also included collaborations with Carole King, Dave Koz and Sheila E. It was quite different from her previous releases leaning more towards adult contemporary rather than pop.

In 2003 Brenda released So Good So Right: The Best of Brenda Russell on Dome Records, a new UK label and followed it with Between The Sun And The Moon in 2004. The next year she co-wrote the score for Oprah Winfrey’s Broadway production of Alice Walker’s The Colour Purple.

Over the last three decades Brenda had done sessions work with artistes like Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler and Elton John. Her songs have been covered widely by various artistes including Luther Vandross and Donna Summer.