Jazz Articles about Russell Gunn

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Trudy Lynn: Turning the Same Ole Corners

by Ron Kalb
May 20, 2026

Listening to the February 2026 digital release of Trudy Lynn's Turning the Same Ole Corners inspires a trip back in time to the Consumer Electronics Show at McCormick Place, Chicago, where Sony unveiled its first CD player. The sound was clean, crystalline, futuristic. Great for classical. Great for pop. But for blues--the music of roadhouse sweat, smoke and booze--it always felt like someone had wiped down the bar with antiseptic. That tension between polish and grit hangs over ...

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Russell Gunn: No Safety Net, No Overdubs, Just Pure and Original

by Dean Nardi
January 6, 2025

One of the reasons podcasts have become so popular is they provide listeners with the experience of hearing people live, raw and unedited with no safety net as opposed to reading an article in a magazine or on the Internet. Even a Question & Answer interview is edited to remove repetitive comments and all the “ums" and “yeahs" that occur in normal conversation. It is similar to the difference between listening to a studio recording and going to a live ...

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Russell Gunn: Plays Miles

by John Kelman
March 21, 2007

Since introducing his hip hop/funk/fusion-centric Ethnomusicology series in 1999--culminating in Ethnomusicology Vol. 4: Live in Atlanta (Justin-Time, 2004)-- forward-looking trumpeter Russell Gunn has alternated straight-ahead fare for HighNote like 2002's Blue on the D.L., with Ethnomusicology releases for a variety of labels. With Plays Miles, however, he finds clear common ground. Given his steadfast avoidance of labeling it's no surprise that Gunn is gradually moving towards a unified approach that brings together all of his diverse musical interests.

There's no ...

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Russell Gunn: Ethnomusicology Vol. 4: Live in Atlanta

by John Kelman
October 29, 2004

As an alternative to Wynton Marsalis, who steadfastly hangs onto the singular American Jazz Tradition and, granted, eloquently and skillfully keeps it alive through his playing, educating and entrepreneuring, trumpeter Russell Gunn has shown an unerring desire over the course of the past ten years to merge styles into a personal language that asserts jazz as the melting pot it truly is. As much as Gunn has proven himself to be a capable hard and post bop player on early ...

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Russell Gunn: Ethnomusicology, Vol. 3

by AAJ Staff
October 7, 2003

Russell Gunn has a problem with critics--but only the ones who don't like his music. The third track on this record makes this point more than abundantly clear. And it's pure hypocrisy.

Regardless, I'm afraid I'll have to join this elite group. Gunn's last record (Vol. 2) was a brilliant blending of jazz with hip-hop, funk and other styles. Vol. 3 has crossed the line into pure indulgence and fallen off the edge. A few inspired combinations drown ...

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Russell Gunn: Ethnomusicology, Vol. 2

by AAJ Staff
October 1, 2001

Trumpeter Russell Gunn demonstrated a very personal vision of jazz fusion on the first volume in this series, which generated a lot of media interest and earned him a Grammy nomination. He continues along the same vein with Ethnomusicology, Vol. 2, a fine showcase for his manifold crossover interests.

It's too easy to dismiss this music as lightweight or trivial. Gunn is serious about his work, and there's ample evidence on Ethnomusicology, Vol. 2 to prove the point. His interpretation ...

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Russell Gunn: Ethnomusicology, Volume 1

by Douglas Payne
May 1, 1999

Few attempts at a jazz and hip hop union have ever been successful or satisfying. Maybe it's one school's inability to understand the other or the problematic potential of getting two such different audiences in the same room. But, somehow, the maverick 28-year-old trumpeter Russell Gunn has made it work with Ethnomusicology, one of the finest and most original jazz documents to come along in some time. On this, his first Atlantic set, Gunn departs distinctively from his previous Muse ...