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Musician

George Russell

Born:

George Russell is a hugely influential, innovative figure in the evolution of modern jazz, the music's only major theorist, one of its most profound composers, and a trail blazer whose ideas have transformed and inspired some of the greatest musicians of our time.

Russell was born in Cincinnati in 1923, the adopted son of a registered nurse and a chef on the B&O Railroad. He began playing drums with the Boy Scout Drum and Bugle Corps and eventually received a scholarship to Wilberforce University where he joined the Collegians, whose list of alumni include Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, Fletcher Henderson, Ben Webster, Cootie Williams, Ernie Wilkins and Frank Foster. But his most valuable musical education came in 1941, when, in attempting to enlist in the Marines, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, spending 6 months in the hospital where he was taught the fundamentals of harmony from a fellow patient. From the hospital he sold his first work, "New World," to Benny Carter. He joined Benny Carter's Band, but was replaced by Max Roach; after Russell heard Roach, he decided to give up drumming. He moved to New York where he was part of a group of musicians who gathered in the basement apartment of Gil Evans. The circle included Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Max Roach, Johnny Carisi and on occasion, Charlie Parker. He was commissioned to write a piece for Dizzy Gillespie's orchestra; the result was the seminal "Cubano Be/Cubano Bop" the first fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz, premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1947 and featuring Chano Pozo. Two years later his "Bird in Igor's Yard" was recorded by Buddy DeFranco, a piece notable for its fusion of elements from Charlie Parker and Stravinsky.

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Article: Live Review

George Russell’s New York N.Y. Receives World Premiere At Milton Court

Read "George Russell’s New York N.Y. Receives World Premiere At Milton Court" reviewed by Chris May


Guildhall Induction Jazz Orchestra & Choir Milton Court Concert Hall Guildhall School of Music & Drama London September 27, 2023 Addressing the audience before the Guildhall Induction Jazz Orchestra's recreation of George Russell's first large-ensemble masterpiece, New York N.Y. (Decca, 1959), director and conductor Scott Stroman explained the choice ...

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Article: Building a Jazz Library

Bill Evans: Ten Essential Sideman Albums

Read "Bill Evans: Ten Essential Sideman Albums" reviewed by Chris May


Bill Evans attracts a special sort of fan. Clinically obsessive is a reasonable description. While far from undiscerning, we find something, usually plenty, to enjoy in every record Evans played on. And we want them all in our collection. Evans' hardcore fans include practically every musician who played with him. Eddie Gomez, his ...

Article: Radio & Podcasts

Henry Threadgill, Dan Weiss, Gordon Grdina and More

Read "Henry Threadgill, Dan Weiss, Gordon Grdina and More" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


By chance, this program contains several tributes to the music of Tim Berne, Dave Frishberg, and Gerry Mulligan. The musicians actually heard on the show include Henry Threadgill, Gordon Grdina, Claire Martin, and Dan Weiss. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of ...

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Article: Book Review

The Gerry Mulligan 1950s Quartets

Read "The Gerry Mulligan 1950s Quartets" reviewed by Ian Patterson


The Gerry Mulligan 1950s Quartets Alyn Shipton240 Pages ISBN: 978-0197579763 Oxford University Press 2023 Several are the biographies of Gerry Mulligan, arguably jazz's most celebrated baritone saxophonist. None, however, have focused as specifically and as closely as this tome does on the quartets with which Mulligan made his name ...

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Article: Multiple Reviews

Duets From Strangers And Old Friends

Read "Duets From Strangers And Old Friends" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


The first of these duo recordings is from two musicians meeting for the first time. The second comes from long-time acquaintances. The compatibility of the playing on both is so high you would be hard-pressed to tell which was which. Pierrick Pedron & Gonzalo Rubalcaba Pedron Rubalcaba Gazebo 2023

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News: Birthday

George Russell at 100

George Russell at 100

June 23rd was George Russell's centenary. He was a composer and arranger and one of jazz's most important figures of the post-war years of the 20th century. He is credited as being the first jazz musician to create a theory of harmony based on jazz rather than European music, which became the key to modal jazz's ...

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Article: Big Band in the Sky

George Russell Remembered

Read "George Russell Remembered" reviewed by Duncan Heining


How is it that one of the most significant figures in modern jazz is so often overlooked when histories of the music are written? And how come one of its most important composers is not immediately acknowledged when jazz is discussed? Therein hang a number of tangled tales. The centenary of composer, musician, bandleader, ...

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Article: Live Review

Miles Davis Celebration at SFJAZZ Center

Read "Miles Davis Celebration at SFJAZZ Center" reviewed by Harry S. Pariser


Music of Miles Davis: A Celebration SFJAZZ Center San Francisco, CA May 25-29, 2023 Music of Miles Davis: A Celebration For four consecutive nights, four different ensembles graced the stage of SFJAZZ Center to present four aspects of the musical legacy of renowned trumpeter Miles Davis The evenings also featured compositions ...

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Article: Album Review

Anders Lønne Grønseth & Multiverse: Inner View

Read "Inner View" reviewed by Chris May


Since George Russell published his influential Lydian Chromatic Concept Of Tonal Organization in 1953, other jazz musicians have attempted to reforge the theoretical construct of their music--with varying degrees of success and including some egregiously posturing examples of b.s. which bring to mind Hans Christian Andersen's salutary story The Emperor's New Clothes. One ...


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