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George Russell
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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.
Sheila Jordan (RIP), Phil Haynes, Jason Kao Hwang, and Sarah Wilson
by Jerome Wilson
This episode pays tribute to the recently deceased Sheila Jordan by playing music from the early and later parts of her long career. It also features music from Sarah Wilson, Jason Kao Hwang, and Phillip Haynes among others. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & ...
Remembering Sheila Jordan: Sheila's Blues
by Ian Patterson
NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan, who passed away on August 11, 2025, at the age of 96, will be remembered as one of the great improvising jazz vocalists--imitated by many, bettered by none. Born in Detroit in 1928, Jordan's life-long love affair with jazz began in the 1940s when she heard Charlie Parker. “After ...
RIP Sheila Jordan, New Music from Carlos Jimenez, Eric Alexander & Vincent Herring, and more, Birthday Music from Cyrille Aimee, Stuff Smith, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and More
by David W. Daniels
The program will feature classic jazz, current jazz that is in the tradition of classic jazz, jazz fusion, and music by local artists covering all forms of jazz. We do this in three hour long segments: 1: Classic jazz; 2: Recent jazz that is in the tradition; and 3: Jazz musicians who had birthdays during the ...
Results for pages tagged "George Russell"...
Andy Wasserman
As of September 2025, musical artist, pianist/composer, Lydian Chromatic Concept certified teacher, online music educator and native New Yorker Andy Wasserman is as active as ever, evolving and prevailing in an astonishingly diverse range of experience within the music universe since becoming a full-time professional musician in the 1970's.
Andy Wasserman’s love of music embodies the nexus of trust from within a humanistic way of life. It is rooted in a vision of “MUSIC: THE VOICE OF UNITY,” a stewardship based on the idea that music reflects a liberating, unifying force—an oasis within the individual and across cultures. He yields in a state of receptivity to music’s highest purpose as a treasure that renews, resonates, enlightens, and speaks to all people as a powerful voice for oneness; a meaningful, all-encompassing open home of universal balance transcending the boundaries of time and space.
Phil Haynes: Electricity Incarnate!
by Doug Collette
In the annals of jazz both short-term and long, the influence of drummer-led initiatives is immeasurable. There is Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers, of course, plus Tony Williams' Lifetime and, in addition, numerous single-minded efforts like these two coincidental releases of Phil Haynes. Each is a largely freewheeling exercise in revisitation gestated during COVID lockdowns: ...
Sly Stone, Tessa Souter, Cedar Walton
by David Brown
This week we remember progressive soul and funk pioneer Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone with two interpretations of his classic tunes: “Family Affair" from Bobby Hutcherson and “If You Want Me to Stay" from David Murray. Songs featuring some wonderful “oohs" and “aahs" in the background will be follow from Nina Simone and ...
Michael Arbenz meets Andy Sheppard: From Bach to Ellington - Live
by Neil Duggan
Recorded live at the Bird's Eye Jazz Club, Basel, Switzerland, in 2024, From Bach to Ellington--Live, has Swiss pianist Michael Arbenz and British saxophonist Andy Sheppard reinterpreting four of Duke Ellington's classics, together with two original pieces from Arbenz inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach. Arbenz came to All About Jazz's attention when, along with ...
Dave Bass Trio: Trio Nuevo Vol 2
by Jack Kenny
This is a splendid, joyful, intriguing album. A captivating vitality and melodic intensity marks Dave Bass's piano playing. He immerses himself in each piece, which draws the listener in and carries them forward. The tight synergy between Tyler Miles (bass) and Steve Helfand (drums) drives the music. The musical selections span diverse jazz composers: Thelonious Monk, ...
Paul Bley: Floater & Syndrome The Upright Piano Sessions Revisited
by Chris May
One way for a musician to conjure rapture is through full-frontal shamanic assault, the sonic equivalent of the Orgasmatron machine that Jane Fonda's character encounters in Roger Vadim's 1968 sci-fi romp Barbarella. Funk is an ideal vehicle. But the sensations produced are superficial and short-lived. A less travelled path instead uses subtlety, understatement and nuance, and ...
