George Russell (composer): Difference between revisions

| years_active = 1947–2009

After his release from the hospital, he played drums with Benny Carter's band, but decided to give up drumming as a vocation after hearing [[Max Roach]], who replaced him in the orchestra.<ref name="JFG09"/> Inspired by hearing [[Thelonious Monk]]'s "[['Round Midnight (song)|'Round Midnight]]", Russell moved to New York in the early 1940s, where he became a member of a coterie of young innovators who frequented the apartment of [[Gil Evans]] on 14 [[55th Street (Manhattan)|West 55th Street]] apartment of [[Gil Evans]], a clique which included [[Miles Davis]], [[Charlie Parker]], [[Gerry Mulligan]], and [[John Lewis (pianist)|John Lewis]], later the music director of the [[Modern Jazz Quartet]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biography |url=https://www.gilevans.com/home/About/?id=296 |access-date=2024-06-27 |website=www.gilevans.com}}</ref>

In 1945–46, Russell was again hospitalized for tuberculosis for 16 months. Forced to turn down work as [[Charlie Parker]]'s drummer, during that time he worked out the basic tenets of what was to become his [[Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization]], a theory encompassing all of equal-tempered music which has been influential well beyond the boundaries of jazz. During this period he also studied composition with [[Stefan Wolpe]].<ref name="JGR01">{{cite book |last1=Roy Jnr |first1=James G |title=Russell, George |date=2001 |publisher=Grove Music Online |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.49692 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.49692 |access-date=9 October 2021}}</ref> The first edition of his book was published by Russell in 1953, while he worked as a salesclerk at [[Macy's]]. At that time, Russell's ideas were a crucial step into the modal music of [[John Coltrane]] and [[Miles Davis]]<ref name="JazzBook" /> on his classic recording, ''[[Kind of Blue]]'', and served as a beacon for other modernists such as [[Eric Dolphy]] and [[Art Farmer]].

While working on the theory, Russell was also applying its principles to composition. His first famous composition was for the [[Dizzy Gillespie]] Orchestra, the two-part "Cubano Be, Cubano Bop" (1947) and, part of that band's pioneering experiments in fusing [[bebop]] and [[Music of Cuba#1940s and '50s|Cuban jazz]] elements;.<ref name="NYT">Ratliff, B. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/arts/music/30russell.html George Russell, Composer Whose Theories Sent Jazz in a New Direction, Dies at 86], ''[[The New York Times]]'', July 29, 2009</ref> "A Bird in Igor's Yard" (a tribute to both [[Charlie Parker]] and [[Igor Stravinsky]]) was recorded in a session led by [[Buddy DeFranco]] the next year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/6345/|title=George Russell – Rational Anthems: Phase One|last=Harrison|first=Max|date=March 1983|publisher=The Wire|access-date=June 21, 2011}}</ref> Also, a lesser known but pivotal work arranged by Russell was recorded in January 1950 by [[Artie Shaw]] entitled "Similau"<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martin|first1=Henry|last2=Waters|first2=Keith|title=Jazz: the first 100 years|year=2005|publisher=Wadsworth Publishing|isbn=0-534-62804-4|page=160}}</ref><ref>''Artie Shaw: The Last Recordings, Volume II: The Big Band'', MusicMasters Jazz BMG, CD (1990) {{oclc|27649009}}, track No.&nbsp;14, "Similau"</ref> that employed techniques of both the works done for Gillespie and DeFranco.

In 1964, Russell, who as a half black man was dismayed by race relations in the United States, moved to [[Scandinavia]].<ref name="NYT"/> He toured Europe with his sextet and lived in [[Scandinavia]] for five years, teaching at [[Lund University]].<ref name="JFG09"/><ref name="JGR01"/> In 1966, he was part of the first [[Pori Jazz]] festival.<ref name="Austerlitz">{{cite book |last=Austerlitz |first=Paul |title=Jazz Consciousness: Music, Race, and Humanity |year=2005 |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |isbn=978-0-8195-6781-9 |page=151 }}</ref> Through the early 1970s, Russell did most of his work in [[Norway]] and [[Sweden]]. He played there with young musicians who would go on to international fame: guitarist [[Terje Rypdal]], saxophonist [[Jan Garbarek]] and drummer [[Jon Christensen (musician)|Jon Christensen]].

This Scandinavian period also provided opportunities to write for larger groupings, and Russell's larger-scale compositions of this time pursue his idea of "vertical form", which he described as ''"layers or strata of divergent modes of rhythmic behaviour"''. The ''[[Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature]]'', commissioned by [[Bosse Broberg]] of [[Sveriges Radio|Swedish Radio]] for the [[Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra|Radio Orchestra]], was first recorded in 1968, as an extended work recorded with electronic tape. It continued Russell's continuing exploration of new approaches and new instrumentation.

Russell returned to America in 1969, when [[Gunther Schuller]] assumed the presidency of the [[New England Conservatory of Music]] in Boston and appointed Russell to teach the Lydian Concept in the newly created jazz studies department, a position he held for many years.<ref name="georgerussell.com" />{{sfn|Mawer|2014|p=197}} As Russell toured with his own groups, he was persistent in developing the Lydian Concept. He played the Bottom Line, Newport, Wolftrap, The Village Vanguard, Carnegie Hall, Sweet Basil and more with his 14-member orchestra.<ref name="georgerussell.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.georgerussell.com/gr.html|title=About George Russell|publisher=Georgerussell.com|access-date=January 15, 2015}}</ref>

* [[Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature|Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved By Nature -– 1980]] (Soul Note, 1980)

[[Category:American male jazz pianists]]

[[Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in the United States]]