Biography
by Richard S. Ginell
While George Russell was very active as a free-thinking composer, arranger, and bandleader, his biggest effect upon jazz was in the quieter role of theorist. His great contribution, apparently the first by a jazz musician to general music theory, was a book with the intimidating title The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, where he concocted a concept of playing jazz based on scales rather than chord changes. Published in 1953, Russell's theories directly paved the way for the modal revolutions of Miles Davis and John Coltrane -- and Russell even took credit for the theory behind Michael Jackson's huge hit "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," which uses the Lydian scale (no, he didn't ask for royalties). Russell's stylistic reach in his own compositions eventually became omnivorous, embracing bop, gospel, blues, rock, funk, contemporary classical elements, electronic music, and African rhythms in his ambitious extended works -- most apparent in his large-scale 1983 suite for an enlarged big band, The African Game. Like his colleague Gil Evans, Russell never stopped growing, but his work is not nearly as well-known as that of Evans, being more difficult to grasp and, in any case, not as well documented by U.S. record labels.
Russell's first instrument was the drums, which he played in the Boy Scout Drum and Bugle Corps and at local clubs when he was in high school. At 19, he was hospitalized with tuberculosis, but he used the enforced inactivity to learn the craft of arranging from a fellow patient. Once back on his feet, he played with Benny Carter, but after being replaced on drums by Max Roach, Russell began to zero in on composing and arranging. He moved to New York to join the crowd of young firebrands who gathered in Gil Evans' "salon," and he was actually invited to play drums in Charlie Parker's band. But once again, he fell ill, finding himself in a Bronx hospital for 16 months (1945-1946), where he began to formulate the ideas for the Lydian Concept. Upon his recovery, Russell leaped into the embryonic fusion of bebop and Afro-Cuban rhythms by writing "Cubana Be" and "Cubana Bop," which the Dizzy Gillespie big band recorded in 1947. He contributed arrangements to Claude Thornhill and Artie Shaw in the late '40s and wrote the first (and not the last) speculative scenario of a meeting between Charlie Parker and Igor Stravinsky, "A Bird in Igor's Yard," recorded by Buddy De Franco.
While working on his Lydian theories, Russell dropped out of active music-making for a while, working at a sales counter in Macy's when his book was published. But when he resumed composing in 1956, he had established himself as an influential force in jazz. Russell's connection with Gunther Schuller resulted in the commission of "All About Rosie" for the 1957 Brandeis University jazz festival, and he also taught at the Lenox School of Jazz that Schuller co-founded. He formed a rehearsal sextet in the mid-'50s that became known as the George Russell Smalltet, with Art Farmer, Bill Evans, Hal McKusick, Barry Galbraith, and various drummers and bassists. Their 1956 recording Jazz Workshop (RCA Victor) became a landmark of its time, and Russell continued to record intriguing LPs for Decca in the late '50s and Riverside in the early '60s. Another key album from this period, Ezz-Thetics, featured two important progressive players, Eric Dolphy and Don Ellis.
Finding the American jazz scene too confining for his music, Russell left for Europe in 1963, living in Sweden for five years. From his new base, he toured Scandinavia with a new sextet of European players and received numerous commissions -- including a ballet based on Othello, a mass, and the orchestral suite Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature: 1980. Upon his return to the U.S. in 1969, he joined the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music, where Schuller had started a jazz department, and this gave him a secure base from which to tour occasionally with his own groups. Russell stopped composing from 1972 to 1978 in order to finish a second volume on the Lydian Chromatic Concept. He led a 19-piece big band at the Village Vanguard for six weeks in 1978, played the Newport Jazz Festival when it was based in New York City, and made tours of Italy, the U.S. West Coast, and England in the '80s.
Russell's most imposing latter-day commissions included "An American Trilogy" and the monumental three-hour work "Time Line" for symphony orchestra, jazz ensembles, rock groups, choir, and dancers. In addition to The African Game and So What on Blue Note, Russell made recordings for Soul Note in the '70s and '80s and Label Bleu in the '90s, while continuing to teach at the New England Conservatory and leading his Living Time Orchestra big band into the 21st century. In 2005 George Russell & the Living Time Orchestra's The 80th Birthday Concert, released on the Concept label, celebrated the legendary octogenarian's contributions to the art of jazz with performances of some of his most groundbreaking extended compositions and arrangements. George Russell died in Boston on July 27, 2009 of complications from Alzheimer's disease; he was 86 years old.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/george-russell-mn0000646353/biography
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Biografía
por Richard S. Ginell
Aunque George Russell fue un compositor, arreglista y director de orquesta muy activo y librepensador, su mayor influencia en el jazz se produjo en su papel más discreto de teórico. Su gran contribución, al parecer la primera de un músico de jazz a la teoría musical general, fue un libro de título intimidatorio, The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization (El concepto cromático lidio de la organización tonal), en el que ideó un concepto de tocar jazz basado en escalas y no en cambios de acordes. Publicadas en 1953, las teorías de Russell allanaron directamente el camino a las revoluciones modales de Miles Davis y John Coltrane, e incluso se atribuyó el mérito de la teoría del gran éxito de Michael Jackson "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", que utiliza la escala lidia (no, no pidió derechos de autor). Con el tiempo, el alcance estilístico de las composiciones de Russell se hizo omnívoro, abarcando el bop, el gospel, el blues, el rock, el funk, elementos clásicos contemporáneos, la música electrónica y los ritmos africanos en sus ambiciosas obras ampliadas, más evidentes en su suite a gran escala de 1983 para big band ampliada, The African Game. Al igual que su colega Gil Evans, Russell nunca dejó de crecer, pero su obra no es tan conocida como la de Evans, por ser más difícil de comprender y, en cualquier caso, no estar tan bien documentada por los sellos discográficos estadounidenses.
El primer instrumento de Russell fue la batería, que tocaba en el Boy Scout Drum and Bugle Corps y en clubes locales cuando estaba en el instituto. A los 19 años fue hospitalizado por tuberculosis, pero aprovechó la inactividad forzosa para aprender el oficio de arreglista de un compañero. Una vez recuperado, tocó con Benny Carter, pero tras ser sustituido en la batería por Max Roach, Russell empezó a centrarse en la composición y los arreglos. Se trasladó a Nueva York para unirse a la multitud de jóvenes fogosos que se reunían en el "salón" de Gil Evans, y de hecho fue invitado a tocar la batería en la banda de Charlie Parker. Pero, una vez más, cayó enfermo y estuvo ingresado en un hospital del Bronx durante 16 meses (1945-1946), donde empezó a formular las ideas del Lydian Concept. Tras su recuperación, Russell se lanzó a la embrionaria fusión del bebop y los ritmos afrocubanos escribiendo "Cubana Be" y "Cubana Bop", que la big band de Dizzy Gillespie grabó en 1947. Contribuyó con arreglos a Claude Thornhill y Artie Shaw a finales de los años 40 y escribió el primer (y no el último) escenario especulativo de un encuentro entre Charlie Parker e Igor Stravinsky, "A Bird in Igor's Yard", grabado por Buddy De Franco.
Mientras trabajaba en sus teorías lidias, Russell abandonó la música activa durante un tiempo, trabajando en un mostrador de ventas en Macy's cuando se publicó su libro. Pero cuando volvió a componer en 1956, se había establecido como una fuerza influyente en el jazz. La conexión de Russell con Gunther Schuller se tradujo en el encargo de "All About Rosie" para el festival de jazz de la Universidad Brandeis de 1957, y también dio clases en la Lenox School of Jazz que cofundó Schuller. A mediados de los 50 formó un sexteto de ensayo que se conoció como George Russell Smalltet, con Art Farmer, Bill Evans, Hal McKusick, Barry Galbraith y varios bateristas y bajistas. Su grabación de 1956 Jazz Workshop (RCA Victor) se convirtió en un hito de su época, y Russell continuó grabando interesantes LPs para Decca a finales de los 50 y para Riverside a principios de los 60. Otro álbum clave de este periodo, Ezz-Thetics, incluía a dos importantes músicos progresivos, Eric Dolphy y Don Ellis.
Al considerar que la escena jazzística estadounidense era demasiado restrictiva para su música, Russell se marchó a Europa en 1963 y vivió cinco años en Suecia. Desde allí realizó giras por Escandinavia con un nuevo sexteto de músicos europeos y recibió numerosos encargos, entre ellos un ballet basado en Otelo, una misa y la suite orquestal Sonata electrónica para almas amadas por la naturaleza: 1980. A su regreso a Estados Unidos en 1969, se incorporó al cuerpo docente del Conservatorio de Música de Nueva Inglaterra, donde Schuller había creado un departamento de jazz, lo que le proporcionó una base segura desde la que realizar ocasionalmente giras con sus propios grupos. Russell dejó de componer de 1972 a 1978 para terminar un segundo volumen sobre el concepto cromático lidio. Dirigió una big band de 19 músicos en el Village Vanguard durante seis semanas en 1978, actuó en el Festival de Jazz de Newport cuando éste tenía su sede en Nueva York, y realizó giras por Italia, la costa oeste de Estados Unidos e Inglaterra en los años 80.
Entre los últimos encargos más imponentes de Russell figuran "An American Trilogy" y la monumental obra de tres horas "Time Line" para orquesta sinfónica, conjuntos de jazz, grupos de rock, coro y bailarines. Además de The African Game y So What en Blue Note, Russell grabó para Soul Note en los años 70 y 80 y para Label Bleu en los 90, al tiempo que seguía enseñando en el Conservatorio de Nueva Inglaterra y dirigía su big band Living Time Orchestra en el siglo XXI. En 2005 George Russell & the Living Time Orchestra's The 80th Birthday Concert, publicado por el sello Concept, celebraba las contribuciones del legendario octogenario a la música y a la cultura.
1 - Ye Hypocrite, Ye Beelzebub 3:49
2 - Jack's Blues 3:44
3 - Livingstone I Presume 3:24
4 - Ezz-Thetic 5:12
5 - Night Sound 3:53
6 - Round Johnny Rondo 3:28
7 - Fellow Delegates 5:37
8 - Witch Hunt 3:47
9 - The Sad Sergeant 3:24
10 - Knights Of The Steamtable 2:34
11 - Ballad Of Hix Blewitt 3:15
12 - Concerto For Billy The Kid 4:42
13 - Ballad Of Hix Blewitt (Previously Unreleased Alternate Take) 3:42
14 - Concerto For Billy The Kid (Previously Unreleased Alternate Take) 4:45
Credits:
Alto Saxophone, Flute – Hal McKusick (tracks: 1 to 6, 8, 12, 14)
Arranged By, Leader, Other [Boobams], Written-By – George Russell
Art Direction – J.J. Stelmach*
Bass – Milt Hinton (tracks: 1 to 6, 8, 12, 14), Teddy Kotick (tracks: 7, 9 to 11, 13)
Drums – Joe Harris (3) (tracks: 1 to 4), Osie Johnson (tracks: 7, 9 to 11, 13), Paul Motian (tracks: 5, 6, 8, 12, 14)
Executive-Producer – Steve Backer
Guitar – Barry Galbraith
Illustration [Cover] – Daniel Schwartz (3)
Liner Notes – Steve Elman
Piano – Bill Evans
Producer [Original] – Fred Reynolds (tracks: 5 to 14), Jack Lewis (tracks: 1 to 4)
Recorded By [Original] – Bernard Keville (tracks: 5, 6. 8, 12), Ray Hall (tracks: 1 to 4, 7, 9 to 11, 13, 14)
Reissue Producer – Ed Michel
Transferred By – Ray Hall
Trumpet – Art Farmer
Notes:
Recorded in New York City on March 31 (tracks 1 to 4), October 17 (tracks 5, 6, 8, 12, 14), December 21 (tracks 7, 9 to 11, 13), 1956.
Label: Bluebird (3) – 6467-2-RB, RCA – 6467-2-RB, BMG – 6467-2-RB
Country: US
Released: 1987
Genre: Jazz
Style: Post Bop, Modal
https://www.discogs.com/release/4441306-The-George-Russell-Smalltet-Jazz-Workshop
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