Bob Russell

Pee Wee Russell - New Groove & The College Concert (2013) {Columbia–Impulse!–Solar 4569938 rec 1961-1966}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 495 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 183 Mb
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© 1961-66, 2013 Columbia / Impulse! / Solar Records | 4569938
Jazz / Bop / Clarinet

This edition contains two amazing original albums by the great Pee Wee Russell. New Groove (Columbia CS-8785) presents him fronting his own quartet accompanied by trombone, and a piano-less rhythm section of bass and drums. The second LP, The College Concert of Pee Wee Russell and Henry Red Allen (Impulse AS-9137), appears here for the first time ever on CD. It features the clarinettist in a quintet format co-led by Allen, backed by an impressive modern rhythm section composed of Steve Kuhn on piano, Charlie Haden on bass, and Marty Morell on drums. As a bonus, “Mariooch”, which marks the only quartet song featuring Russell from the larger group album Jazz Reunion.

The ultimate rock & roll session man, Leon Russell's long and storied career includes collaborations with a virtual who's who of music icons spanning from Jerry Lee Lewis to Phil Spector to the Rolling Stones. A similar eclecticism and scope also surfaced in his solo work, which couched his charmingly gravelly voice in a rustic yet rich swamp pop fusion of country, blues, and gospel. Born Claude Russell Bridges on April 2, 1942, in Lawton, OK, he began studying classical piano at age three, a decade later adopting the trumpet and forming his first band. At 14, Russell lied about his age to land a gig at a Tulsa nightclub, playing behind Ronnie Hawkins & the Hawks before touring in support of Jerry Lee Lewis.

George Russell - The African Game (1983) {Blue Note CDP 7463352 rel 1997}
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© 1983, 1997 Blue Note | CDP 7 46335 2
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Experimental Big Band / Progressive Jazz

George Russell's The African Game is a major statement, a highly eclectic, nine-part, 45-minute suite for augmented big band that attempts to depict no less than the evolution of the species from the beginning of time to the present from an African perspective. Well, yes, this theme has been taken on by many an ambitious artist in every field, but Russell's work is remarkably successful because it tries to embrace a massive world of sound in open, colorful, young-thinking terms, with degrees of timbral unity and emotion to keep the idioms from flying out of control.

Longtime readers of Frontier Partisans know that Tom Russell is a giant in my pantheon of storytellers. His music has been the soundtrack for many an adventure down dusty desert roads and mountain trails, and he’s a key influence on my own songwriting and music. I learned to fingerpick because he said I should — and just as he promised, it opened new textures in both my playing and writing.