George Russell
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- This article is about the jazz composer George Russell. For the poet "Æ" of the same name, see George William Russell.
George Allen Russell (born June 23, 1923) is an American jazz composer and theorist. He is considered one of the first jazz musicians to contribute to general music theory, with his 1953 book, The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization. Russell's theory proposes the concept of playing jazz based on scales or a series of scales (modes) rather than chords or harmonies. The Lydian Chromatic concept was the first theory to explore the vertical relationship between chords and scales, and was the first codified original theory to come from jazz. Russell's ideas are credited with the development of modal jazz, notably in the album Jazz Workshop (1957, with Bill Evans and featuring the "Concerto for Billy the Kid") as well as his writings; Evans later introduced the concepts to other members of Miles Davis's working band, which employed them in recordings beginning with the album, Kind of Blue.
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 Cuban jazz elements; "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.
Jazz Workshop was his first album as leader, and one where he played relatively little, as opposed to masterminding the events (rather like his colleague Gil Evans). He was to record a number of impressive albums over the next several years, sometimes as primary pianist; the suite New York, New York feature wrap-around raps by singer/lyricist Jon Hendricks; Jazz in the Space Age was an even more ambitious big band album, featuring the unusual dual piano voicings of Bill Evans and Paul Bley. Meanwhile, his small-group recordings included memorable sessions with Eric Dolphy and singer Sheila Jordan (their bleak version of "You Are My Sunshine" is highly regarded).
During the late 1960s and 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. 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, first recorded in 1968, was indicative of his continuing exploration of new approaches and new instrumentation.
With Living Time (1972), Russell reunited with Bill Evans to offer a suite of compositions which represent the stages of human life. When he was able to form an orchestra for his 1985 The African Game, he dubbed it the Living Time Orchestra; this time, the suite represented the evolution of humanity.
He received a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant in 1989.