{{short description|American jazz composer, band leader and musician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2014}} {{Infobox musical artist | image = | name = Hal Russell | image_size = <!-- Only for images smaller than 220 pixels --> | background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | birth_name = Harold Russell Luttenbacher | alias = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1926|8|28}} | birth_place = Detroit, Michigan, United States | death_date = {{death date and age|1992|9|5|1926|8|28}} | death_place = La Grange, Illinois, United States | instrument = Drums, vibes, tenor sax, soprano sax, trumpet | genre = Jazz<br>Free jazz<br>Avant-garde jazz | occupation = Musician | years_active = | label = Nessa Records, ECM Records, Silkheart Records | website = }}
'''Hal Russell''' (born '''Harold Russell Luttenbacher''', August 28, 1926<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=2168}}</ref> – September 5, 1992)<ref name="obituary"/> was an American free jazz composer, band leader and multi-instrumentalist who performed mainly on saxophone and drums but occasionally on trumpet or vibraphone.<ref name="Donald's">Clarke, D., [http://www.donaldclarkemusicbox.com/encyclopedia/detail.php?s=2987 Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music: Hal Russell], Donaldclarkemusicbox.com, accessed May 6, 2014</ref> Russell's fiery music was marked by significant humor, not unlike much of Dutch drummer Han Bennink's output. His music was so accessible that ''People'' magazine hailed ''The Finnish Swiss Tour'' on ECM as one of its top 5 albums of the year. Russell set the table for the free improv and free jazz scene which exploded later in the 1990s in Chicago.
==Biography== Born in Detroit, Michigan, United States,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> and raised in Chicago, Illinois, from the eighth grade, Russell began playing drums at age four, but majored in trumpet at college; he subsequently drummed in several big bands, including those of Woody Herman and Boyd Raeburn.<ref name="biography">Huey, Steve. [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mn0000550587|pure_url=yes}} Hal Russell biography], ''Allmusic'', accessed February 28, 2014.</ref>
As with many young players in the mid-1940s, Russell's life was irreversibly changed by bebop. In the 1950s he worked with musicians including Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Duke Ellington.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He succumbed to drugs and was a heroin addict for ten years.<ref name="Corbett"/> In 1959, he joined the Joe Daley Trio, whose ''Newport' 1963'', which was mostly studio material, was reputedly one of the earliest free jazz records.<ref name="Corbett">{{cite book|last = Corbett|first = John|authorlink = John Corbett (writer)|title = Extended Play: Sounding Off from John Cage to Dr. Funkenstein|year = 1994|publisher = Duke University Press|isbn=0-82231-473-8|pages = 110, 112}}</ref>
In the early 1970s, Russell was the regular percussionist for the band at the suburban Chicago Candlelight Dinner Playhouse. Here he played mostly drums, but occasionally vibes and keyboards. At the same time he would host many young jazz musicians for jam sessions at his home, or in Chicago nightclubs.
In 1979, Russell formed the NRG Ensemble,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> which for most of its existence featured saxophonist Mars Williams, multi-instrumentalist Brian Sandstrom, and percussionist Steve Hunt, among others.<ref name="biography"/> At this time he starting playing tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone and trumpet, in addition to drums and vibes.<ref name="Corbett"/> Russell finally issued his first album in 1981 for the Nessa label. In the late 1980s, the group began playing frequently in Europe, and began recording for ECM with ''The Finnish/Swiss Tour''.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Russell led the NRG Ensemble until his death.<ref name="LarkinGE"/>
In addition to the NRG Ensemble, Russell always maintained several auxiliary bands, a partnership with pianist Joel Futterman, the rock-oriented trio NRG 3 with Ed Ludwig on drums and Noel Kupersmith on bass, and The Flying Luttenbachers with Chad Organ on tenor sax and Weasel Walter on drums.<ref name="Corbett"/>
Cited by some as a missing link between the AACM and later Chicago free jazz, Russell was experiencing greater public awareness before his death.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Just after completing the semi-autobiographical album ''The Hal Russell Story'', Russell died of a heart attack in September 1992.<ref name="obituary">Reich, Howard. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140304173054/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-09-07/news/9203210598_1_fred-astaire-miles-davis-musical Hal Russell obituary] at ''Chicago Tribune''</ref>
==Discography== * ''Elixir'' (Atavistic, 1979, issued 2001) * ''NRG Ensemble'' (Nessa, 1981) – with NRG Ensemble * ''Eftsoons'' (Nessa, 1981) – with Mars Williams * ''Generation'' (Nessa, 1982) – with NRG Ensemble & Charles Tyler * ''Conserving NRG'' (Principally Jazz, 1984) – with NRG Ensemble * ''Hal on Earth'' (Abduction, 1989) – with NRG Ensemble * ''The Finnish/Swiss Tour'' (ECM, 1991) – with NRG Ensemble * ''Albert's Lullaby'' (Southport, 1991, issued 2000) - with Michael Staron * ''Naked Colours'' (Silkheart, 1991 [1994]) – with Joel Futterman * ''Hal's Bells'' (ECM, 1992) * ''The Hal Russell Story'' (ECM, 1993) – with NRG Ensemble '''With The Flying Luttenbachers''' *''Destructo Noise Explosion!: Live at WNUR 2-6-92'' (ugEXPLODE, 1992)
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Hal Russell}} {{NRG Ensemble}} {{The Flying Luttenbachers}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Hal}} Category:1926 births Category:1992 deaths Category:American jazz drummers Category:American jazz saxophonists Category:American male saxophonists Category:American jazz trumpeters Category:American male trumpeters Category:American jazz vibraphonists Category:Avant-garde jazz saxophonists Category:Avant-garde jazz drummers Category:Avant-garde jazz trumpeters Category:American avant-garde musicians Category:20th-century American drummers Category:American male drummers Category:20th-century American saxophonists Category:20th-century American trumpeters Category:The Flying Luttenbachers members Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:American male jazz musicians Category:NRG Ensemble members Category:Drummers from Detroit