Pee Wee Russell

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Pee Wee Russell, New York, 1946, photo: William P. Gottlieb

Charles Ellsworth Russell , better known by his nickname Pee Wee Russell (* 27. March 1906 in Maplewood , Missouri ; † 15. February 1969 in a hospital in Alexandria , Virginia ) was a jazz - musicians . At the beginning of his career he worked as a clarinetist and saxophonist. Later he decided on the clarinet as his preferred instrument.

Life

Russell, who u. a. Has Native American ancestry, was born in Maplewood, Missouri , but grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma . One of his most famous compositions is called Muskogee Blue . His father took the young Charles Ellsworth to an event of the then famous group The Louisiana Five . Clarinetist Alcide Nunez from New Orleans also played in the concert . Under the impression of the concert, he decided to pursue a career as a jazz musician. He had private lessons in Muskogee; first appearances followed first with his father, then with Red Nichols . After training at the Western Military Academy (1920/21) and the University of Missouri , he gained further professional experience as a clarinetist and saxophonist on river steamers, with vaudeville tour companies and with Peck Kelley ; In 1923/24 he played in a band in Mexico.

In the mid-1920s, Russell played in Chicago with musicians such as Bix Beiderbecke , Frank Trumbauer and again with Red Nichols, with whom the '78 Feelin 'No Pain was created. This was followed by recordings and appearances with Red McKenzie , Irving Mills (1929), Hoagy Carmichael (1930), Gil Rodin (1931–34), Adrian Rollini (1935) and with Louis Prima (1935/36). From 1938 he worked repeatedly with Bobby Hackett , Eddie Condon , Jack Teagarden , Bud Freeman , Teddy Wilson , George Brunis , Miff Mole , Art Hodes , Muggsy Spanier , Wild Bill Davison , Coleman Hawkins , Ruby Braff , Earl Hines and Max Kaminsky . Russell never led his own band, but recorded a number of albums under his own name such as Portrait of Pee Wee .

Since the late 1930s he was part of the Dixieland scene in New York's Greenwich Village . After a serious illness in 1950, he worked in the 1950s and 1960s mainly with Dixieland and mainstream groups around Ruby Braff, Eddie Condon and George Wein , with whom he appeared at festivals such as the Newport Jazz Festival  . On the Columbia album New Groove he dealt with newer forms of jazz, in which he played songs such as Strayhorn's Chelsea Bridge , Moten Swing , Dameron's Good Bait and Monks ' Round Midnight and even in a piano-less quartet, which also included Marshall Brown Coltrane's Red Planet interpreted. This was followed by an album for Impulse with a similar formation ! ( Ask Me Now ! , 1966). Most recently he performed in New York Town Hall , Chicago and the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1969 .

Act

Russell developed his original clarinet part in the 1920s. This idiosyncratic bizarre way of playing, which is characterized by unusual melodic twists and subtle changes in tone color, was not very popular in the first years of his musical career. Russell's music appeared strange and illogical to many listeners and critics. Although sensitive and poetic elements predominate in this expressive music, the critics treated him with bad pangs . But fellow musicians like Albert Nicholas and Benny Goodman valued him. Goodman was even influenced by Russell's style of play.

Dick Wellstood called Russell's playing "a miracle" and lamented the silence of "that tricky, choked, gnarled tangle of squeakers with which he created his spacious universe;" Sandy Brown described his vocal style as "completely individual, timeless and out of tradition . ”His expressive playing is characterized“ by growls , unusual melodic twists, changes of mood and expression as well as all sorts of dirty inflections in intonation ”.

In the 1960s Russell dealt with modern jazz and even had compositions by Ornette Coleman in his repertoire. This earned him respect and recognition from the musicians of the avant-garde scene of the time; In 1963 he played at the Newport Festival in the band von Monk ( Miles & Monk at Newport ). In 1957 he played in The Sound of Jazz with Jimmy Giuffre in a duet. An instructive example from this creative period is the album Ask me now with the Pee Wee Russell Quartet.

In the early 1950s, the young Steve Lacy - like Russell - a musician with a clear musical language, was part of a group of traditional jazz musicians with Russell who performed regularly at the Stuyvesant Center in New York.

Like all great artists, Russell had a very subjective perception of things that was not only evident in his music. Russell was often sick and could not make music during this time. He then took up painting, following a friend's advice. The result was so overwhelming that the art scene recognized him - the amateur - as a natural.

Awards

In 1983 Down Beat's critical poll , Russell's Pied Piper of Jazz was voted "Republication of the Year".

Pee Wee Russell, Muggsy Spanier , Miff Mole and Joe Grauso, Nick's (Tavern), New York, circa June 1946.
Photograph by William P. Gottlieb .

Recordings

As a band leader

Impulses! Records
Other label
  • 1952: Clarinet Strut
  • 1952: The Individualism of Pee Wee Russell
  • 1952: Pee Wee Russell All Stars (Atlantic)
  • 1953: Salute To Newport
  • 1953: We're In the Money ( Black Lion Records )
  • 1958: Portrait of Pee Wee
  • 1958: Over the Rainbow
  • 1961: Swingin 'With Pee Wee
  • 1961: Jazz Reunion ( Candid Records )
  • 1962: New Groove (Columbia)
  • 1964: Honey Licorice
  • 1964: Gumbo

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In 1938 he recorded for HRS Records under his own name .
  2. ↑ Scott Yanow: Review of the album New Groove at Allmusic
  3. ↑ Clarinetist Pee Wee Russell is one of those unique players that comes along only once in a lifetime . All music guide
  4. ↑ Martin Kunzler: Jazz Lexicon .
  5. ↑ Quoted from Kunzler, p. 1008.
  6. ↑ Quoted from Kunzler, p. 1008.
  7. ↑ Quoted from Kunzler, p. 1008 f.
  8. ↑ See Allmusic Guide and All About Jazz
  9. ↑ See Findings by Steve Lacy
  10. ↑ See Kunzler
personal data
SURNAME Russell, Pee Wee
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Russell, Charles Ellsworth (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American clarinetist
DATE OF BIRTH March 27, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Maplewood, Missouri
DATE OF DEATH 15th February 1969
Place of death Alexandria (Virginia)