Curley Russell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Dillon Russell |
| Born | March 19, 1917 Trinidad |
| Died | July 3, 1986 (aged 69) Jamaica, Queens County, New York, United States |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation | Bassist |
| Instrument | Double bass |
| Years active | 1940s–1950s |
Dillon "Curley" Russell[1] (March 19, 1917 – July 3, 1986)[2] was an American jazz musician, who played bass on many bebop recordings.
He was born in Trinidad.[3][4][5] He was nicknamed "Curley" for his curly hair.
A member of the Tadd Dameron Sextet, he was in demand for his ability to play at the rapid tempos typical of bebop, and appears on several key recordings of the period. He left the music business in the late 1950s.[6]
On May 1, 1951, Russell played in the recording session for "Un Poco Loco", composed by American jazz pianist Bud Powell, with Max Roach on drums. Literary critic Harold Bloom included this performance on his short list of the greatest works of twentieth-century American art.
According to jazz historian Phil Schaap, the classic bebop tune "Donna Lee", a contrafact on "Back Home Again in Indiana", was named after Curley's daughter.[7][8] In 2002, she donated her father's bass to the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University.[9]
Russell died of emphysema at Queens General Hospital at the age of 69 in 1986.[10]
- ^ Woideck, Carl Charlie Parker: his music and life University of Michigan Press, 1998; ISBN 0-472-08555-7, ISBN 978-0-472-08555-2 at Google Books
- ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 2167. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
- ^ "Curley Russell". Oxford Reference.
- ^ Ian Carr; Digby Fairweather; Brian Priestley (1995). Jazz: The Rough Guide. Rough Guides. p. 555. ISBN 978-1-85828-137-7. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ^ Clarke, Donald (1998). The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Penguin. p. 1035. ISBN 978-0-14-051370-7. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ^ "Curly Russell Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
- ^ Schaap learned this from saxophonist and music historian Allen Lowe, who was a friend of Russell.
- ^ "Donna Lee", Jazzstandards.com. Accessed 2009-07-26.
- ^ The Curly Russell Bass: Restoration of a Musical Instrument, rutgers.edu. Accessed 2014-12-24.
- ^ "Dillon (Curly) Russell, A Be-Bop Bass Player". The New York Times. July 9, 1986.