Hal Russell

Hal Russell
Birth nameHarold Russell Luttenbacher
Born(1926-08-28)August 28, 1926
Detroit, Michigan, United States
DiedSeptember 5, 1992(1992-09-05) (aged 66)
La Grange, Illinois, United States
GenresJazz
Free jazz
Avant-garde jazz
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Drums, vibes, tenor sax, soprano sax, trumpet
LabelsNessa Records, ECM Records, Silkheart Records

Hal Russell (born Harold Russell Luttenbacher, August 28, 1926[1] – September 5, 1992)[2] was an American free jazz composer, band leader and multi-instrumentalist who performed mainly on saxophone and drums but occasionally on trumpet or vibraphone.[3] 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.

  1. ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 2168. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference obituary was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Clarke, D., Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music: Hal Russell, Donaldclarkemusicbox.com, accessed May 6, 2014