Curly Russell
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Biography
Dillon "Curley" Russell (March 19, 1917 â July 3, 1986) was an American jazz musician, who played bass on many bebop recordings. He was born in New York City, United States. 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.
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. In 2002, she donated her father's bass to the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University.
Russell died of emphysema at Queens General Hospital at the age of 69 in 1986.
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Albums
Top Tracks
- Track Popularity
- Sweet Georgia Brown featuring Buck Clayton
- Medley: Lover Come Back To Me/(I Don't Stand) A Ghost Of A Chance With You/Just You, Just Me featuring Charlie Ventura
- I Can't Get Started featuring Buck Clayton
- Opus De Bop featuring Hank Jones
- Slow Drag featuring Buck Clayton
- Just You, Just Me featuring Buck Clayton
- Bloomdido featuring Dizzy Gillespie
- Philharmonic Blues featuring Buck Clayton
- Characteristically B.H. featuring Charlie Ventura
- Oh, Lady Be Good! featuring Buck Clayton
- Roll 'Em Bags featuring Kenny Dorham
