All joking aside, George Russell is one of the giants in the history of jazz that the passing listener surely has not heard of.
Russell(1923-2009) was an important figure in the development of modern jazz.
His Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization became an important work in the development of modal jazz, which directly or indirectly influenced Miles Davis and his masterpiece Kind of Blue.
Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved By Nature is probably George's masterpiece of avant-garde music, and what I like is the plethora of European musicians who are cutting their teeth on the album, it really is a who's who. Guitarist Terje Rypdal, tenor saxophonist Jan Garbarek, and John Christenson on drums.
Russell throws in everything but the kitchen sink on the suite, jazz, classical, blues, and world musics, but the real ground breaking stuff is the electronic sounds, very reminiscent of Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Personally I find the music very entertaining, it is not the type of music that you are going to understand with one listen, Music like this takes several spins to absorb, it's almost like getting different albums for the price of one.
I would say the oddest thing for me on the album is the operatic vocals in certain sections, and it took a while for me to warm to them.
George Russell has many small group recording well worth exploring, Ezz-thetics, Stratusphunk, and The Outer View.
Ezz-thetics featuring the alto saxophonist Eric Dolphy. many of those early 60's albums also feature the trumpeter and soon to be orchestra leader Don Ellis.
My personal favorites from Russell are, Othello Suite, Verticle Form V, and the aforementioned Ezz-thetics.
Lastly Russell recorded a remake of Electric Sonata that was released in 1980 on the Soul Note Label, it features almost an entirely different cast of musicians.
If you are someone who looks for new styles of music, that challenges your mind, and is not always easily digestible, George Russell is definitely worth exploring.
If your familiar with John Zorn's Work, I think You'll find Russell intriguing. Russell's musical core though is his bop roots, and he never seems to far away from them
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