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American jazz bassist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dillon "Curley" Russell[1] (March 19, 1917 – July 3, 1986)[2] was an American jazz musician, who played bass on many bebop recordings.
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 |
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]
Curley Russell collectionMusic manuscripts and bass. Institute of Jazz Studies. Rutgers University Libraries.
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