George Russell

George Russell (born 1923 in Cincinnati, died in Boston in 2009, at age 86) was a jazz composer, theorist, conductor, and drummer who was the primary force behind the creation of modal jazz.

Russell was a drummer in Benny Carter's band in the early 1940s; he was replaced by Max Roach and, after hearing Roach play, decided to give up drumming. He moved to New York, and was one of a group of musicians who met in the apartment of Gil Evans (these included Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Max Roach, Johnny Carisi and sometimes Charlie Parker. In 1947, Russell was commissioned to write a piece for Dizzy Gillespie's orchestra; he wrote Cubano Be/Cubano Bop which was the first fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz.