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Benny Russell's Groups
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PHILLY JAZZ CONNECT
14 members
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PITTSBURGH JAZZ CONNECT
35 members
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BROOKLYN JAZZ CONNECT
22 members
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New York Jazz
80 members
Benny Russell's Page
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Profile Information
- What is your profession?
- Musician, Composer
- What Instrument Do you Play?
- Tenor, Soprano Saxes
- Where Are you located?
- Bel Air, MD
- How did you find out about TGJN?
- I was unvited by Tamm E. Hunt
- About Me:
- BENNY RUSSELL When reedman Benny Russell was 15 years old he took his first major step toward what has become a prolific music career--one that embraces a range of styles that span R&B, jazz, gospel and classical music. As Russell tells it, his brother David, who was attending Morgan State University at the time, was instrumental in setting him on this path. "I was still in high school when David asked the director of Morgan State's Jazz Ensemble if I could sit in," he reports. "The director said I was welcome if I could play." Evidently Russell could play. He ended up sitting in with the school's concert and marching bands on clarinet, and continued to perform on several reed instruments with the jazz ensemble until his own graduation from Morgan State. He now recognizes those years as a pivotal time in his musical life. "It was in the University's jazz ensemble," Russell recalls, "where my composing and arranging ambitions really took flight." Born February 21, 1958 in Baltimore, Maryland, Russell started clarinet lessons at age 7 under the instruction of Mr. James H. Holliman. At 12 he began playing tenor. And by the time he was 15, sitting in with the Morgan State bands, Russell was playing tenor, alto and soprano saxophones as well as clarinet, bass clarinet and flute. 1976 was the year he became a full-time undergraduate student at Morgan State, and during that time he also started gigging for the Manhattans, the Four Tops, and Richard "Groove" Holmes in addition to several other artists who toured the area. Shortly after his college graduation, Benny moved to New York and quickly formed a jazz orchestra called the NEW YORK ASSOCIATION--a seventeen-piece ensemble that featured such noted jazz artists as trumpeters Cecil Bridgewater and Tom Harrell, saxophonist John Purcell, trombonists Steve Turre and Robin Eubanks, pianist Onaje Allan Gumbs, and drummer Mike Clark. Since then, Russell has been steadily building an impressive list of credits. Besides arranging and performing for off-Broadway shows like Beehive, he's worked with Otis Rush, Harry Belafonte, Mino Cinelu, Craig Harris, Jimmy Owens, Junior Cook, Mor Thium and a host of others. Russell can also be heard on The Cosby Show and A Different World. In 1995 Russell chaired the jazz division at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, where he also taught jazz history. While working at the Conservatory, he was able to launch a string of other cultural activities that served Brooklyn, including a program of workshops for high school students in the Brooklyn public school system, the Charlie Parker Birthday Festival, and regular performances with the Next Legacy Orchestra. Next Legacy Orchestra is a big band for which Russell writes and arranges as co-director with saxophonist Jorge Sylvester. He first worked with this group when it was known as the David Murray Big Band. When Murray decided to move to Paris in '96, he asked Russell to take on the role of leader, the name was changed and the group got a home on the Conservatory's stage. After a recent performance there, the Next Legacy Orchestra was described by New York Times critic Ben Ratliff as "one of the best overlooked bands in the city."In February, 2002, Russell presented his work Langston Hughes: The Soul of His Words to a large audience at the Museum of Natural History in New York. The three-movement piece written for 19 piece Jazz orchestra and three actors was received with a standing ovation and a citation from the Borough President Marty Markowitz of Brooklyn, New York. In February 2004, the piece was extended to five movements and received equally as well at the St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York.In February 2005, Russell was commissioned to write a Jazz score for Zora Neale Hurson’s play Cold Keener and it was received well at Baltimore’s Loyola College.In June 2004, Russell was hired to chair the Jazz department at the Maryland Conservatory of Music. Already he has produced a successful Count Basie 100th Birthday Celebration that featured the legendary Frank Foster and Grammy award winners Antonio Hart and Mark Gross. Presently, he is signed to Arabesque Records and is working on his second release entitled Miracles which features James Spaulding, Cecil Bridgewater and many other luminaries.
Benny Russell's Blog
MLK, Jr. March
February 28 to April 4, 2008
Establishing Justice In our Gates!
40th Anniversary of the Assassination of
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Baltimore City Commemorative March and Rally
April 4, 2008
MLK Steering Committee 410-578-9142 email: wbccdc@gmail.com
3717 Springdale Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21216
This April 4, 2008 marks the 40th Anniversary of the assassination of our beloved leader the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who gave his life so that we might experience the dream. Lea… Continue
Establishing Justice In our Gates!
40th Anniversary of the Assassination of
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Baltimore City Commemorative March and Rally
April 4, 2008
MLK Steering Committee 410-578-9142 email: wbccdc@gmail.com
3717 Springdale Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21216
This April 4, 2008 marks the 40th Anniversary of the assassination of our beloved leader the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who gave his life so that we might experience the dream. Lea… Continue
Posted on February 28, 2008 at 10:29am —
About
The thing that is making jazz healthy today is that people are coming out of other backgrounds - from rock, folk, from ethnic music. It's changing the music, and for the better. Billy Taylor
Dear Tamm E:
Just a note to tell you that it is nice to read about you!!!
You share so much great info about others and about the music, but nice to know that you are WAILIN' yourself and getting appreciation!!
Global Jazz Network is a really important way for all of us to keep hooked up and informed and to SLOWLY BUT SURELY SPREAD THE MESSAGE AND THE PHILOSOPHY of what Jazz is in its many different forms and what the styles are/is all about.
Just played for Paquito's honoring and received gold medal
John Faddis, save Brubeck, James moody and a bunch of KILLER YOUNG players and we all played and spoke about Paquito and jazz and all fine music
and Roberta Gamborini, who was excellent.
wish you had been there!
Through you, Donald Harrison hooked me up with Pittsburgh Jazz info and I feel like i am living there just reading about all the great happenings.
As Fall is here, I am back to my normal insane schedule, but wanted to write you back BEFORE The STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS goes into effect. I am my own secretary, so I am dedicated but SLOW!
And I can't fire myself as my own secretary or I might get hit with an Age Discrimination Lawsuit (in case I decided to sue myself for clerical incompetence).
As of this moment, a new documentary film is being made about me, to be released a few months after my 80th birthday, which is coming up next year Nov. 17, 2010. (12 months from now).
The film will end with the videoing of the big 80th birthday bash at Symphony Space in NYC and then have snippets of films from the past, with all kinds of fun stuff from the 50's thru today.
It will be called "David Amram: The First 80 Years"
Fortunately, I don't have to edit the hundreds of hours of footage or do new music the score, since the film maker, Larry Kraman is also the founder of Newport Classics recordings and knows all my symphonic as well as operatic, theater, film and jazz and world music work, so I am in good hands!!
The same people at Newport Classics Recordings are also making a Spoken Word series for I-Tunes, with me reading from my three books Vibrations, Offbeat: Collaborating with Kerouac and Upbeat: Nine Lives of a Musical Cat.
And they are also recording some of my chamber music compositions and a new jazz record,
Next Spring my opera "12th Night", with libretto by Joe Papp (all words of Shakespeare), is having its eighth production and being FILMED!! Even most dead composers aren't that lucky!!!
This last five weeks I have appeared all over the country at concerts of my music, conducting and playing, doing spoken word with music, jazz, folk and world music festivals, film festivals and readings from my books.
Just the first week of October, I played Lowell Celebrates Kerouac festival in Lowell Mass, then the at midnight , following my last concert there , drove all night to Lagaurda Airport to catch the early Sunday mornng flight for the annual Farm Aid Concert in St Louis, where i played with Willie Nelson's band. The next morning (Monday the 5th , I flew bck to NYC in tme for my monthly concert at Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village.
The next night (Tuesday the 6th) the memorial at Symphony Space for Frank Mccourt, and the next day Wednesday the 7th) the celebration of the new authorized biography of Thelonious Monk with members of his family and musicians I have known since I first arrived in NYC in 1955!!
The 11th i flew off to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates,( i got at least get a few hours sleep) and tried to catch up on over 200 e-mails during the 13 hour flight, before arriving there and performing a concert of global music in conjunction with the score I composed for Teri McLuhan's new documentary feature film The Frontier Ghandi.
Then back in the USA in time to do programs centered around a performance of my Saxophone concerto Ode to Lord Buckley, in Loudoun Virginia ..
Then I went off to Toronto Nov 1st for a concert and appearance at the Diaspora Film Festival .
Now i am back at home hiding out composing and writing!
I am starting my fourth book "David Amram: The First 80 Years", (the same name as the new doc film being made about me), which will be finished at the end of next year and will end, like the film, with the monstro birthday bash concert for my Big 80... 12 months from now....(Nov 17 2010) in New York.
And every day, still finding time to continue composing a new orchestral work, having been doing it while on the run, and now every minute when I can hide out at the Farm in between travels.
And performing whenever possible with my three kids, each of whom have their own bands.
So as the BIG 80 approaches twelve months from now, (2010) while I may be still shy, I am not yet the retiring type.
Most of my ever-changing my schedule info. when i can get my elderly secretary (unfortunately myself) to type it up, is posted on my web page www.davidamram.com under Upcoming Events.
And my e-mail amramdavid@aol.com is always the best way to reach me as I carry my laptop with me everywhere, and Facebook, MySpace, etc., is hard to deal with and not always reliable!
You might find it fun to access an old performance of my 1971 Rondo a la Turca on the Internet for FREE!!!
The person who is conducting the Chicago Symphony and playing the middle eastern flute (who looks like my grandson) is actually a much younger looking me in 1977, recording for a PBS network TV show about my music. Pepper Adams and Jerry Dodgion are also playing.
In 1977, most of members of the Chicago Symphony who appear on the recording of this performance had never heard, much less ever played, very much music from the Middle East, and since I write everything out on paper accurately to indicate the way it should be played, that's what they were playing, and they actually began to sound like the Radio Beirut Orchestra, and suddenly as the piece went on, they started feeling something different than they had ever felt before, as they played.
It is really fun to watch their faces as they started getting ingo the old time magical groove that Middle eastern music creates and takes you into.
During the first few minutes of the piece, you can see the musicians all playing up a storm but looking as if they were thinking that I was an alien from another planet in outer space, and had brought some extra terrestrial music with me for them to play.
And then as the piece progresses, you can see, as well as hear, that by the end of the piece, the idiom of this music got them excited enough to be actually enjoying playing it!!
And playing it really well!
That's what music, like film, novels, poetry, painting, dance, language and good HOME COOKING does for all of us.
It takes you to that place from where it comes, and makes you feel that you now have a new home in a new part of the world.
I send cheers from that endless road and wish you joy and energy for all you do
David
I was just saying that you knocked this out of the park with TGJN. We have needed something like this for so long and I am telling my friends about this. I said that it is sort of like a myspace for jazz but it is actually so much more. This is real. The people here truly love jazz and we know people like that are not your average people.
I have felt for a long time that straight-ahead jazz has been slipping away from us. I have hope now that there will be a resurgence (or shall I say an insurgency:-) to bring this baby back full force!
You just knocked it out of the park. Thanks again.
xoxo,
Janie
Events
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Mel Brown Quartet
March 25, 2009 at 8pm to March 27, 2013 at 11pm – Jimmy Mak's
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“Grazie”
December 17, 2009 from 6pm to 9pm – Ivrea
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Saturday JAZZ Nights at Chelsea Wine Bar
December 19, 2009 at 8:30pm to December 20, 2009 at 12:30am – Chelsea Wine Bar
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BACK ALLEY PLAYERS@NUYORICAN POETS CAFE
January 2, 2010 from 9pm to 11pm – NUYORICAN POETS CAFE
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BACK ALLEY PLAYERS@NUYORICAN POETS CAFE
January 2, 2010 from 9pm to 11pm – NUYORICAN POETS CAFE
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Tish Oney - The Peggy Lee Project
January 8, 2010 from 9:45pm to 11pm – The Metropolitan Room
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Tish Oney
January 9, 2010 from 7:15pm to 7:30pm – Hilton Hotel - New York Suite
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Tish Oney - The Peggy Lee Project
January 9, 2010 from 10pm to 10:15pm – Hilton Hotel - Beekman Suite
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Tish Oney - The Peggy Lee Project
January 10, 2010 from 7pm to 8:15pm – The Triad
Birthdays
JAPAN JAZZ NETWORK
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'Monk': A New Look At An American Original
Robin D.G. Kelley's new book, Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, focuses on the career of the eccentric jazz pianist and composer. It reveals new details about Monk's life, music and mental health problems, and provides a glimpse into the New York jazz scene of the mid-twentieth century.Schubert's Desolate 'Winter Journey'
The song cycle Winterreise stands among the masterpieces in the art of song. Schubert conjures up harmonic twists and melodic turns, conveying emotions with remarkable simplicity and force.Living Colour: Keeping The Music Alive
One of the most recognizable guitar riffs in America belongs to Living Colour. The band's 1988 hit, "Cult of Personality," won the group Grammy Awards and fame. In the past two decades, that fame faded, but Living Colour is back — and members say they've gained wisdom.Tales Of The Tape: Introducing The Jazz Loft
In 1957, a celebrated photographer moved into a building known as a hangout for New York City's top jazz musicians. W. Eugene Smith began to obsessively tape-record and photograph everything he saw and heard, from his cats to the cats holding forth in late-night jam sessions.The Sound Of Bottles And Bicycles
Patrick Watson and his band The Wooden Arms defy easy categorization. The group from Montreal takes inspiration from contemporary indie rock, cartoon music from the 1940s and impressionist composers. Depending on the song, you'll hear pots and pans or bottles and barrels.Bess Lomax Hawes, Musical Folklorist, Dies
She was part of a folk dynasty that included father John Lomax and brother Alan Lomax. But not only was she a musician and teacher: Her tenure at the National Endowment for the Arts helped to increase federal funding for traditional music across the U.S.The Cheerful Side Of Edith Piaf
Edith Piaf is usually thought of as a gifted, tragic figure: a great voice and spirit who sang through lost loves, loneliness, drink and depression. But actress and singer Gay Marshall takes a different approach to Piaf, seeing a joyful, mischievous side to France's "Little Sparrow." Host Scott Simon speaks with Marshall, who just finished a one-woman Piaf show and has a new release, Gay Marshall Sings Piaf, La Vie L'amour.Life Happens, But All-Girl Band Betty Keeps Rocking
Host Scott Simon once described Betty as the Marx Brothers and the Andrews Sisters having three daughters who form a rock band. Simon catches up with Amy and Elizabeth Ziff and Alison Palmer, who have a new CD called Bright and Dark. It was recorded while singer and guitarist Elizabeth was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer.The Jazz Loft Project: Sights And Sounds
In 1957, photographer W. Eugene Smith moved into a lower Manhattan loft which served as a late-night hangout for jazz musicians. He proceeded to make approximately 4,000 hours of reel-to-reel tape recordings, and take nearly 40,000 photos, in and around his apartment.Eugene Hütz, Gogol Bordello's Gypsy-Punk Hero
Gogol Bordello has been making supercharged music since first forming in 1999, six years after frontman Eugene Hütz landed in the U.S., having fled the Chernobyl disaster in his native Ukraine. The band's philosophy: to "make the contradictions of life sound harmonious" with a head-spinning mix of ska, punk, metal, rap, flamenco, roots reggae, dub and more.The Decade In Music: How Musicians Create
How has technology changed the relationship between musicians and their fans? While major record labels still struggle to grasp the power of the MP3, artists, including Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes, have embraced and even found creative solutions around file-sharing.'Pops': Louis Armstrong, In His Own Words
Jazz icon Louis Armstrong didn't just leave behind a treasure trove of musical recordings; he also documented hundreds of his private conversations on tape. Those recordings served as the basis for Terry Teachout's new biography of the legendary musician, Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong.The Decade In Music: The Way We Listen Now
For the past 10 years, the record industry has struggled to control how we listen to music. But the shift from CD to MP3 is just the latest iteration in the evolution of formats. The MP3 file has yanked music free from physical formats entirely, and the number of ways fans can experience music has exploded.Songs Of Survival And Reflection: 'At The Cut'
Vic Chesnutt was paralyzed from the waist down at the age of 18, but he's still a massively productive songwriter. Chesnutt has fifteen albums under his belt and his songs have been covered by Madonna, Smashing Pumpkins, and R.E.M. His new album, At The Cut, is a collaboration with Guy Picciotto of the band Fugazi.Bartok's Best 'Concerto For Orchestra'
After all these years, conductor Fritz Reiner's 1955 recording of Bartok's music remains the best. He understood the poignant, brooding, mysterious and exuberant moods it explores, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra plays as if it has been set on fire.© 2009 Created by THE GLOBAL JAZZ NETWORK on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
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What up G-money? How's it going in the land of Mary? Benny, I have to apologise because I was in the D.C. area and didn't remember that you were in Baltimore, so I didn't call you. We were at Arena Stage doing that show about the life of Ella Fitzgerald (called 'Ella'). Every time I think about you I think in terms of the last time I saw you, which was at the Brooklyn Conservatory, when we were rehearsing your Langston Hughes piece. That was a while ago! Anyway, thanks for the invite, and I hope to see you soon.
peace and blessings,
-G
that's kool...all the best to you,,,kool.
845-362-5889 Home
914-760-7924 Mobile
Hey did you know that you played a major part in my Musical/technological development? When we speak I'll explain. Be Blessed
Wayne
PS Roger Byam Says Hello
Thanks for the invite!
Michele
Thanks for inviting me into your circle.
Thanks for the invite....Peace...Paula
Great sounds on your MySpace page.
Thanks for including me as a friend.
All the Best,
Paul Metzke
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