Happy Birthday George Russell
Moderators: bobappleton, sandywilliams
Forum rules
An open letter from Alice Russell. June 21, 2011, Brookline, Massachusetts. 1. DO NOT make insulting, mean spirited remarks about anyone or their work; there are a plethora of sites where you can rant unfettered. If you attack someone personally, your comments will be removed. You can post it, but I'm not paying for it. Go elsewhere, and let those artists who are actually interested in discussion and learning have the floor. 2. There will be NO posting of or links to copyrighted material without permission of the copyright owner. That's the law. And if you respect the work of people who make meaningful contributions, you should have no problem following this policy. 3. I appreciate many of the postings from so many of you. Please don't feel you have to spend your time "defending" the LCC to those who come here with the express purpose of disproving it. George worked for decades to disprove it himself; if you know his music, there's no question that it has gravity. And a final word: George was famous for his refusal to lower his standards in all areas of his life, no matter the cost. He twice refused concerts of his music at Lincoln Center Jazz because of their early position on what was authentically jazz. So save any speculation about the level of him as an artist and a man. The quotes on our websites were not written by George; they were written by critics/writers/scholars/fans over many years. Sincerely, Alice
An open letter from Alice Russell. June 21, 2011, Brookline, Massachusetts. 1. DO NOT make insulting, mean spirited remarks about anyone or their work; there are a plethora of sites where you can rant unfettered. If you attack someone personally, your comments will be removed. You can post it, but I'm not paying for it. Go elsewhere, and let those artists who are actually interested in discussion and learning have the floor. 2. There will be NO posting of or links to copyrighted material without permission of the copyright owner. That's the law. And if you respect the work of people who make meaningful contributions, you should have no problem following this policy. 3. I appreciate many of the postings from so many of you. Please don't feel you have to spend your time "defending" the LCC to those who come here with the express purpose of disproving it. George worked for decades to disprove it himself; if you know his music, there's no question that it has gravity. And a final word: George was famous for his refusal to lower his standards in all areas of his life, no matter the cost. He twice refused concerts of his music at Lincoln Center Jazz because of their early position on what was authentically jazz. So save any speculation about the level of him as an artist and a man. The quotes on our websites were not written by George; they were written by critics/writers/scholars/fans over many years. Sincerely, Alice
-
chespernevins
- Posts: 368
- Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:34 am
Happy Birthday George Russell
Happy Birthday George Russell!
-
chespernevins
- Posts: 368
- Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:34 am
Re: Happy Birthday George Russell
Thank you for the links Alice - and, btw, for keeping the doors open around here too!
I received the biography today too, on his birthday! Very nice.
I received the biography today too, on his birthday! Very nice.
Re: Happy Birthday George Russell
You're very welcome, Chesper. It appears the radio program from New Zealand is not accessible; it was removed two weeks after broadcast, which would be today. George's biographer, Duncan Heining, did a remarkable job. I hope you enjoy the book.
Alice
Alice
Re: Happy Birthday George Russell
happy 88th birthday george russell !
-
bobappleton
- Posts: 355
- Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2006 8:57 pm
- Location: Toronto, Canada
- Contact:
Re: Happy Birthday George Russell
I happened to be here today... and checked the radio new zealand link. The list of composers whose work has been celebrated is now a thing of beauty in itself. As Alice stated above, George's interview is not there - sadly there's now only one composer for 2011.
I did however find Carla Bley's piece https://www.radionz.co.nz/concert/progr ... ley-b-1936 in which she credits George with saving her musical life: "In a six-part series, Norman Meehan takes us from Carla Bley’s beginnings as ‘Lovella May Borg’ in a religious Californian family, through her first exposure to jazz to her first job as a cigarette girl at Birdland in New York. Later when a psychiatrist told her to give up trying to be a composer and become a seamstress, it was George Russell who saved her by telling her he wanted to record one of her pieces. After that, her life changed."
And that makes us all, I'm sure, wish that radio nz could find it's missing podcasts...