R.I.P. George and Charlie

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

The Jazz Mann was sad to hear of the recent deaths of two great jazz figures, composer and bandleader George Russell (1923-2009) and saxophonist Charlie Mariano also 1923-2009

R.I.P. George and Charlie
The Jazzmann was sad to hear of the recent deaths of two great jazz figures, composer and bandleader George Russell (1923-2009) and saxophonist Charlie Mariano also 1923-2009.
Both were American but did much of their most significant work in Europe and both led long, highly creative lives. The official obituaries have already been written so I won’t cover already familiar ground.

On a personal note I’m pleased to say that I saw both of them perform. Mariano was one of my favourite musicians of the 70’s and 80’s as a member of bassist Eberhard Weber’s Colours group. Although I was never fortunate to see Colours I did see Mariano leading his own quartet on a remarkable double bill staged by Birmingham Jazz at the Adrian Boult Hall on 27th November 1988. Mariano’s group consisted of himself on reeds, Oregon’s Glen Moore on bass plus two British musicians in the form of the sublime John Taylor at the piano and every visiting American’s drummer of choice at the time, Steve Arguelles. 

They played opposite Jan Garbarek’s quartet featuring Weber on bass, Rainer Bruninghaus on keyboards and Nana Vasconcelos on percussion. Can you imagine Garbarek appearing at such an intimate venue these days? It was a supremely memorable evening’s music that’s for sure.

The following year I saw Russell leading his Orchestra at the 1989 Brecon Jazz Festival. Even in the less than perfect confines of the Market Hall they sounded magnificent, with a big, gloriously intense sound delivered by a mix of British and American musicians. The then rising star Andy Sheppard (reeds) was one of the outstanding soloists alongside the late, great Ian Carr on trumpet. Chris Biscoe and Pete Hurt were among the other UK musicians in an impressively powerful line up.

Of Russell’s recordings I was particularly keen on 1969’s ?Electric Sonata For Souls Loved By Nature?  which featured a young Jan Garbarek.

R.I.P. George and Charlie and thanks for some great musical memories.