Luis Carl Russell (August 5, 1902 – December 11, 1963) was a pioneering Panamanian

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

pianist, orchestra leader, composer, and arranger.

Career

Luis Carl Russell was born on Careening Cay, near Bocas del Toro, Panama, in a family of African-Caribbean ancestry. His father was a music teacher, and Russell learned to play guitar, piano, and violin. He had begun playing professionally, accompanying silent films by 1917 and later at a casino in

Colón, Panama Colón () is a city and Port#Seaport, seaport in Panama, beside the Caribbean Sea, lying near the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is the capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's se ...

. In 1919, he won $3,000 in a lottery and used it to move to the United States, with his mother and sister, settling in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, where he worked as a pianist. He moved to

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Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, in 1925 and worked with Doc Cook and

King Oliver Joseph Nathan "King" Oliver (December 19, 1881 – April 10, 1938) was an American jazz cornet player and bandleader. He was particularly recognized for his playing style and his pioneering use of mutes in jazz. Also a notable composer, he wro ...

. The Oliver band moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and Russell left to form his own band. By 1929, Russell's band became one of the leading jazz groups in New York City. It had several former Oliver sidemen. Performers in his band included trumpeter

Red Allen Henry James "Red" Allen Jr. (January 7, 1908 – April 17, 1967) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose playing has been described by Joachim-Ernst Berendt and others as the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armst ...

, trombonist J. C. Higginbotham, and alto saxophonist

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Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

took over the band in 1935. Between 1926 and 1934, Russell recorded 38 sides (mostly using his own name), plus those issued under Red Allen (1929) and a handful where Armstrong led his band. After the

OKeh OKeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name originally was spelled "OkeH" from the init ...

contract ended in September 1930, Russell recorded a handful of sessions for Melotone, Brunswick and Victor. After no recordings under his name between late 1931 and late 1934, Russell recorded a session for ARC (Melotone, Perfect, Oriole, Banner, Romeo) in 1934, which yielded six sides (three featured Sonny Woods's novelty vocals, one featured the vocal group the Palmer Brothers). The band returned to Russell's name, while Armstrong played in California and Europe in the early 1930s; Russell and Armstrong were reunited in 1935. That same year, Armstrong took over the orchestra altogether, and for the next eight years they functioned as back-up band for Armstrong, with Russell acting as the musical director. Russell led a new band from 1943 to 1948 that played at the

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

and

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

and made a few recordings. These included his 1946 version of the pop standard, " The Very Thought of You". In 1948, Russell retired from music and opened a notions shop, with irregular band gigs and teaching music on the side. In 1959, he visited Panama where he gave a piano recital of classical music. He died in New York City at the age of 61. His daughter, Catherine Russell, is a jazz singer.

Discography

As leader * 1926-29 - ''The Chronological'' (Classics #588 , 1991) Luis Russell and His Orchestra * 1930-34 - ''The Chronological'' (Classics #606 , 1991) Luis Russell and His Orchestra * 1929–34 - ''The Luis Russell Story 1929–1934'' (Retrieval Records, 2000/2006) (2xCD) This disc largely duplicates the previous two but with better audio quality * 1929–34 - ''Saratoga Shout'' ( ASV Living Era, 2007) anthology of the two Chronological albums * 1938-40 - ''At The Cats Swing Ball_ Newly Discovered Recordings... Vol. 1'' (Dot Time Records, 2023) Russell Orchestra under Armstrong name * 1945-46 - ''The Chronological'' (Classics #1066, ?) Luis Russell and His Orchestra With

* 1929–1940 - ''Louis & Luis, 1929–1940'' (ASV Living Era, 1992) With henry "Red" Allen * 1929-33 - ''The Chronological'' (Classics #540 , 1990)

References

External links

Luis Russell at RedHotJazz.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Luis 1902 births 1963 deaths American jazz bandleaders American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists Big band bandleaders Big band pianists Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Jazz musicians from New Orleans Swing pianists Manor Records artists 20th-century American pianists Panamanian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American male musicians