''Stratusphunk'' is an album by George Russell originally released on Riverside in January 1961. The album contains performances by Russell with Al Kiger, David Baker, Dave Young,

Chuck Israels Charles H. Israels (born August 10, 1936) is an American jazz composer, arranger, and bassist who is best known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio. He has also worked with Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Stan Getz, Herbie Hanc ...

and Joe Hunt. The title of the album is a combination of the words “stratosphere” and “funk”, a reference to Russell's interest in the intersection of physics, mathematics, and music.

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

review by

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Life and career Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz e ...

states that "Surprisingly, only three of the six selections are Russell originals ("Bent Eagle" was an early effort by

Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936 – October 17, 2023) was an American jazz composer, pianist, organist, and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she gained acclaim for her jazz opera ''Escalator ...

), but the leader's influence can be felt in all of the adventurous and slightly unusual yet swinging music".

Track listing

All compositions by George Russell except where noted # "Stratusphunk" - 6:08 # "New Donna" - 8:25 # "Bent Eagle" (Carla Bley) - 6:16 # "Kentucky Oysters" (David Baker) - 8:25 # "Lambskins" (David Lahm) - 7:13 # "Things New" - 6:55 :*Recorded October 18, 1960 in NYC

Personnel

* George Russell:

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

*Al Kiger: trumpet * David Baker:

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

*Dave Young:

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

*Joe Hunt:

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

References

{{Authority control 1961 albums George Russell (composer) albums Riverside Records albums Albums produced by Orrin Keepnews Albums conducted by George Russell (composer) Albums arranged by George Russell (composer)