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Multi-instrumentalist and bandleader
Hal Russell was a key figure in the free jazz movement from its beginnings in the late '50s through the '80s.
Russell is most closely associated with the Chicago free jazz scene and, from the late '70s on, he headed a quintet and a trio in what he called
NRG Ensembles. The incompetence of the group's original saxophonist led
Russell to take up saxophone himself (at the age of 50), and he became an enthusiastic performer on tenor and soprano. (
Russell also played drums [his original instrument], trumpet, piano, and vibraphone.) In 1991,
ECM Records recognized what had previously been an underground success by releasing the live Finnish/Swiss Tour by an
NRG Ensemble that comprised
Russell and longtime associates
Mars Williams (best known for his work with
the Psychedelic Furs),
Steve Hunt,
Brian Sandstrom, and
Kent Kessler.
Russell continued to alternate between solo work (notably
Hal's Bells) and
the NRG Ensembles till his death in 2005. ~ Rovi Staff