Hal Russell

Not quite a Fred Anderson-esque elder statesman, and never an AACM member, Hal Russell was nonetheless a crucial link between Chicago's fertile avant-garde jazz scene of the '60s and its renaissance in the '90s. Russell helped keep the flame burning during the '80s with his NRG Ensemble, a freewheeling outfit able to execute Russell's tight compositions while echoing his surreal, almost vaudevillian sense of humor. Born in Detroit on August 28, 1926, Russell began playing drums at age four, but majored in trumpet at college; he subsequently drummed in several big bands, includ...