The Hal Russell Story

The Hal Russell Story
Studio album by Hal Russell NRG Ensemble
Released	1993
Recorded	July 1992 at Hardstudios, Winterthur
Genre	Jazz
Length	73:13
Label	ECM ECM 1498
Producer	Steve Lake
Hal Russell chronology
Hal's Bells (1992) The Hal Russell Story (1992)

The Hal Russell Story is the final album by American avant-garde jazz composer, bandleader, and multi-instrumentalist Hal Russell recorded in Switzerland in 1992 and released on the ECM label in 1993.^[1][2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
Down Beat	[4]

The Allmusic review awarded the album 4 stars stating "It would be great if Hal Russell were still around serving up his wonderfully skewed jazz-rock, but this is as wonderful and fitting an epitaph as one could hope for".^[3]

The Down Beat review by Bill Shoemaker says that "Russell's circuitous route to Haldom is recounted here as a gloriously kaleidoscopic sound experience waxed just five weeks before his death."^[4]

Track listing

All compositions by Hal Russell except as indicated

1. "Intro and Fanfare/Toy Parade/Trumpet March/Riverside Jump" - 5:22
2. "Krupa" - 5:36
3. "You're Blasé" - 1:51
4. "Dark Rapture" (Benny Goodman, Manny Kurtz, Edgar Sampson) - 2:44
5. "World Class" - 2:25
6. "Wood Chips" - 2:31
7. "My Little Grass Shack" (Bill Cogswell, Tommy Harrison, Johnny Noble) - 2:36
8. "O & B" - 3:44
9. "For M" - 6:17
10. "Gloomy Sunday" (Rezső Seress) - 2:31
11. "Hair Male" - 3:13
12. "Bossa G" - 0:38
13. "Mildred" - 1:07
14. "Dope Music" - 1:44
15. "The 2 x 2" - 3:13
16. "The Ayler Songs" - 5:53
17. "Rehcabnettul" - 4:05
18. "Steve's Freedom Principle" - 5:33
19. "Lady in the Lake" (Kent Kessler) - 3:31
20. "Oh Well" (Peter Green) - 2:39

Personnel

• Hal Russell - tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, trumpet, xylophone, drums, percussion, gong, narrator, vocals
• Mars Williams - tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, bass saxophone, toy horns, wood flute, didgeridoo, bells, sounds, narrator
• Brian Sandstrom - bass, trumpet, electric guitar, trumpet, toy horns, percussion
• Kent Kessler - bass, trombone
• Steve Hunt -- drums, vibraphone, timpani, percussion

References