Pee Wee Russell
Pee Wee Russell, although never a virtuoso, was one of the giants of jazz. A highly expressive and unpredictable clarinetist, Russell was usually grouped in Dixieland-type groups throughout his career, but his advanced and spontaneous solos (which often sounded as if he were thinking aloud) defied classification. A professional by the time he was 15, Pee Wee Russell played in Texas with Peck Kelley's group (meeting Jack Teagarden) and then in 1925 he was in St. Louis jamming with Bix Beiderbecke. Russell moved to New York in 1927 and gained some attention for his playing with Red Nichols' Five Pennies. Russell freelanced during the era, making some notable records with Billy Banks in 1932 that matched him with Red Allen. He played clarinet and tenor with Louis Prima during 1935-1937, appearing on many records and enjoying the association.
After leaving Prima, he started working with Eddie Condon's freewheeling groups and would remain in Condon's orbit on and off for the next 30 years. Pee Wee Russell's recordings with Condon in 1938 made him a star in the trad Chicago jazz world. Russell was featured (but often the butt of jokes) on Condon's Town Hall Concerts. Heavy drinking almost killed him in 1950, but Russell made an unlikely comeback and became more assertive in running his career. He started leading his own groups (which were more swing- than Dixieland-oriented), was a star on the 1957 television special The Sound of Jazz, and by the early '60s was playing in a piano-less quartet with valve trombonist Marshall Brown whose repertoire included tunes by John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman; he even sat in with Thelonious Monk at the 1963 Newport Jazz Festival and took up abstract painting. But after the death of his wife in 1967, Pee Wee Russell accelerated his drinking and went quickly downhill, passing away less than two years later.
© Scott Yanow /TiVo
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At Newport
Ruby Braff, Pee Wee Russell, Bobby Henderson
Jazz - Released by CoolNote on 29 Jan 1900
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Plays with Buck Clayton, Vic Dickerson & Bud Freeman
Jazz - Released by Ascension Records on 8 Jul 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Portrait of Pee Wee (Remastered)
Jazz - Released by Avid Entertainment on 6 May 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Dixieland Chicago Jazz
Jazz - Released by CoolNote on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Chicago And All That Jazz
Eddie Condon, Gene Krupa, Pee Wee Russell
Jazz - Released by CoolNote on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Complete Jazz Series 1935 - 1946
Jazz - Released by Complete Jazz Series on 8 Jun 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nick's Presents His Dixieland Jazz Band
Jazz - Released by Shellac Revival on 3 Jun 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Golden Selection (Remastered)
Jazz - Released by Master Tape Records on 10 Sep 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pee Wee Russell & Friends, Vol. 2
Jazz - Released by Ap music on 5 Sep 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Weary Blues Vol. 1
Jazz - Released by Black Sheep Music on 2 Dec 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pee Wee Russell & Friends, Vol. 1
Jazz - Released by Ap music on 5 Sep 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pee Wee Russell and Coleman Hawkins: Jazz Reunion
Pee Wee Russell, Coleman Hawkins
Jazz - Released by Blue Velvet on 3 Nov 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz at Storyville Vol. 2 (Live)
Jazz - Released by Music Manager on 7 Feb 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz at Storyville Vol. 1 (Live)
Jazz - Released by Music Manager on 7 Feb 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
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The Two Of Us And Jazz
Jazz - Released by CoolNote on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Take Me To The Land Of Jazz
Jazz - Released by Jazz Room on 7 Oct 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Definitive Pee Wee Russell
Jazz - Released by CoolNote on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo