- Ross Russell
Ross Russell (March 18, 1909,
Los Angeles - January 31, 2000, Palm Springs) was an Americanjazz producer and author. He was the founder of Dial Records.Russell wrote pulp fiction in the 1930s and worked as a
reporter , at one point writing onLuis Russell while on tour. He was a marine inWorld War II , then set up his ownrecord store , the Tempo Music Shop, in Los Angeles. In 1946 he founded Dial Records in order to recordCharlie Parker , who was in Los Angeles at the time. [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3xfrxqegldde~T1 Ross Russell] atAllmusic ] He also recordedDizzy Gillespie ,Erroll Garner ,Howard McGhee ,Dodo Marmarosa ,Dexter Gordon , andEarl Coleman . Russell saved all of the alternate takes he did, which made vault releases of his material particularly rich for jazz aficionados. He shut Dial down in 1949 and spent several years away from jazz music.Russell next published on jazz in 1961, but in
fiction . Hisnovel "The Sound" came out that year, a book inspired by Parker's life. In 1971, he published anonfiction book, "Jazz Style in Kansas City and the Southwest", and two years later hisbiography "Bird Lives!" was published. "Bird Lives!" was criticized for its factual inaccuracies; some of the details Russell relates were shown to be fictional. [ [http://www.jazzhouse.org/gone/lastpost2.php3?edit=951985219 Obituary] , Jazzhouse.org] Russell also wrote articles for jazz magazines and taught at theUniversity of California andPalomar College . He sold his collection of records, interviews, and other materials to theUniversity of Texas at Austin in 1981. He retired toEscondido , and was writing another book onbebop at the time of his death in 2000.References
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