Prince Wells Bio
Prince Wells joined the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) faculty in 1989 and was appointed Assistant Professor in 1996. He has served as Director of the Music Business Program, Director of the Black Studies Program, Chair of the Music Department, and President of the SIUE Black Faculty and Staff Association. He currently serves as a faculty advisor for the African Student Association. Wells has taught freshman Music Theory, Introduction to Music History and Literature, and other such diverse courses as Foundations of Music, Jazz History, Black Music in America, African American Music and the Struggle For Freedom, as well as developing and co-teaching Music: Art and Science (an interdisciplinary course that examines music as both an art and science). His most recent research focuses on the Quadrivium, the relationship between arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy.
Mr. Wells received his baccalaureate degree in Music Education from SIUE and completed his master’s degree in Afro-American Music and Trumpet at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He also studied trumpet with internationally known trumpeter Clark Terry, noted instructor Carmine Caruso, as well as Gary Smith of the St. Louis Symphony. Under the tutelage of the internationally known composer, music theorist, and MacArthur Fellow George Russell, Wells earned certification in the Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization and currently holds the distinction of being one of only five persons in the United States with that certification. He has conducted numerous workshops, lectures, and demonstrations on the Lydian Chromatic Concept and related topics.
During his career, Mr. Wells has been awarded a Jazz Artist Marketing Fellowship from the Mid-America Arts Alliance, a National Endowment for the Arts Travel/Study grant, and several other awards and honors. He was featured in a photo exhibit and subsequent book titled, Lift Every Voice and Sing: The St. Louis African-American Heritage Project as one of the 100 most influential St. Louis African-Americans of the twentieth century. He was also recently included in the exhibit “#1 in Civil Rights/The African American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis” at the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis.
Mr. Wells is well known in the St. Louis area as a jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He has been a member of the Albert King Band and the George Hudson Jazz Orchestra, has served as director of the Jazz Edge Big Band, the Black Music Society’s Jazz Repertory Ensemble, the Grand Center Jazz Ensemble, the Jazz Band of St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, the Black Music Society’s Jazz Lab Band, Harris Stowe State University Brass Ensemble, and performed as trumpeter while helping manage a brass quintet named Brass Alive! He has also performed as a member of numerous prestigious jazz ensembles throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area. Mr. Wells was the founder and served as President of the Black Music Society of Missouri and has been affiliated with a number of arts organizations, including the Mid-America Arts Alliance, Regional Arts Commission, Missouri Arts Council, and the Missouri Performing Traditions Advisory Council. In February 2000, he released his CD, Tales from the Void.
George Russell Bio (June 23, 1923 – July 27, 2009)
George Russell began developing the Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization in the mid-1940s, devising a system based on a ladder of perfect fifths that grade intervals by how far they are from a central tone. This system of tonal organization provides musicians with a wider choice of melodic and harmonic resources. Hailed as a historical breakthrough, his work has evolved into one of jazz's major advances.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1923, Russell attended Wilberforce University High School, began playing drums with the Boy Scout Drum and Bugle Corps, and eventually won a scholarship to Wilberforce University. By this time, he was also playing drums in Cincinnati nightclubs.
Russell moved to New York City in the early 1940s. In 1941, Russell was stricken with tuberculosis and was hospitalized. During his hospitalization, he sold his first big band arrangement to Benny Carter. After recuperating, he briefly joined Benny Carter's band but was unexpectedly replaced by renowned drummer Max Roach. Consequently, he dedicated himself completely to composing, arranging, and developing his concept.
During the time, Russell was warmly welcomed into a small group of young, innovative musicians working with composer/arranger Gil Evans. This group included Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, John Lewis, Charlie Parker, and Max Roach. He had the opportunity to play drums in Charlie Parker's group but was once again hospitalized for tuberculosis. It was during this second lengthy recovery in the mid-40s that he began laying the foundation for what was to become the legendary Lydian Chromatic Concept.
Russell was among the first, if not the first composer, to utilize Afro-Cuban elements in jazz when he was commissioned to compose Cubana Be/Cubana Bop for trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. During this period, he also composed for several of the biggest names in jazz, including Lee Konitz, Charlie Ventura, Artie Shaw, Buddy DeFranco, and Claude Thornhill. Later, he made his recording debut as a leader on RCA and Decca.
His book, The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, was first published in 1953. He spent the remainder of his life developing and revising it. Its publication was very timely for Miles Davis, who was beginning to look for his own musical voice and find his way out of the long shadows of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and the other bebop giants. Through Russell’s book and his personal relationship with Russell, Davis pioneered the era of modal jazz and eventually recorded the album Kind of Blue (1959), the largest selling jazz album in history. Performing in Davis’ band on this groundbreaking recording were John Coltrane and Bill Evans, two prominent musicians who were also greatly influenced by Russell and his Concept.
In 1957, Russell released The Jazz Workshop on the RCA Victor label, his first album as a leader. This critically acclaimed album featured his compositions performed by a sextet including such prominent musicians as Bill Evans, Art Farmer, Hal McKusick, Barry Galbraith, and Milt Hinton. He turned to piano and formed a group in the early 1960s whose members included Don Ellis, Eric Dolphy, Chuck Israels, and Steve Swallow. There were sessions for the labels Riverside, Decca, MPS, and Flying Dutchman. He also performed at the landmark 1962 Washington, DC Jazz Festival. In the mid-1960s, he moved to Europe, recording and spending six years teaching at various institutions. In 1969, he returned to the U.S. where he joined the faculty at the nation’s oldest music conservatory, the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. During the 1970s and 1980s, he recorded for Soul Note, Blue Note, and ECM.
Russell stopped composing in the mid-1970s to finish the second volume of the Lydian Chromatic Concept. He recorded albums in the late 1970s and 1980s with The Swedish Radiojazzgruppen and big bands in New York. His compositions have earned him many honors, among them composer awards from Metronome Magazine and Downbeat Magazine, the National Music Award, three grants from the National Education Association, and the Oscar du Disque de Jazz.
Among his discoveries was vocalist Shelia Jordan and he was also an early champion of European saxophonist Jan Garbarek. His African Game album in 1985 was one of the first issued on the revived Blue Note label and included his compositions inspired by African drum choirs. He toured England in the late 1980s and worked with Courtney Pine and Kenny Wheeler as well as other British jazz and rock musicians.
In 1989, Russell received the prestigious McArthur Foundation Fellowship for his groundbreaking work in jazz improvisation and writing. He was also a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts American Jazz Master Award and two Guggenheim Fellowships. Considered as one of the leading jazz theorists in the field, Russell has left an indelible imprint on one of the world’s most creative musical art forms.
George Russell passed away on Monday, July 27, 2009 at the age of 86 after a lengthy illness.
About George Russell: http://www.georgerussell.com/gr.html
George Russell Bio (June 23, 1923 – July 27, 2009)
George Russell began developing the Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization in the mid-1940s, devising a system based on a ladder of perfect fifths that grade intervals by how far they are from a central tone. This system of tonal organization provides musicians with a wider choice of melodic and harmonic resources. Hailed as a historical breakthrough, his work has evolved into one of jazz's major advances.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1923, Russell attended Wilberforce University High School, began playing drums with the Boy Scout Drum and Bugle Corps, and eventually won a scholarship to Wilberforce University. By this time, he was also playing drums in Cincinnati nightclubs.
Russell moved to New York City in the early 1940s. In 1941, Russell was stricken with tuberculosis and was hospitalized. During his hospitalization, he sold his first big band arrangement to Benny Carter. After recuperating, he briefly joined Benny Carter's band but was unexpectedly replaced by renowned drummer Max Roach. Consequently, he dedicated himself completely to composing, arranging, and developing his concept.
During the time, Russell was warmly welcomed into a small group of young, innovative musicians working with composer/arranger Gil Evans. This group included Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, John Lewis, Charlie Parker, and Max Roach. He had the opportunity to play drums in Charlie Parker's group but was once again hospitalized for tuberculosis. It was during this second lengthy recovery in the mid-40s that he began laying the foundation for what was to become the legendary Lydian Chromatic Concept.
Russell was among the first, if not the first composer, to utilize Afro-Cuban elements in jazz when he was commissioned to compose Cubana Be/Cubana Bop for trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. During this period, he also composed for several of the biggest names in jazz, including Lee Konitz, Charlie Ventura, Artie Shaw, Buddy DeFranco, and Claude Thornhill. Later, he made his recording debut as a leader on RCA and Decca.
His book, The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, was first published in 1953. He spent the remainder of his life developing and revising it. Its publication was very timely for Miles Davis, who was beginning to look for his own musical voice and find his way out of the long shadows of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and the other bebop giants. Through Russell’s book and his personal relationship with Russell, Davis pioneered the era of modal jazz and eventually recorded the album Kind of Blue (1959), the largest selling jazz album in history. Performing in Davis’ band on this groundbreaking recording were John Coltrane and Bill Evans, two prominent musicians who were also greatly influenced by Russell and his Concept.
In 1957, Russell released The Jazz Workshop on the RCA Victor label, his first album as a leader. This critically acclaimed album featured his compositions performed by a sextet including such prominent musicians as Bill Evans, Art Farmer, Hal McKusick, Barry Galbraith, and Milt Hinton. He turned to piano and formed a group in the early 1960s whose members included Don Ellis, Eric Dolphy, Chuck Israels, and Steve Swallow. There were sessions for the labels Riverside, Decca, MPS, and Flying Dutchman. He also performed at the landmark 1962 Washington, DC Jazz Festival. In the mid-1960s, he moved to Europe, recording and spending six years teaching at various institutions. In 1969, he returned to the U.S. where he joined the faculty at the nation’s oldest music conservatory, the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. During the 1970s and 1980s, he recorded for Soul Note, Blue Note, and ECM.
Russell stopped composing in the mid-1970s to finish the second volume of the Lydian Chromatic Concept. He recorded albums in the late 1970s and 1980s with The Swedish Radiojazzgruppen and big bands in New York. His compositions have earned him many honors, among them composer awards from Metronome Magazine and Downbeat Magazine, the National Music Award, three grants from the National Education Association, and the Oscar du Disque de Jazz.
Among his discoveries was vocalist Shelia Jordan and he was also an early champion of European saxophonist Jan Garbarek. His African Game album in 1985 was one of the first issued on the revived Blue Note label and included his compositions inspired by African drum choirs. He toured England in the late 1980s and worked with Courtney Pine and Kenny Wheeler as well as other British jazz and rock musicians.
In 1989, Russell received the prestigious McArthur Foundation Fellowship for his groundbreaking work in jazz improvisation and writing. He was also a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts American Jazz Master Award and two Guggenheim Fellowships. Considered as one of the leading jazz theorists in the field, Russell has left an indelible imprint on one of the world’s most creative musical art forms.
George Russell passed away on Monday, July 27, 2009 at the age of 86 after a lengthy illness.
About George Russell: http://www.georgerussell.com/gr.html