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]

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 (1993)

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" (Ord Hamilton) – 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, toy horns, percussion
• Kent Kessler – bass, trombone
• Steve Hunt – drums, vibraphone, timpani, percussion

References