. William Joseph Russo Jnr., 25 June 1928, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 11 January 2003, Chicago, Illinois, USA. After extensive study in arranging, Russo wrote music for Lennie Tristano. He also played the trombone occasionally. Stan Kenton discovered his experimental style in the 50s, when he was one of the first musicians to lead an Experiment In Jazz rehearsal band. Kenton’s work included such notable charts as Hall Of Brass’ and Portrait Of A Count’. Russo began his career performing with a small band in the middle of the 1950s. However, he was back writing for larger ensembles by the end the decade. Russo spent the 1960s in London, where he was employed by the BBC and founded the London Jazz Orchestra. He returned to Chicago in the mid-1990s to take over the directorship of Columbia College’s Center for New Music. This position he held for the remainder of the decade. After a brief stint in California television and film production, he returned in the 1980s to teach. Russo will always be remembered as one the greatest composers and arrangers of large-scale modern jazz orchestras. Allmusic
