Pee Wee Russell
#127,491
Most Influential Person Across History
American musician
Pee Wee Russell's AcademicInfluence.com Rankings
Download Badge
Communications
Why Is Pee Wee Russell Influential?
(Suggest an Edit or Addition)According to Wikipedia, Charles Ellsworth "Pee Wee" Russell was an American jazz musician. Early in his career he played clarinet and saxophones, but he eventually focused solely on clarinet. With a highly individualistic and spontaneous clarinet style that "defied classification", Russell began his career playing traditional jazz, but throughout his career incorporated elements of newer developments such as swing, bebop, and free jazz. Writing in 1961, the poet Philip Larkin commented: "No one familiar with the characteristic excitement of his solos, their lurid, snuffling, asthmatic voicelessness, notes leant on till they split, and sudden passionate intensities, could deny the uniqueness of his contribution to jazz."
