John Russell obituary
almost 5 years in The guardian
Guitarist devoted to free improvisation and collaborating with performers from jazz and beyond
In 1971 John Russell left the remote Romney Marshes of Kent for London’s booming avant-arts scene as a 17-year-old blues and Frank Zappa fan, and was soon playing the guitar in such unrecognisable ways that even his contrarian Mothers of Invention hero might have raised an eyebrow.
Russell, who has died aged 66 of cancer, was the polar opposite of a guitar star - an obdurate original in the spiky mould of his influential teacher and mentor Derek Bailey, and in later years an energetic promoter of genre-evading free improvisation. Continue reading...
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