AL " STOMP " RUSSELL TRIO

 

Wilbert Allen "Al" Russell, born October 18, 1921, had started out on piano in the eighth grade, and, following his graduation from high school he toured for a while with his brother, bandleader Isaac "Snookum" Russell. He then did radio shows on WCOS in his home town of Columbia, South Carolina. It was here that he met guitarist Joel Cowan (who was in college at the time) and the two of them played together in a band.

Around 1942, he was staying at a YMCA in Washington, D.C., awaiting the possibility of a job as a page in the U.S. Senate. Fooling around on the piano at the Y, he was overheard by two musicians, who asked if he wanted to join them. It's unknown just who these musicians were, but the trio started playing in the Maryland area.

In January 1944, Al wrote a letter accepting an engagement to play at someone's New Jersey wedding in April of that year. The musicians named were himself on piano, Chris Berg on bass, and Robert McKinney on trombone. They charged $1000 for the wedding, which seems to be an extraordinary amount for those days. Soon after this, however, Al seems to have branched out on his own.

The first mention of Al Russell in Billboard is from June 1944, when he was the pianist at the Club Lido in South Bend, Indiana. However, since many ads, even for the later Do Ray Me Trio, only mention Russell's name, it's possible that this was the Al Russell Trio.

Al Russell TrioAt some point, he reconnected with guitarist Joel Cowan and they met bassist William "Doc Basso" Joseph in Chicago. Russell, Cowan, and Joseph (who all sang tenor), teamed up and the Al "Stomp" Russell Trio was born. [Joseph's nickname is pronounced BASE-o, not BAH-so. Additionally, some record labels have him listed as "Doc Bosso." The "Stomp" was probably a take-off on Al's nickname, "Stump," given to him because he was only five feet, two inches tall.] While they'd play venues all over the country, they eventually gravitated to California.

Doc Basso Trioad for Doc Basso TrioIn early 1943, William Joseph (who'd been with Jimmy Noone) had a quartet, but it was the "Doc" Basso Trio by April of that year. There are some ads for them playing at the Playdium, a bowling alley in Green Bay Wisconsin (although it said they'd been at the 3 Deuces night club in Chicago).

Al Russell Trio (with Nat King Colead for All Russell TrioIn the fall of 1944, there was a little blurb about the Trio in Billboard. This said that William Joseph had been with Erskine Hawkins and had had his own Basso Trio. It gave a listing of recent appearances which included the Three Deuces Yacht Club (New York), Onyx Club (New York), Café De Society (Chicago), Capitol Lounge (Chicago), Sky Bar (Cleveland), and Club Lido (South Bend). The Al Russell Trio was currently appearing at and broadcasting from the Pirates Cave in San Diego. Considering the wartime restrictions on travel, these guys got around!

In January 1945, Billboard reviewed an appearance of the Al Russell Trio at Randini's in Los Angeles. The review claimed that the group had been together for six months, after having met in Indiana (why do they even bother?). Other than that, the review was extremely favorable. Most of the vocals were done by William Joseph, but Joel Cowan did the "sweet" ones, and Al Russell handled the novelties. They were pretty much free to play what and as they liked, since the club had no dance floor (that is, their beat didn't have to be controlled so that listeners could dance to it). It concluded with, "Boys make a nice appearance. Their library is the latest, and showmanship is in the higher brackets."

Solid Mr Kelly With The JellyIt's SoEight Nine And TenShy-AnnIn March 1945, after having just finished an engagement at Randini's in Los Angeles, they were at the Broadway Cafe in Long Beach, California. April and May found them at the Venetian Room, in Long Beach, California. While there, they appeared on Hoagy Carmichael's radio show (April 30) and the next day, they made their first foray into the world of recording, waxing for Charlie Washburn's Coast label (Los Angeles). In June 1945 Coast released "It's So"/"Solid Mr. Kelly With The Jelly." This was followed, in July, by "Shy-Ann"/"Eight, Nine And Ten."

There was a little blurb in the June 23, 1945 Billboard that said: "Nat [Vincent] got the Al (Stomp) Russell Trio (Al Russell, Joel Cowan and Doc Basso) a Peerless Record date and they waxed eight of their tunes. Four of them are Shy Ann, Kelly With The Jelly, Eight-Nine-Ten, and It's So." Peerless and Coast were both owned by Paul Mayer (with Charlie Washburn as the recording director).

Here's a report from the Moberly (Missouri) Monitor-Index of June 18, 1945 (the dateline was Paris, Missouri):

Joel C. Cowan, Jr., Los Angeles Negro, was fined $1 and costs by J. S. Bishop, justice of the peace, last Friday [June 15], after Cowan had pleaded guilty to a careless and reckless driving charge. Cowan also agreed to pay $20 for damage done to one of Dwight Guthrie's trucks, which Cowan's car struck.

Cowan, and three other Negro musicians, Al Russell and William Joseph and his wife of Los Angeles, were hurrying through Paris to get to Arizona to fulfill a music contract. The car, a 1937 Cadillac, driven by Cowan and owned by Cowan and Russell, collided with Guthrie's truck, which was being driven up to the Standard Service Station by Emmett Eilson. No one was injured, but both the car and truck were damaged.

Must have been a really slow news day in Paris.

This info appears in : http://www.uncamarvy.com/DoRayMe/dorayme.html