Bejazzo Gets a Facelift

Multi-instrumentalist Hal Russell was a key influence on Chicago’s ‘90s underground upstarts including Weasel Walter — whose Flying Luttenbachers outfit derived their moniker from Russell’s birth name and originally featured Russell in the lineup — and Ken Vandermark, who worked in Russell’s NRG Ensemble early on. The latter group carried on after Russell’s death in 1992, with Vandermark joining longtime members Mars Williams (saxophone), Steve Hunt (drums), Kent Kessler (bass) and Brian Sandstrom (trumpet, bass and wild, fuzzed-out guitar). On this, their final release, they upheld Russell’s commitment to avant-jazz intensity in many forms, from the post–Ornette Coleman scramble of the Williams-composed title track to the rubato calm of Vandermark’s “No Reply.” Less celebrated than either the early AACM outfits or ‘90s standouts like the Vandermark 5, the NRG Ensemble were nevertheless a key link in the chain of adventurous Chicago jazz, and this offering showed how vital they remained up to the end.