Archives for Bill Russell
Wagner Descendant’s Guide to Canton, Missouri
Canton, Missouri is where multiple generations and branches of our ancestors were born and lived and are buried. I’ve visited several times during my life, and it was the Homeplace for several generations. We have so many ancestors, cousins, aunts and uncles who lived here I cannot mention them all for this. DOWNLOAD PDF Here's a travel report from a recent trip my cousin Ben Wagner took to Canton. The Wagner house on Lewis Street…
Til the Butcher Cut Him Down
This 1971 film by Philip Spalding was narrated by my great uncle Bill Russell. The film includes him talking about the musicians and himself, shows Preservation Hall, New Orleans, second lines, Ben Jaffee, and even Bill Russell's apartment with his massive collection. A superb study of the history and men who played New Orleans Jazz through the eyes of one of its greatest trumpet players: Punch Miller (died 1971). Kid Punch was renowned in New…
1943 Wagner Family Recordings
Ben Wagner recently found some 78-RPM 8-inch records in his late father Arnold’s collection. On them are the voices of our ancestors - my great grandparents William C. Wagner and wife Lilly Giegerich, along with their son William F and Lilly's aunt Tillie Eckert Henry. The recordings were made on Saturday, June 5, 1943, during a trip home by William and Arnold to visit their parents in Canton, Missouri. Other recordings are of the brothers…
Bill Russell, Cosimo Matassa, and the Musical Culture of the French Quarter
February 03, 2016 Robert Ticknor, reference assistant, The Historic New Orleans Collection ... Russell, born in 1905 in Canton, Missouri, became an indefatigable jazz-record collector after he found a Jelly Roll Morton record that one of his students had left in the classroom at the school on Staten Island where he was a teacher. His work for the Jazzmen book brought him into contact with Bunk Johnson, an old trumpet player who had fallen on…
Bill Russell and the Discovery of Jazz
Leading A Revival 12/28/2018 Jason Berry photograph courtesy of Preservation Hall An eccentric man of many talents, William Russell was a catalytic presence in the rise of early jazz. Born in 1905 in Canton, Ohio, the classically trained violinist got hip to the groove in 1928 while teaching in New York. Like most seminal jazz producers, he began as an addictive record-collector scouring stores for rare discs, even going house to house in a black…
Bill Russell’s Explorations Of The Origins Of Jazz
Published in Offbeat Magazine MARCH 1, 1996by: JASON BERRY1 COMMENT 1 When The Outspoken Jazz Documentarian Died, Much History Died With Him. But He Left Behind Enough To Keep Historian Arguing For A Very Long Time. Editor’s Note: This is the second installment of Jason Berry’s continuing series on the history of traditional jazz, to mark what is roughly the hundred-year anniversary of the emergence of jazz as an idiom. Berry’s work has appeared in many…
Bill Russell and Noel Rockmore
Bill Russell was one of Rockmore's favorite subjects from the early 60s until Bill's death in 1992. He was also a friend, mentor, musical companion and fellow documenter of the French Quarter. Bill Russell was always game for an adventure and this time it is with his friend Noel Rockmore to The Melrose Plantation. Rockmore, who was not always up for an adventure outside the French Quarter, would do several sketches at Melrose Plantation. He puts…
Wagner Boys’ road trip of 1931
This is a fun journal by Russell Wagner (Bill Russell) about the road trip he and his parents and brothers took to Pittsburgh, Akron, Washington DC and Niagra Falls in the summer of 1931. DOWNLOAD "Wagner Boys 1931 Trip" PDF
Bill Russell
Born Russell William Wagner in 1905, William (Bill) Russell was a violinist; an avant-garde composer deeply interested in percussion; accompanist to a touring puppet troupe; a meticulous musical-instrument repairman; a jazz-record producer; an archivist; a writer; and, above all, a New Orleans jazz collector of extraordinary breadth. More than anything else, he simply loved classic New Orleans-style jazz, which he called the “best music I’d ever heard.” He sought out obscure, old-time jazz players and…
Noel Rockmore Interviewed by Bill Russell about his art
Following is an interview between “R - Bill Russell” and “N - Noel Rockmore”, from 1973 R - Bill Russell) One thing here Larry wanted you to discuss pop art. You’ve probably covered that as much as you want to, the contrast with your own work and all. N - Noel Rockmore) I think it’s a complete bore and to be forced to take it seriously as an art movement because of the accreditation given…