Ten years ago, Chicago lost one of its most prolific, inventive, genre-defying creative spirits. In the 1960s alone, William Russo created the Chicago Jazz Ensemble and conducted the London Jazz Orchestra; joined Paul Sills and Rev. James Shiflett in establishing the Body Politic Theatre, one of the first of the Off-Loop houses; and became the first full-time faculty member at Columbia College Chicago, where he created its music department. In a remarkably productive career, he also penned such ground-breaking scores as "Three Pieces for Blues Band and Orchestra," which was premiered by Seiji Ozawa conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Siegel-Schwall Band; "Street Music, A Blues...
↧