Curly Russell

Dillon "Curley" Russell was an American jazz double-bassist, who played bass on many bebop recordings.

Born : March 19, 1917 in Trinidad.
Died : July 03, 1986 in New York City, New York.

A member of the Tadd Dameron Sextet, in his heyday he was in demand for his ability to play at the rapid tempos typical of bebop, and appears on several key recordings of the period. According to his New York Times obituary, "in the late 1950's, he started playing Catskills club dates, and in 1966 he turned primarily to nonmusical jobs."

According to jazz historian Phil Schaap the classic bebop tune "Donna Lee", a contrafact on "Back Home Again In Indiana", was named after Curley's daughter.