Curly Russell
Acoustic Bass Solo on
Confirmation

About

Curly Russell closes out the solos on acoustic bass with one chorus, following Horace Silver at approximately 271 BPM. Set within a swinging rhythmic framework, the 32-bar AABA form and the key of F, the solo tests the player's command at high velocity. As a contrafact on "Twilight Time," the underlying harmony is well-trodden territory, giving the soloist a sturdy platform for creative exploration. Coming last in the solo order, Russell has the task of building on everything that came before while steering the performance back toward the closing head. "Confirmation" is a virtuosic reading of Charlie Parker's harmonically adventurous composition from A Night at Birdland Vol. 2, performed live by the Art Blakey Quintet in 1954. This is arguably no solo going on here, but it seems like Curly Russell was given the space and he chose to walk through it.

Curly Russell was 36 to 37 years old at the time.