NRG Ensemble was an American

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

ensemble founded in the late 1970s by saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist

Hal Russell Hal Russell (born Harold Russell Luttenbacher, August 28, 1926 – September 5, 1992) was an American free jazz composer, band leader and multi-instrumentalist who performed mainly on saxophone and drums but occasionally on trumpet or vibrapho ...

.Margasak, Peter
The Undiminished Power of Hal Russell's NRG Ensemble
''at Chicago Reader'' The group's personnel was somewhat fluid, but included a core of drummer Steve Hunt, saxophonist

Mars Williams Mars Williams (born May 29, 1955) is an American jazz and rock saxophonist. Exposed to big band and dixieland jazz by his trumpet-playing father, Williams played classical clarinet for ten years, then migrated to saxophone in his last year of hig ...

, guitarist/trumpeter Brian Sandstrom, and bassist

Kent Kessler Kent Kessler (born January 28, 1957) is an American jazz double-bassist. Career Although born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Kessler grew up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He began playing trombone at age ten. When he was thirteen, he moved with his f ...

. Their music kept

alive in Chicago throughout the 1980s, when it had largely disappeared from the jazz landscape. Russell was the primary composer, but the other musicians contributed songs as well. Their

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophonic ...

ning song and album titles (''Conserving NRG, Hal on Earth'') reflected the humor that permeated Russell's music. After Russell's death in 1992, the NRG Ensemble recruited saxophonist

Ken Vandermark Ken Vandermark (born September 22, 1964) is an American composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist. A fixture on the Chicago-area music scene since the 1990s, Vandermark has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered composi ...

as a replacement, recording three more albums under the leadership of Williams.

Discography

# ''

NRG Ensemble NRG Ensemble was an American free jazz ensemble founded in the late 1970s by saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist Hal Russell.Margasak, PeterThe Undiminished Power of Hal Russell's NRG Ensemble''at Chicago Reader'' The group's personnel was somewhat f ...

'' (Nessa, 1981) # ''

Generation A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during which children are born and gr ...

'' (Nessa, 1982) - with

Charles Tyler Admiral Sir Charles Tyler, GCB (1760 – 28 September 1835) was a naval officer in the British Royal Navy who gained fame during the Napoleonic Wars as a naval captain that fought at the Battle of Copenhagen (1801) and Battle of Trafalgar, beco ...

# '' Conserving NRG'' (Principally Jazz, 1984) # ''

Hal on Earth ''Hal on Earth'' is an album by American avant-garde jazz composer, bandleader, and multi-instrumentalist Hal Russell recorded in 1989 which was originally released on cassette and released on CD on the Abduction label in 1995.The Finnish/Swiss Tour'' (ECM, 1991) # ''

The Hal Russell Story ''The Hal Russell Story'' is the final album by American avant-garde jazz composer, bandleader, and multi-instrumentalist Hal Russell recorded in Switzerland in 1992 and released on the ECM label in 1993.

'' (ECM, 1993) # ''

Calling All Mothers ''Calling All Mothers'' is an album by American jazz group the NRG Ensemble, their first after the death of bandleader, and multi-instrumentalist Hal Russell, which was recorded in 1993 and released on the Quinnah label. Reception The AllMusic r ...

'' (Quinnah, 1994) # ''

This Is My House ''This Is My House'' is an album by American jazz group the NRG Ensemble, their second with saxophonist Ken Vandermark in place of the bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Hal Russell, which was recorded in 1995 and released on Delmark. Recepti ...

'' (Delmark, 1996) # '' Bejazzo Gets a Facelift'' (Atavistic, 1998)NRG Ensemble - Bejazzo Gets a Facelift
''at Discogs''

Personnel

(1-6) - Tenor, alto & soprano saxophones, trumpet, cornet, vibraphone, drums, percussion *Chuck Burdelik (1-3) - Tenor & alto saxophones, clarinet, percussion *Curt Bley (1-3) - Acoustic & electric bass *Brian Sandstrom (1-9) – Acoustic bass, electric guitar, trumpet, percussion *Steve Hunt (1-9) – Drums, percussion,

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

didgeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...

(2) - Baritone and alto saxophones, clarinet *

(4-9) - Tenor, alto, soprano & bass saxophones, didgeridoo *

(4-9) - Acoustic bass,

kalimba Mbira ( ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and pl ...

, didgeridoo, trombone *

(7-9) - Tenor saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nrg Ensemble Nessa Records artists Delmark Records artists American jazz ensembles Free jazz ensembles ECM Records artists Atavistic Records artists