Eddie Russ hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has played in many large jazz clubs around the country. He has accompanied many jazz legends including such greats as Sara Vaughn, Benny Golson, Stan Getz, Dizzie Gillespie, to name a few before his playing and recording dates with the great Sonny Stitt. Russ was an outstanding writer and composer. He wrote and arranged hundreds of original songs, some of which appear on this CD.

When I first met Eddie Russ, he was playing in a small cocktail lounge in Traverse City, Michigan. I was simply fascinated with his warm approach and long flowing lines. This gentle man could sound like Barry Harris or Ahmad Jamal on a straight ahead song and be as funky as a les McCann or Ramsey Lewis on the next tune, all the time remaining a distinguishable Eddie Russ . I knew then, I just had to record him. He was a talent waiting to happen. As one jazz lover put it: "Eddie doesnÕt play the piano, he caresses it." I thought, what if I could hook him up with Sonny, what an interesting combination that would be. In December of 1972, I was able to do just that. I arranged a one-week booking for Eddie and Sonny in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We also booked a recording session.

After several recording sessions with Stitt, Russ formed his own group under our management. We recorded several successful albums on our Jazz Masters label, namely, "Fresh Out," "Brand New Bag,"and "Tornado." We also recorded "See The Light" and "Take a look at yourself" which were issued on the old (now extinct) Monument Record label.

This CD is not straight ahead jazz, but is jazz nonetheless. The music is uncomplicated, in the pocket and a bit funky. The music is good for two reasons. The quality of the writing the arrangements. The side group called "The Mixed Bag," includes some very solid player. Ron Brooks (bass), Danny Spencer (drums), and Jerry Glassel (guitar) and funky percussionist Calvin Welch (drums, congas and percussions) give Russ a super rhythm section. Larry Nozero (saxophones and flute) plays a major role with powerful solos on "Hill where the Lord Hides, " "All but blind," and The Lope song, and "Sunshine of my life." RussÕs work accompanied by Nozero make this a very solid and enjoyable CD. Eddie can play straight ahead, middle of the road or just get flat funky. Larry Rhodes (bass) and Melvin Clark ( guitar), solid, but funky rhythm players, also make significant contributions to these sessions. -Bob Crawford