Andy took this photograph of George Russell by a waterfall in the mountains of New Hampshire in the mid 1980's

There is no way to describe the forces that prevail inside Andy Wasserman's compositional ideas and styles without taking into consideration the profound influence that George Russell has had on him. Mr. Russell's monumental contribution to the world of music theory, and the only fully-formed, complete pan-stylistic theory of music to come from the African-American Jazz tradition is his "Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization"

The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization is a major part of innovator, band leader, composer and Jazz master George Russell entire life's work. He spent 50 years developing this system that takes a very objective view of music, and describes in great detail what the music itself is telling us. It establishes gravity as the prime moving force in music. More detailed information about George Russell can be found here at his personal website, as well as the cyberspace home of "The Concept,"  LydianChromaticConcept.com.

In 1978 Andy made the decision to move to Boston to attend the New England Conservatory of Music with the expressed purpose of being guided under the tutelage of Maestro Russell, who was a faculty member of the Jazz Depatrment. Andy has had the supreme honor and priviledge of becoming deeply involved since that time to assist George and Alice Russell in preserving and disseminating  this profoundly important work.

Wasserman was an editorial assistant for the fourth and final edition of "The Concept" and received certifiication by George Russell to teach "The Concept" privately and in seminars as one of only a handful of people qualified and sanctioned by him to represent his life's work as he intended it to be shared.

Scroll down this page to view a scanned image of a general letter of recommendation written by George Russell regarding his work with Andy Wasserman.

George Russell was Andy's mentor in not only the Lydian Chromatic Concept, but also in the art of musical composition. Andy's personal tribute to Mr. Russell as his mentor - with more information about their relationship - can be found at this link.

Additional pages on andywasserman.com that give more specific details about the Lydian Chromatic Concept can be found at the following links:

Hear George Russell describe his musical life in his own words during a 29 minute radio documentary from National Public Radio's WGBH, Boston.

To listen to it - CLICK HERE, then select George Russell from the list of artists in the series of "JAZZ PORTRAITS" program interviews.

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF GEORGE RUSSELL'S MUSICAL CONTRIBUTIONS, ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND RECOGNITION

A hugely influential, innovative figure in the evolution of modern jazz, George Russell was one of its greatest composers, and its most important theorist. His 1953 book The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization is credited as a great pathbreaker into modal music, as pioneered by Miles Davis and John Coltrane. The fourth and final edition of the Lydian Concept, The Art and Science of Tonal Gravity, was published in 2001. All of the music’s most important developments—from modal improvisation to electronics, African polyrhythms to free form, atonality to jazz rock—have taken cues from Russell’s pioneering work.

Russell's Living Time Orchestra has performed throughout the world, including the Barbican Centre and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, the Festival d’Automne and Cîté de la Musique in Paris, and Tokyo Music Joy. His career as a leader includes more than 30 recordings, working with such musicians as Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, and Jan Garbarek.

Among Russell's awards are a MacArthur Fellowship, the NEA American Jazz Master Award, two Guggenheim Fellowships, six NEA grants, three Grammy nominations, the American Music Award, the British Jazz Award, the Kennedy Center Living Jazz Legend Award, the Swedish Jazz Federation Lifetime Achievement Award, and election to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The New England Conservatory of Music bestowed on honorary Doctor of Music degree on George Russell in 2005 after Russell retired from the faculty, having taught 30 years in the Jazz Department.

Russell's commissions include the British Council, Swedish Broadcasting, the Glasgow International Festival, the Barbican Centre, and the Massachusetts Council on the Arts. He taught throughout the world, and was a guest conductor for Finnish, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, German, and Italian radio. Russell has been the subject of documentaries by NPR, NHK Japan, Swedish Broadcasting, and the BBC. His biography will be published in late December, 2009 by Scarecrow Press. George Russell: The Story of an American Composer is written by Duncan Heining.