Russell Malone, whose guitar versatility and exquisite touch led him to play in a variety of contexts with such musicians as Diana Krall, Peabo Bryson, Sonny Rollins, Kenny Barron, and Shirley Horn, died on August 23, in Tokyo. He was 60.
Jason Franklin, Malone’s agent and manager, confirmed his passing to WRTI. The cause of death was a massive heart attack.
Malone had been performing at the Blue Note Tokyo as a member since 2002 of bassist Ron Carter’s Golden Striker Trio which also featured pianist Donald Vega.
Carter released a brief statement which included a photograph of an empty chair. “Donald Vega and I are completing this tour as a duo,” he wrote. “In respect and honor of the memory of Mr. Malone… this is the chair he sat in to play and represents his continued presence on the bandstand with us.” Franklin said that Malone had been planning to begin a tour of his own in September.
Malone was a part of the generation of jazz musicians who garnered attention in the early 1990s, alongside pianist Benny Green, bassist Christian McBride, and trumpeter Roy Hargrove. In 1998, he shared a Grammy Award for his work on Hargrove’s Latin jazz album “Habana.”
The guitarist recorded 14 albums as a leader over his three-decade career and two more as a co-leader with pianist Benny Green, with whom he often collaborated. The two musicians recorded three albums together before forming a duo and releasing “Jazz at the Bistro” (2003) and “Bluebird with Benny Green” (2004) both on the Telarc label.
Malone sat in with organist Jimmy Smith that served as an internship/tutorial experience for the young musician that equipped him to accompany the organ great on a two-year tour. After Smith, he joined Harry Connick Jr.’s Orchestra, a position he held from 1990-94, appearing on three of Connick’s recordings. He was then invited to join the Diana Krall Trio which solidified his reputation in the jazz world. He played on several of her platinum-certified albums, including “Live in Paris,” which also won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album. However, Malone left Krall in the late ‘90s, noting he didn’t want to be categorized as a musician. His comet continued to soar as he found success with his own bands and collaborations until his untimely transition.
Russell Lamar Malone was born Nov. 8, 1963, in Albany, Ga. His father, Robert Barnes, died in the Vietnam War when Russell was 2 years old. His mother, C. Veronice Malone, later married Jimmy Jones, with whom she raised Russell.
Malone noted he first became interested in guitar at church, “I was taken by the sound of the guitar along with the tambourines and wash boards that tapped into a lot of emotions,” he said during a WBGO radio station interview. He started playing music at four, after his mother gave him a four-string plastic guitar. He noted during that same interview, “I had good ears and picked up what I heard. I used to sit next to the turntable and listen to ‘Smokin’ at the Half Note’ with Wes Montgomery and Wynton Kelly (Verve Records). I picked up a lot from that record.” Watching George Benson play with Benny Goodman on television inspired him even more to play jazz. Although, as a member of the church band, he loved gospel and blues, saying he was influenced by the Dixie Hummingbirds and Sam Cooke.
In 2005, Malone recorded two live albums (MaxJazz Records) at Manhattan’s now defunct Jazz Standard, “Live at Jazz Standard, Volume One” (2006) and “Live at Jazz Standard, Volume Two” (2007). The two volumes featured the touring Russell Malone Quartet, with pianist Martin Bejerano, bassist Tassili Bond, and drummer Johnathan Blake. His 2010 recording “Triple Play” (also on Maxjazz) featured bassist David Wong and drummer Montez Coleman.
Primarily a self-taught musician, Malone’s versatility and fluency separated him from fellow guitarists of the era. Like his great predecessors Grant Green, Wes Montgomery and George Benson, he too had his own distinct sound. He had an effortless flow that immediately captured listeners like his beautiful ballad “Flowers for Emmett Till,” a heart-grabbing track from his self-titled 1992 debut. The guitarist infused R&B, gospel, blues, and straight jazz into his southern roots and gospel upbringing. On that same album he recorded the gospel anthem “Precious Lord,” and it was the last track on that album for a reason— gospel music praying in the blues with a country twang. And on his “Heartstrings” album, he offers the gospel standard “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” (Verve 2001). “I Can’t Believe You’re in Love With Me,” is a rousing saloon hard-swinging track, another jewel from his 1992 self-titled album.
This album and particularly the track “I Can’t Believe You’re in Love with Me” represents Malone. He was such an incredible human being and so modest. He might look down now at all our heartfelt emotions about his passing and would honestly say, “Man I didn’t know you loved me like that.” His music was grand and we can listen to it every day. His jokes were also one of a kind. He would see me after a show and say, “Hey Ron have you heard this one?” and we would crack up. I used to tease him about being from that small town of Albany, saying he was too hip for that place. He would respond, “But remember, if it wasn’t for Albany I would have never found jazz and gospel music.”
The composer and guitarist joined the jazz faculty at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J., as an adjunct professor in 2021, when the guitarist Gene Bertoncini retired. Though he had never taught before, he proved a natural in the classroom.
Malone is survived by his wife, Mariko; his children, Darius and Marla; his mother; his brothers Tony Barnes, Ricardo Jones and Stanley Jones; and his sisters, Tametrice Jones and Felicia Campbell.