Pee Wee Russell

Biography

Pee Wee Russell (Charles Ellsworth Russell, March 27, 1906 – February 15, 1969), born in Maplewood, Missouri, was an American jazz clarinetist famed for an expressive, unpredictable style that sounded like thinking aloud. Long associated with *Eddie Condon*'s traditional jazz circle after earlier work with *Red Nichols* and *Louis Prima*, he survived a near-fatal breakdown in 1950, led his own groups through the 1950s and 1960s, and embraced modern repertoire alongside *Marshall Brown* and *Thelonious Monk*.