Russell Kirk (2)

Saxophonist/Composer born in Baltimore, Maryland He was awarded a scholarship from the Eubie Blake Foundation, allowing him to pursue his graduate studies at New York University. While earning his master's degree, Russell was an adjunct faculty member at Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, where he headed a music outreach program for inner city youth in Harlem and the East Village, interned at Saturday Night Live and played with various ensembles and artists such as John Scofield, Chris Potter, and Lenny Pickett. Being in New York in the heart of jazz central provided him with rare opportunities to listen and to meet some of the really progressive musical geniuses who would later have a subtle influence on the direction of the music he was composing.