- This article is about the jazz composer George Russell. For the poet "Æ" of the same name, see George William Russell.
George Allen Russell (born June 23, 1923) is an American jazz composer and theorist. He is considered one of the first jazz musicians to contribute to general music theory, with his 1953 book, The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization. Russell's theory proposes the concept of playing jazz based on scales or a series of scales (modes) rather than chords or harmonies. The Lydian Chromatic concept was the first theory to explore the vertical relationship between chords and scales, and was the only original theory to come from jazz. Russell's ideas are credited with the development of modal jazz, later popularized by Miles Davis on the recording, Kind of Blue.
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