Russell Malone, a versatile and soulful guitarist who epitomized straight-ahead jazz guitar for his generation, died suddenly in Tokyo on Friday, Aug. 23. 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 last week at the Blue Note Tokyo as a member of bassist Ron Carter’s Golden Striker Trio. He appeared with the band, which also features pianist Donald Vega, on the first three nights of its four-night engagement; the club had announced that “due to illness” he would not appear on the fourth.
Carter released a brief statement on Saturday, 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 Mr. Malone 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.
His death sent shock through the jazz community. “Man, this is so hard to believe,” wrote bassist Corcoran Holt on Facebook. “Rest in peace and in power Russell. Truly one of a kind. A master musician, a book of knowledge, a book of humor, and a true inspiration.”
Malone was renowned for his distinctive guitar style, with a clear, clean, hearty tone and an assured but delicate touch that lent itself to fine details. He had an unerring sense of swing and fearsome technique that he leavened with taste.
A largely self-taught musician, Malone was a part of the generation of jazz musicians who ascended to the spotlight in the early 1990s, alongside trumpeter Roy Hargrove, bassist Christian McBride and pianist Benny Green (all of whom were his friends and frequent collaborators). He apprenticed with organist Jimmy Smith, and did high-profile work with singers Harry Connick, Jr. and Diana Krall. In 1998 he shared a Grammy Award for his work on trumpeter Hargrove’s Latin jazz album Habana.
He also recorded and performed as a leader for over 30 years, recording 13 albums under his own name, and two more as a co-leader with Green. (On Facebook Friday afternoon, Green simply wrote: “There goes a piece of my heart.”)
Malone’s versatility, and his fluency in several guitar traditions, fed the high demand for his services. He often incorporated elements of the R&B, blues, and gospel of his south Georgia upbringing — but could also make surprising and convincing excursions into country, folk, and even classical guitar, as on “Flowers for Emmet Till,” a stunning track from his self-titled 1992 debut.
Russell Lamar Malone was born Nov. 8, 1963, in Albany, Ga. Among his earliest memories was the sensation of listening to the gospel choir in church every Sunday morning — and being struck by the sound of the accompanying guitar. His mother indulged his interest by purchasing a toy plastic guitar when he was four. By the time he was six, he was playing the genuine article, well enough to accompany the church choir himself.
Along with gospel, Malone was influenced by the blues and country music he encountered on radio and television: artists like B.B. King, Glen Campbell, and Chet Atkins. When he was 12, however, Malone saw guitarist George Benson playing on TV with Benny Goodman and became instantly besotted. “I had never heard anybody play the guitar like that before,” he recalled in an interview with Fred Jung. “The look on his face and the love that he seemed to have for the instrument, not just the instrument, but just for playing music, that really did it for me.”
Graduating in 1983 from Monroe High School in Albany, Malone moved to the Atlanta area and began working professionally as a jazz guitarist. In 1987 he sat in with Jimmy Smith; the next year, Smith hired Malone and took him on the road for two years. In 1990, he joined the big band led by Connick, then at the peak of his success, and remained with him for four years. The visibility of that gig led to Malone recording his self-titled 1992 debut album, on which Connick played piano.
From Connick’s band, Malone went to Krall’s trio, which cemented 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, fearful that he was becoming pigeonholed as a musician. He concentrated on his own bands, and on collaborations with Green and other top-line instrumentalists. He joined Carter’s trio for the 2002 album The Golden Striker, touring regularly with that group for the rest of his life. The trio recorded a 2022 Tiny Desk (Home) Concert for NPR Music, from the Blue Note in New York.
Malone is survived by his partner, Mariko Hotta; two children, Darius and Marla Malone; and several other extended family members.
As much as his excellence on guitar, Malone was revered for his personal kindness, his warmth and a wicked sense of humor. “There are a lot of players who play very well, but they’re not nice human beings,” he said in a 2023 interview with Jazz Guitar Today. “And I think how you are as a human being, that has an effect on how the music comes out.”
“I just want to be a good person, be a good human being. And I figure if I do that, then everything else will take care of itself.”