Sinatra’s a very fascinating character, and it’s interesting to read about him from the perspective of an African-American. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra, by George Jacobs. I’m more relaxed when I drive because that’s where I do most of my listening.” I take the train every now and then but I like driving because it’s very comfortable. I can look back as recently as a year ago and see where I’ve gotten better.”Ī 2000 Toyota Camry, burgundy. “I’m playing with some great musicians, and I’m improving all the time. “I’m so fortunate that I’m playing music that I like,” Malone says. Strickland, with special guests Gary Bartz and Joe Locke. After stints on Columbia and Verve, Malone debuted on MaxJazz in March of this year with Playground, featuring pianist Martin Bejerano, bassist Tassili Bond and drummer E.J. Recent standouts include two drumless trio recordings, The Golden Striker with Ron Carter and Mulgrew Miller (Blue Note) and Ray Brown, Monty Alexander and Russell Malone (Telarc). Malone has amassed a formidable discography for a 40-year-old. But if I want to indulge in some sweet potato pie or some vanilla ice cream, certain things I’m not going to deny myself.” “Now I’m down to the size I was when I was 20. “I was in the hotel one night and I looked in the mirror and my gut was so big it looked like someone was walkin’ in front of me.” After getting advice and inspiration from saxophonist and friend Vincent Herring, Malone went on a modified version of the Atkins diet. The past several years have seen a slimmer Russell Malone. “I’m playing tomorrow with that maniac, Benny Green,” his partner in the new duets disc Bluebird (Telarc). There was a utilitarian aspect to our session as well: Malone had been sick and needed to get his chops back. But the mood in the room was exuberant, the vibes entirely positive. If he had one hand and I had four, Malone would bury me. His time feel is as solid as the very best drummers’. The musicality and sheer brawn of Malone’s fretwork can be overpowering. Before I left the house I ran the gauntlet and jammed with him, for close to an hour.
“I love hearing the guitar played well, and it doesn’t matter what style it is.”īut perhaps even more than listening, Malone loves to play. “It’s hard for me to find a guitar player I don’t like,” he says.
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Later he put on recordings by George Van Eps, George Barnes, George Benson and even free improviser Joe Morris. As soon as he confirmed that I, too, was a guitarist, he was only too eager to let me handle every instrument in the house. Malone is more of a guitar freak than a neat freak, however. “But two things I cannot tolerate are a funky bathroom and a funky kitchen.” “I might kick my shoes off and leave them on the floor for a day or so,” he allows. Malone is fairly meticulous about keeping the place clean.
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On the third floor are two bedrooms and a full bath. Upstairs on the second floor is a stylish living room as well as a sizable office and a half-bath. The eat-in kitchen is straight ahead and to the back. Upon entering Malone’s home on the first floor, I doff my shoes on request and see a number of Malone’s guitars and amps, two Diana Krall gold records, a foldaway treadmill and so on. (His son and daughter, age 15 and 11 respectively, live with their mother in Nebraska.) He’s lived in Jersey City, just a hop across the river from midtown Manhattan, ever since he relocated from his native Georgia in 1994. But no doubt, Malone keeps a cozy pad with Marlene, his girlfriend of 10 years. I don’t have to go nowhere.” This is coming from a guitarist who spent over 300 days on the road last year. I got plenty of food, plenty of water, plenty of toilet paper. “I got everything I need here at home, man. I love being at home,” says Russell Malone, sitting in the living room of his three-floor row house in Jersey City, N.J.
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