Russ Escritt

(above – Russ Escritt with Birmingham jazz legend Andy Hamilton – photo credit Andrew Jackson, c/o the www.thsh.co.uk website)
We were terribly sad to hear the news this week that the great photographer, jazz supporter and all round lovely man – Russ Escritt – has passed away.
Russ was a big presence and unwavering support to so many Birmingham-based jazz musicians and bands, and so selfless in giving the use of his brilliant live shots. We were honoured to have a display of his work last summer at our AE Harris Factory gig in Birmingham.
Russ photographed us at quite a few gigs over the past few years, and was always extremely supportive, most recently, at the AE Harris Factory late last summer. A gallery of his photos from that gig follow below. You can also re-visit his vast archive of jazz in Birmingham over a number of years at his website – http://russescritt.org/
There are some lovely words online from Peter Bacon at The Jazz Breakfast, Jazzlines Artistic Director Tony Dudley-Evans and fellow photographer Garry Corbett.
Rest in peace Russ, and thank-you from us all.