Leon Rusk
Musician
Best known for
Songwriter
Leon Rusk is one of the credited co-authors, alongside Benny Goodman, Charlie Christian, and Jimmy Mundy, of the jazz instrumental "Air Mail Special." The Goodman Sextet feature has since become a standard piece for jazz vocalese, gypsy-jazz, and modern bluegrass-flatpicking sets.
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- Credited as a co-author of the 1941 jazz instrumental “Air Mail Special.”
- The piece passed through the Benny Goodman Sextet and became a standard for jazz vocalese (Ella Fitzgerald), gypsy-jazz (Django Reinhardt), and (in the 1970s and after) bluegrass instrumental sets.
- The song has been recorded by Ella Fitzgerald, Django Reinhardt, the Country Gentlemen, the Bluegrass Album Band, Tony Rice, and many other jazz and bluegrass acts.
