[2] At seventeen he moved to London and began playing at the Little Theatre Club run by drummer John Stevens, becoming a member of the Musicians' Co-op and organizing concerts.

[2][5] In 1983, he appeared in the Channel 4 TV documentary Jazz on Four: Crossing Bridges, which examined guitarists Brian Godding, Fred Frith, Ron Geesin, Hans Reichel, and Keith Rowe.

[6] In 1988 Russell helped establish Acta Records with John Butcher and Phil Durrant to release the trio's debut album, Conceits.

Performers included Richard Barrett, Steve Beresford, Lawrence Casserley, Tania Chen, Lol Coxhill, John Coxon, Max Eastley, Alexander Hawkins, Tim Hodgkinson, Caroline Kraabel, Phil Minton, Louis Moholo, Maggie Nicols, Gino Robair, Sabu Toyozumi, Roger Turner, Cleveland Watkiss, Trevor Watts, and Veryan Weston.

Russell led a trio with Butcher and Durrant and duos with Turner, Stefan Keune, Phil Minton, Evan Parker, and Luc Houtkamp.