fbpx
Wikipedia

Arthur Russell (musician)

Charles Arthur Russell Jr. (May 21, 1951 – April 4, 1992)[2][3] was an American cellist, composer, producer, singer, and musician from Iowa, whose work spanned a disparate range of styles. After studying contemporary composition and Indian classical music in California, Russell relocated to New York City in the mid-1970s, where he became involved with both Lower Manhattan's avant-garde community and the city's burgeoning disco scene.[2] His eclectic music was often marked by adventurous production choices and his distinctive voice.[2]

Arthur Russell
Background information
Birth nameCharles Arthur Russell Jr.
Also known as
  • Loose Joints
  • Dinosaur
  • Dinosaur L
  • Indian Ocean
  • Killer Whale
  • Jigmé
  • In The Corn Belt [1]
Born(1951-05-21)May 21, 1951
Oskaloosa, Iowa, U.S.
DiedApril 4, 1992(1992-04-04) (aged 40)
New York City, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Composer
  • producer[2]
  • singer
Instrument(s)
  • Cello
  • keyboards
  • guitar
  • drums
  • programming
Years active1973–1992
Labels
WebsiteOfficial website

Russell worked as musical director of the New York avant-garde venue the Kitchen in 1974 and 1975, but later embraced dance music, producing or co-producing several underground club hits under names such as Dinosaur L, Loose Joints, and Indian Ocean between 1978 and 1988. He co-founded the independent label Sleeping Bag Records with Will Socolov in 1981, and collaborated with a wide variety of artists, including musicians Peter Gordon, Peter Zummo, and Talking Heads, DJs such as Walter Gibbons, Nicky Siano, and Steve D'Aquisto; and poet Allen Ginsberg.[4][5][6][7]

The only full-length studio albums Russell issued under his name were the orchestral recording Tower of Meaning (1983) and vocal LP World of Echo (1986); he also released the disco LP 24→24 Music (1981) under his Dinosaur L alias. Over the last two decades of his life, he amassed a large collection of unreleased and unfinished recordings, in part due to his perfectionist working tendencies. He died from AIDS-related illnesses in 1992, still in relative obscurity and poverty.[2][8][9]

Russell's profile rose in the 21st century owing to a series of musical releases (including collections of previously unreleased material) and biographical works.[4][10][11] Several posthumous compilations of his music were released, including The World of Arthur Russell (2004) and Calling Out of Context (2004). The documentary Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell was released in 2008.

Early life edit

Russell was born and raised in Oskaloosa, Iowa; his father was a former naval officer who eventually served as mayor of the small city.[12] As a child and adolescent, he studied the cello and piano and began to compose his own music. When he was 18[13] he moved to San Francisco, where he lived in a Buddhist commune led by Neville G. Pemchekov Warwick. After earning his high school equivalency, he studied North Indian classical music at the Ali Akbar College of Music and Western composition part-time at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.[2][8][14] He met Allen Ginsberg, with whom he began to work, accompanying him on the cello as a soloist or in groups while Ginsberg sang or read his poetry.[15][16][17]

Career edit

1973–1975: Early years in New York and The Kitchen edit

In 1973, Russell moved to New York and enrolled in a formal degree program at the Manhattan School of Music, cross-registering in electronic music[12] and linguistics classes at Columbia University. While studying at the conservatory, Russell repeatedly clashed with Pulitzer Prize-winning serialist composer and instructor Charles Wuorinen, who disparaged the composition "City Park" (a minimalist, non-narrative suite incorporating readings from the works of Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein) as "the most unattractive thing I've ever heard".[18]

Embittered by his experience, Russell briefly considered transferring to Dartmouth College at the behest of experimental composer Christian Wolff, whom he had sought out and befriended upon arriving in the Northeast. But after a chance meeting at a Wolff concert in Manhattan, he became close with Rhys Chatham, who arranged for Russell to succeed him as music director of The Kitchen, a downtown avant-garde performance space. As a result, he abandoned his studies and remained in New York.[18] Russell and Chatham later briefly roomed together in a sixth-story walkup apartment at 437 East 12th Street in the East Village; Ginsberg (who maintained his primary residence in the building from 1975 to 1996 and helped Russell secure the apartment) supplied electricity to the impoverished composers through an extension cord. Russell resided in the apartment for the rest of his life. During his tenure at The Kitchen (from the autumn of 1974 to the summer of 1975), he greatly expanded the breadth and purview of the venue's offerings, crafting a program that "support[ed] other local and relatively low profile composers rather than... accentuat[ing] the work of composers who were beginning to acquire an international reputation." This approach elicited controversy when Russell booked Boston-based proto-punk band The Modern Lovers for an engagement at the venue, widely regarded as a leading bastion of minimalism. Russell's booking of Fluxus stalwart Henry Flynt's "punkabilly" ensemble Nova'billy, concluding his season as director, was likewise unsettling to the avant-garde establishment. According to biographer Tim Lawrence, "the decision to program the Modern Lovers and Talking Heads was Russell’s way of demonstrating that minimalism could be found outside of compositional music, as well as his belief that pop music could be arty, energetic and fun at the same time."[18]

From 1975 to 1979, Russell was a member of The Flying Hearts, recorded by John Hammond, which consisted of Russell (keyboards/vocals), ex-Modern Lovers member Ernie Brooks[19] (bass/vocals), Larry Saltzman (guitar), and David Van Tieghem (drums, vocals); a later incarnation in the 1980s included Joyce Bowden (vocals) and Jesse Chamberlain (drums). This ensemble was frequently augmented in live and studio performances by the likes of Chatham, David Byrne, Jon Gibson, Peter Gordon, Jerry Harrison, Garrett List (who succeeded Russell as musical director of The Kitchen), Andy Paley, Lenny Pickett and Peter Zummo. During the same period, various permutations of this ensemble, together with Glenn Iamaro, Bill Ruyle and Jon Sholle, performed & recorded excerpts from Instrumentals, a 48-hour-long orchestral work that constituted Russell's first major work in the idiom. Selections from the Instrumentals sessions were eventually collected on an eponymously titled album, released by Belgian label Disques du Crepuscule in 1984. The collaboration among Russell (once again as a keyboardist), Brooks, and Chamberlain extended into The Necessaries, a power pop quartet fronted by guitarist Ed Tomney. Their lone 1981 album on Sire Records (initially released as Big Sky before being tweaked and re-released as Event Horizon) featured few songwriting contributions from Russell, who abruptly left the band at the approach to the Holland Tunnel before an important concert in Washington, D.C.

1976–1980: Discovery of disco and early singles edit

In 1976, Russell was in talks to join Talking Heads, who were a trio at the time.[20] He recorded an acoustic version of the song "Psycho Killer" with the band, playing cello.[21] He would also collaborate on arrangements for early Talking Heads songs.[22] He stated that they became friends but he "ended up not joining the band. They were all from art school and were into looking severe and cool. I was never into that. I was from music school and I had long hair at the time."[23]

Around 1976, Russell became a habitue of New York's nascent underground disco scene, namely Nicky Siano's Gallery on Houston Street in SoHo. In a 2007 interview with Wax Poetics magazine, Siano downplayed the popular myth that Russell's interest in the genre solidified over the course of a single night, noting that "Louis [Aquilone, Siano's best friend and Russell's then-lover] was at the Gallery every single Saturday night. After spending a few Saturday nights without Louis, Arthur decided to come. After the third or fourth time there, he started to come without Louis".[24] Though an eager dancer, Siano has described Russell's style as "strange... outrageous, weird... he was definitely a 'white-boy' dancer."[24][25] By the time Russell was involved with Tom Lee in the 1980s, his nightlife activities had subsided to a large extent. "It wasn't like Arthur and I were in some gay disco world, getting dressed to go out to the club and dancing the night away," Lee has said. "We’d go to CBGB, we'd go to Max's Kansas City, we'd go to Tier 3 but we'd listen to the group and then go home. For him it was about the daily grind of actually playing music."[26]

In 1977, trenchantly attracted to the minimalist rhythms of disco and funded by Siano's "Gallery war chest", Russell wrote and co-produced "Kiss Me Again" in collaboration with a diverse array of musicians—Flynt, Zummo, Byrne (on rhythm guitar) and Gloria Gaynor veterans Wilbur Bascomb (bass) and Alan Schwartzberg (drums)[2]—under the moniker of Dinosaur L.[19] The first disco single to be released by Sire Records,[2] it was a fairly large club hit, reportedly selling "some ungodly amount, like two hundred thousand copies".[25] Despite the modicum of commercial success and "ecstatic reaction" elicited by the record in the New York underground, according to Siano, "Ray Caviano [head of Warner/Sire's disco division] never really pushed it,"[25] and the record failed to cross over into the mainstream. The song's main hook was interpolated by Desmond Child (who was acquainted with Russell via Larry Salzman) on his minor 1979 hit "Our Love Is Insane," leading Russell to accuse the musician of infringement among his friends. Although the duo was signed to Sire to produce a follow-up single featuring Gerri Griffin of the Voices of East Harlem, the sessions stalled because of Siano's burgeoning drug habit (leading him to take temporary refuge in California) and Russell's myopic approach to recording.[24]

In 1980, Loose Joints (initially known as the Little All-Stars) was formed with Russell, onetime DJ Steve D'Aquisto, Columbia student and Russell confidante Steven Hall, three singers found on The Loft's dancefloor, miscellaneous other musicians, and the Ingram Brothers rhythm section (best known for later backing Patti LaBelle).[27] With a stated ambition to create "the disco White Album", the group—under contract to leading underground disco label West End Records—recorded hours of music but only released three songs: "Is It All Over My Face", "Pop Your Funk" (in two disparate arrangements, including a no wave-influenced single edit), and "Tell You Today". D'Aquisto, a non-musician who favored such extemporaneous touches as off-key singing and the input of street buskers, repeatedly clashed with the perfectionist Russell throughout the sessions.[24] Despite the acrimony, Hall felt that "[D'Aquisto] allowed shy Arthur to come out of his shell in the gayest sense. He also taught him how to let go in terms of slavishly and clairvoyantly searching for and then locking in the groove."[24] The experimental recordings bemused many of downtown New York's disco cognoscenti, including West End head Mel Cheren and Loft proprietor David Mancuso, a predicament that led Larry Levan to remix "Is It All Over My Face" for club play; the ensuing track, based around a female vocal wiped from the original mix (and recorded on stolen studio time with Francois Kevorkian as an uncredited co-mixer)[24] was an enduring staple of Levan's sets at the Paradise Garage and a formative influence on Chicago house, in addition to becoming a bona fide commercial hit in the New York area via airplay on WBLS.[28]

In 1981, Russell and entrepreneur Will Socolov (who partially financed the Loose Joints sessions) founded Sleeping Bag Records.[27] Their first release was a recording of 24→24 Music, a controversial disco-influenced composition (with rhythmic shifts every 24 bars, hence the title) that had been commissioned by and first performed at The Kitchen in 1979. The first limited pressing of this record had a hand made silk-screened cover. Steven Hall later described its debut as "the best performance of Arthur's work that I ever attended... it was like really hot dance music and no one got it. The idea that Arthur would turn around and bring that [dance] music into their venue and present it as serious music was really very challenging to them, and very threatening to them."[12] "Go Bang," originally released on this album but recorded three years earlier by an ensemble that included Zummo, Peter Gordon, academic/composer Julius Eastman, Bascomb, and John and Jimmy Ingram[29] was remixed as a 12" single by Francois Kevorkian.[2] Kevorkian's remix of "Go Bang" and Levan's remix of "In the Cornbelt" (another track from the 24→24 suite) were frequently played at the Paradise Garage.[8]

1983–1986: Further collaborations and World of Echo edit

Russell continued to release dance singles such as "Tell You Today" (4th and Broadway, 1983), an upbeat dance groove and Loose Joints holdover featuring the vocals of Joyce Bowden. Additional releases that followed included "Wax the Van" (Jump Street, 1987) and "I Need More" (Vinylmania, 1988), which paired Russell with erstwhile James Brown foil Lola Blank (then married to Bob Blank, Russell's preferred studio engineer); the Peter Zummo collaboration "School Bell/Treehouse" (Sleeping Bag, 1986); and "Let's Go Swimming" (Upside/Rough Trade, 1986), which anticipated later developments in tech house and was Russell's only dance single to be released under his own name. The latter two records were remixed by legendary 70s-era DJ Walter Gibbons, who had renounced his career for evangelical Christianity and was employed as a buyer at Rock and Soul Records in Midtown. Despite Gibbons's religious predilections, the two forged a dependable (if occasionally tempestuous) working relationship.[30] Further Gibbons/Russell collaborations include "C-Thru" (a dance version of "See Through" on World of Echo that remained unreleased until 2010) and a remix of Russell's "Calling All Kids" (eventually released on the 2004 compilation Calling out of Context).[30]

At the same time, the album Tower of Meaning (Chatham Square, 1983) was released in a limited pressing on Philip Glass's private label.[31] The recording was made up of incidental music intended to accompany director Robert Wilson's staging of Medea, a partnership arranged by Glass. Although widely perceived as an important breakthrough for Russell in the compositional world, creative squabbling between the downtown luminaries culminated in Wilson barring the composer from attending rehearsals and eventually ousting Russell from the project altogether in favor of British composer Gavin Bryars.[18] The "compelling and meditative recording", conducted by Julius Eastman,[31] represents just a fragment of Russell's score, which includes voices along with its instrumentation. While Russell tangentially remained affiliated with the new music sphere in New York until his death, continuing to perform in solo and group configurations at The Kitchen and Experimental Intermedia Foundation, Tower of Meaning was his final orchestral effort.[18]

The rejection of Russell's Corn album (an eclectic suite of material centered around hip-hop-infused electropop, including several tracks later released on Calling Out of Context; other songs were eventually released under the album's original moniker in 2015) by Socolov in 1985, coupled with creative disagreements between the two over "Wax the Van", resulted in Russell divesting himself from Sleeping Bag Records shortly after the release of "Schoolbell/Treehouse" in 1986.[32] According to Bob Blank in a followup to an Internet reposting of the (purportedly fallacious) 1986 article that detailed the subterfuge, Socolov "wanted to take the label to 'another level".[32]

During the mid-1980s, Russell gave many performances, either accompanying himself on cello with a myriad of effects, or working with a small ensemble consisting of Steven Hall, Ernie Brooks, Peter Zummo, percussionist Mustafa Ahmed, and composer Elodie Lauten.

September 1986 saw the release of World of Echo[33] (Upside/Rough Trade, 1986). Heralded as "a magnum opus of sorts" by contemporary critics,[34] it incorporated many of his ideas for pop, dance and classical music for both solo and cello format. The album was well-reviewed in Britain[2] and included in Melody Maker's "Top Thirty Releases of 1986", but failed commercially.[citation needed]

Russell also collaborated with a number of choreographers, including John Bernd[citation needed], Diane Madden,[35] Alison Salzinger,[36] Stephanie Woodard,[37] and Charles Moulton.[38] He was also honored with a posthumous Bessie Award in 1993.[39]

1986–1992: Later work, illness, and death edit

Shortly after the release of World of Echo, Russell was diagnosed as HIV-positive. Though the disease caused throat cancer (forcing Russell to undergo chemotherapy), he remained prolific, working on voice-and-cello songs for an album to be released by Philip Glass's Point Music (some of which surfaced on the posthumous Another Thought in 1994) and an electronic pop album (influenced by the likes of 808 State and William Orbit and provisionally titled 1-800-Dinosaur)[40] for Rough Trade Records. Much of the material intended for this project was included on 2004's Calling Out of Context. Although Russell reportedly planned to submit the album in the summer of 1987, he continued tinkering with potential songs for another four years. According to Rough Trade founder Geoff Travis, "It was frustrating, but I knew he needed my support to keep financing his music."[41]

Russell died of AIDS-related illnesses on April 4, 1992,[2] at the age of 40.[27] In an April 28 column, Kyle Gann of The Village Voice wrote: "His recent performances had been so infrequent due to illness, his songs were so personal, that it seems as though he simply vanished into his music."[42]

Russell was prolific,[5] but was also notorious for leaving songs unfinished and continually revising his music.[8][9][43][44][45] Ernie Brooks said Russell "never arrived at a completed version of anything." Peter Gordon stated, "his quest wasn't really to do a finished product but more to do with exploring his different ways of working musically."[8] He left behind more than 1,000 tapes when he died,[8] 40 of them different mixes of one song.[14] According to Russell archivist Steve Knutson, the musician's estate consists of around 800 reels of 2" and ¼" tape, "another few hundred cassettes, several dozen DAT tapes, hundreds and hundreds of pages of song lyrics and poetry".[46]

Personal life edit

As a young adult, Russell led a seemingly heterosexual lifestyle; at least two of these relationships (with Muriel Fujii in San Francisco and later Sydney Murray in New York) have been substantiated.[29]

Although he briefly dated Allen Ginsberg in 1973, Russell did not identify as a gay man until becoming involved with hairdresser Louis Aquilone in 1976.[29] After the relationship with Aquilone dissolved, Russell dated Donald Murk (who subsequently became Russell's manager) for several years. According to Steven Hall, the relationship was tempestuous, "with lots of threesomes and fighting and very dramatic emotional scenes".[12] As this relationship drew to a close, Russell became acquainted with silkscreen operator Tom Lee; their friendship rapidly evolved into a domestic partnership.

Although Russell continued to see other men and women, their partnership endured until his death in 1992.[47] Lee, who became a schoolteacher and continued to reside in the couple's rent-controlled East Village apartment until February 2011, is the executor of Russell's estate.[48] Their relationship is detailed at length in Matt Wolf's Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell.

Legacy and influence edit

Though never achieving great success during his lifetime, Russell has been acknowledged as an important influence on a variety of musical developments and artists in recent years. In 2004, Stylus described him as "criminally overlooked for far too long" and "a genius—never to be recognized in his own time, but to be enjoyed by generations to come."[49] PopMatters noted "the contributions Russell made to the disparate genres of dance, disco, dub, and experimental music" and wrote that "his absolute fearlessness in lending his own unique style to even the most unlikely sound combinations is peerless."[50] Vice noted that he "never settled on one genre of music [...] He made winsome country and hypersexual disco and delicate art pop," while drifting through the downtown rock and classical scenes of New York.[51] Bandcamp Daily credited him with "spanning and shaping sounds as far afield as disco, minimalism, avant-garde, new wave, and folk-pop."[52] Pitchfork called Russell "a changeling artist whose only parallel might be Miles Davis, constantly placing his individual sound in new contexts, constantly searching."[53]

Artists who have cited Russell as an influence include Dev Hynes,[54] The Lemon Twigs and James Murphy. James Blake named his club night and record label after Russell's provisionally titled album "1-800-Dinosaur". Planningtorock covered Russell's song "Janine" on their album W in 2011,[55] and former Everything But The Girl singer Tracey Thorn covered "Get Around to It" on her 2007 solo album Out of the Woods. A tribute EP, Four Songs by Arthur Russell, curated by Jens Lekman, was released in 2007 through Rough Trade Records. In 2014 the HIV/AIDS focused Red Hot Organization released a tribute triple LP compilation, Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell, included artists Jose Gonzalez, Robyn, Hot Chip, Sufjan Stevens and Devendra Banhart among others.[56] In 2015 Red Hot presented Red Hot + Arthur Russell Live featuring musicians and songs from the tribute at Brooklyn Academy of Music's Howard Gilman Opera House for two nights.[57] In 2016, rapper Kanye West released a track titled "30 Hours" which prominently samples Russell's "Answers Me."[58] In 2018, American musician and composer Peter Broderick released the compilation album Peter Broderick & Friends Play Arthur Russell containing cover versions of songs written by Russell.[59]

Filmmaker Matt Wolf completed a feature-length documentary on Russell called Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell. It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 13, 2008. Tim Lawrence, an author and academic at the University of East London, has written a biography of Russell, titled Hold On to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene, published in 2009.[44] BBC Radio 4 broadcast a documentary "Arthur Russell: Vanished into Music" on September 27, 2016. The album Tower of Meaning was re-released in 2016 on Audika Records, while material of the album was performed live by the London Contemporary Orchestra in January 2017.[60][61]

Discography edit

Studio albums edit

Solo albums edit

as Dinosaur L edit

With The Necessaries edit

Compilation albums and EPs edit

  • Instrumentals (1974 – Volume 2) (1984, Another Side)
  • Another Thought (1994, Point Music)
  • The World of Arthur Russell (2004, Soul Jazz Records)
  • Calling Out of Context (2004, Audika Records)
  • First Thought Best Thought (2006, Audika Records)
  • Springfield EP (2006, Audika Records)
  • Love Is Overtaking Me (2008, Audika Records/Rough Trade)
  • Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell (2014, Red Hot/Yep Roc)
  • Corn (2015, Audika Records)
  • Iowa Dream (2019, Audika Records)
  • Picture of Bunny Rabbit (2023, Audika Records)

Live albums edit

  • Sketches for World of Echo: June 25, 1984, Live at EI (2020, Audika Records)
  • The Deer in the Forest: March 2, 1985, Live at Roulette (2020, Audika Records)
  • 24 to 24 Music Live at the Kitchen (2021, Audika Records) Recorded live April 28, 1979.

Singles edit

  • Dinosaur: "Kiss Me Again" (1978). Sire Records. Vocals by Myriam Valle. Produced by Arthur Russell & Nicky Siano.
  • Loose Joints: "Is It All Over My Face" (1980). West End Records. Produced by Arthur Russell & Steve D'Aquisto.
  • Loose Joints: "Pop Your Funk" (1980). West End Records. Produced by Arthur Russell & Steve D'Aquisto.
  • Dinosaur L: "Go Bang" / "Clean on Your Bean #1" (1982). Sleeping Bag Records. Vocals by Lola Blank, Arthur Russell, and Julius Eastman.
  • Loose Joints: "Tell You (Today)" (1983). 4th and Broadway. Vocals by Joyce Bowden. Produced by Killer Whale (Russell) & Steve D'Aquisto.
  • Clandestine feat. Ned Sublette: "Radio Rhythm (S-I-G-N-A-L S-M-A-R-T)" (1984). Sleeping Bag Records. Vocals by Ned Subtlette. Produced by Killer Whale and Ned Sublette.
  • Felix: "Tiger Stripes" / "You Can't Hold Me Down" (1984). Sleeping Bag Records. Vocals by Maxine Bell. Produced by Killer Whale & Nicky Siano.
  • Indian Ocean: "School Bell/Treehouse" (1986). Sleeping Bag Records (US) / 4th and Broadway (UK). Produced by Arthur Russell & Peter Zummo.
  • Arthur Russell: "Let's Go Swimming" (1986). Logarythm (US) / Rough Trade (UK). Produced by Arthur Russell & Mark Freedman. Edited by Killer Whale.
  • Lola (Lola Blank): "Wax the Van" (1987). Jump Street Records. Vocals by Lola Blank. Produced by Bob and Lola Blank.
  • Lola (Lola Blank): "I Need More" (1988). Vinylmania. Vocals by Lola Blank. Produced by Bob and Lola Blank.
  • Arthur Russell: "Springfield" (2006). Audika Records. Includes a remix by The DFA.

Mixes and edits edit

  • Sounds of JHS 126 Brooklyn: "Chill Pill" (1984). Sleeping Bag Records. "Under Water Mix" by Killer Whale.
  • Bonzo Goes to Washington (Bootsy Collins and Jerry Harrison): "Five Minutes" (1984). Sleeping Bag Records. "R-R-R Radio" and "B-B-B Bombing" mixes "chopped and channeled" by Arthur Russell.

References edit

  1. ^ Lawrence, Tim. Hold onto your Dreams. Duke University Press.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Richard Pierson. "Arthur Russell". Allmusic. Retrieved October 29, 2007.
  3. ^ . familysearch.org. Archived from the original on April 27, 2011. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  4. ^ a b Richards, Chris (January 19, 2005), , The Washington Post, p. C.05, archived from the original on December 14, 2007, retrieved October 29, 2007
  5. ^ a b , Earplug.cc, no. 8, October 30, 2003, archived from the original on September 29, 2007, retrieved October 29, 2007
  6. ^ "Hear Vin Diesel's 1986 rap collaboration with Arthur Russell". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. May 4, 2011.
  7. ^ "Reissued singles from Arthur Russell and Steve d'Acquisto's Loose Joints will make (Most of) your dreams come true".
  8. ^ a b c d e f Ratliff, Ben (February 29, 2004), "The Many Faces, and Grooves, of Arthur Russell", The New York Times, p. 2.24, retrieved October 29, 2007
  9. ^ a b Licht, Allen (April 11, 2006), "A First Thought Is Never Finished", The New York Sun, p. 15
  10. ^ Macdonald, Cameron (December 15, 2004), , Pitchfork Media, archived from the original on January 9, 2008, retrieved October 29, 2007
  11. ^ "Arthur Russell: Cornfields & Disco". XLR8R. March 12, 2008. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  12. ^ a b c d , Keep on, no. 2, July 2004, archived from the original on July 5, 2006, retrieved December 30, 2008
  13. ^ Huston, Johnny Ray (March 3, 2004), "Prince Arthur", San Francisco Bay Guardian, from the original on September 30, 2007, retrieved October 29, 2007
  14. ^ a b Battaglia, Andy (March 11, 2004), "Disco Fever: Arthur Russell was famous in his day; what happened?", Slate.com, from the original on October 25, 2007, retrieved October 29, 2007
  15. ^ Tim Lawrence (January 1, 2009). Hold On to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene, 1973-1992. Duke University Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-8223-9085-5.
  16. ^ "Arthur Russell – Ballad Of The lights | Soul Jazz Records". Soundsoftheuniverse.com. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  17. ^ "Echo In Eternity: The Indelible Mark Of Arthur Russell". Stereogum. March 8, 2017. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  18. ^ a b c d e Lawrence, Tim, , Liminalities, archived from the original on January 10, 2009, retrieved December 31, 2008
  19. ^ a b Beta, Andy (February 2, 2004), , Pitchfork Media, archived from the original on December 14, 2007, retrieved October 29, 2007
  20. ^ Owen, Frank (October 22, 2014). "Arthur Russell: 'Comedy is the highest form of art' - a rare interview from 1987". The Guardian. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  21. ^ Tiller, Joe. "How Did I Get Here? 10 Talking Heads Facts You Probably Didn't Know". Dig. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  22. ^ Kemp, Sam (March 30, 2022). "David Byrne, Philip Glass and Allen Ginsberg on the outsider art of Arthur Russell". Far Out Magazine. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  23. ^ Owen, Frank (October 22, 2014). "Arthur Russell: 'Comedy is the highest form of art' - a rare interview from 1987". The Guardian. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  24. ^ a b c d e f Stuart Aitken (June 2007), "Disco Savant", Wax Poetics
  25. ^ a b c Lawrence, Tim (2003), Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970–1979, Durham: Duke University Press, p. 337
  26. ^ "THE FADER – Q + A: Tom Lee", The Fader, September 19, 2008, from the original on February 7, 2009, retrieved February 18, 2009
  27. ^ a b c Frere, Sasha. "Let's Go Swimming". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  28. ^ Hinckley, David (July 9, 1999), "Saluting the Mix Mechanic of the Paradise Garage", New York Daily News, p. 86, retrieved February 17, 2009[permanent dead link]
  29. ^ a b c (PDF), Journal of Popular Music Studies, no. 2, November 16, 2006, archived from the original (PDF) on May 30, 2009, retrieved December 30, 2008
  30. ^ a b Lawrence, Tim, , Journal of Popular Music Studies, archived from the original on December 2, 2008, retrieved December 31, 2008
  31. ^ a b Tyranny, "Blue" Gene, "Tower of Meaning", Allmusic, retrieved October 29, 2007
  32. ^ a b Owen, Frank, "Echo Beach", Melody Maker, retrieved December 31, 2008
  33. ^ Tyranny, "Blue" Gene, "World of Echo", Allmusic, retrieved October 29, 2007
  34. ^ Murphy, Sean, , Brooklyn Daily Eagle, archived from the original on May 1, 2011, retrieved December 31, 2008
  35. ^ Dunning, Jennifer (January 19, 1988). "The Dance: New Works By 6 Choreographers". The New York Times. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  36. ^ Anderson, Jack (February 13, 1996). "IN PERFORMANCE: DANCE". The New York Times. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  37. ^ Brodeur, Michael Andor. "A new release of Arthur Russell's music only deepens its mystery". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  38. ^ Kisselgoff, Anna (February 25, 1995). "DANCE REVIEW; Ohio Offers Its Versions of Experiments". The New York Times. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  39. ^ Dunning, Jennifer (October 14, 1993). "Cunningham Among Bessie Winners". The New York Times. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  40. ^ Lawrence, Tim (October 23, 2009). Hold on to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene, 1973-1992. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822390855.
  41. ^ Lawrence, Tim (October 23, 2009). Hold on to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene, 1973-1992. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822390855.
  42. ^ Gann, Kyle (April 28, 1992), "Square Rhythms: Schlesinger Technique Arthur Russell 1951–92", The Village Voice, p. 94
  43. ^ Harvell, Jess (December 12, 2006), , Pitchfork Media, archived from the original on January 9, 2008
  44. ^ a b , archived from the original on September 29, 2007, retrieved October 29, 2007
  45. ^ Douglas Wolk (March 2, 2004). . Village Voice. Archived from the original on November 8, 2006. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  46. ^ Steve Knutson interview in Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell.
  47. ^ "The Invisible Man: Arthur Russell Resurrected", Out, October 2008, retrieved December 30, 2008
  48. ^ "Episode 9: Love is Overtaking Me (Arthur Russell, 2008)". Joshrutner.com. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  49. ^ . Stylusmagazine.com. Archived from the original on May 7, 2012.
  50. ^ "Arthur Russell: Calling Out of Context". PopMatters.com. June 2, 2004.
  51. ^ Julious, Brit (November 17, 2014). "How We Walk on the Moon: Arthur Russell's Quiet Genius". Vice. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  52. ^ Wray, Daniel Dylan (October 23, 2017). "A Comprehensive Guide to the Arthur Russell Catalogue". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  53. ^ Beta, Andy (February 17, 2004). "Now I know what it's like to assume you know what Arthur Russell sounds like. Back in the day ..." Pitchfork Media. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  54. ^ "Blood Orange: Hitting the Right Notes". The Fader. November 19, 2013. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  55. ^ Freeman, John (May 24, 2011). "Rudely Visionary: Planningtorock Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  56. ^ "Various Artists: Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  57. ^ Pareles, Jon (May 31, 2015). "Review: 'Red Hot + Arthur Russell' Pays Funky, Introspective Tribute to a Composer and Musician (Published 2015)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  58. ^ "Kanye West Shares New Song "30 Hours," Adds More Songs to New Album The Life of Pablo". Pitchfork.com. February 12, 2016.
  59. ^ "Peter Broderick & Friends Play Arthur Russell". Prettypurgatory.bandcamp.com. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  60. ^ Moore, Emily (January 12, 2017). "An Oral History Of Arthur Russell's Tower of Meaning". The Quietus. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
  61. ^ "Arthur Russell's 'Tower of Meaning' (UK premiere) - London Contemporary Orchestra". London Contemporary Orchestra. Retrieved January 21, 2017.

External links edit

  • Arthur Russell discography at Discogs
  • Arthur Russell at IMDb
  • Arthur Russell Documentary a documentary film by Matt Wolf about Arthur Russell
  • Hold On to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell Review & Excerpt by The Quietus
  • The making of Is It All Over My Face? Extract of Tim Lawrence's Hold On to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene, 1973–1992 about the story of the track Loose Joints – “Is It All Over My Face?”
  • Audika Records Audika Records is the label, home, and archive of the Arthur Russell estate.
  • Arthur Russell papers, 1960-2005 Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

arthur, russell, musician, charles, arthur, russell, 1951, april, 1992, american, cellist, composer, producer, singer, musician, from, iowa, whose, work, spanned, disparate, range, styles, after, studying, contemporary, composition, indian, classical, music, c. Charles Arthur Russell Jr May 21 1951 April 4 1992 2 3 was an American cellist composer producer singer and musician from Iowa whose work spanned a disparate range of styles After studying contemporary composition and Indian classical music in California Russell relocated to New York City in the mid 1970s where he became involved with both Lower Manhattan s avant garde community and the city s burgeoning disco scene 2 His eclectic music was often marked by adventurous production choices and his distinctive voice 2 Arthur RussellBackground informationBirth nameCharles Arthur Russell Jr Also known asLoose Joints Dinosaur Dinosaur L Indian Ocean Killer Whale Jigme In The Corn Belt 1 Born 1951 05 21 May 21 1951Oskaloosa Iowa U S DiedApril 4 1992 1992 04 04 aged 40 New York City U S GenresAvant garde disco art pop minimalist folk new waveOccupation s Composer producer 2 singerInstrument s Cello keyboards guitar drums programmingYears active1973 1992LabelsSire West End Les Disques du Crepuscule Rough Trade Point Orange Mountain AudikaWebsiteOfficial website Russell worked as musical director of the New York avant garde venue the Kitchen in 1974 and 1975 but later embraced dance music producing or co producing several underground club hits under names such as Dinosaur L Loose Joints and Indian Ocean between 1978 and 1988 He co founded the independent label Sleeping Bag Records with Will Socolov in 1981 and collaborated with a wide variety of artists including musicians Peter Gordon Peter Zummo and Talking Heads DJs such as Walter Gibbons Nicky Siano and Steve D Aquisto and poet Allen Ginsberg 4 5 6 7 The only full length studio albums Russell issued under his name were the orchestral recording Tower of Meaning 1983 and vocal LP World of Echo 1986 he also released the disco LP 24 24 Music 1981 under his Dinosaur L alias Over the last two decades of his life he amassed a large collection of unreleased and unfinished recordings in part due to his perfectionist working tendencies He died from AIDS related illnesses in 1992 still in relative obscurity and poverty 2 8 9 Russell s profile rose in the 21st century owing to a series of musical releases including collections of previously unreleased material and biographical works 4 10 11 Several posthumous compilations of his music were released including The World of Arthur Russell 2004 and Calling Out of Context 2004 The documentary Wild Combination A Portrait of Arthur Russell was released in 2008 Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2 1 1973 1975 Early years in New York and The Kitchen 2 2 1976 1980 Discovery of disco and early singles 2 3 1983 1986 Further collaborations and World of Echo 2 4 1986 1992 Later work illness and death 3 Personal life 4 Legacy and influence 5 Discography 5 1 Studio albums 5 1 1 Solo albums 5 1 2 as Dinosaur L 5 1 3 With The Necessaries 5 2 Compilation albums and EPs 5 3 Live albums 5 4 Singles 5 5 Mixes and edits 6 References 7 External linksEarly life editRussell was born and raised in Oskaloosa Iowa his father was a former naval officer who eventually served as mayor of the small city 12 As a child and adolescent he studied the cello and piano and began to compose his own music When he was 18 13 he moved to San Francisco where he lived in a Buddhist commune led by Neville G Pemchekov Warwick After earning his high school equivalency he studied North Indian classical music at the Ali Akbar College of Music and Western composition part time at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music 2 8 14 He met Allen Ginsberg with whom he began to work accompanying him on the cello as a soloist or in groups while Ginsberg sang or read his poetry 15 16 17 Career edit1973 1975 Early years in New York and The Kitchen edit In 1973 Russell moved to New York and enrolled in a formal degree program at the Manhattan School of Music cross registering in electronic music 12 and linguistics classes at Columbia University While studying at the conservatory Russell repeatedly clashed with Pulitzer Prize winning serialist composer and instructor Charles Wuorinen who disparaged the composition City Park a minimalist non narrative suite incorporating readings from the works of Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein as the most unattractive thing I ve ever heard 18 Embittered by his experience Russell briefly considered transferring to Dartmouth College at the behest of experimental composer Christian Wolff whom he had sought out and befriended upon arriving in the Northeast But after a chance meeting at a Wolff concert in Manhattan he became close with Rhys Chatham who arranged for Russell to succeed him as music director of The Kitchen a downtown avant garde performance space As a result he abandoned his studies and remained in New York 18 Russell and Chatham later briefly roomed together in a sixth story walkup apartment at 437 East 12th Street in the East Village Ginsberg who maintained his primary residence in the building from 1975 to 1996 and helped Russell secure the apartment supplied electricity to the impoverished composers through an extension cord Russell resided in the apartment for the rest of his life During his tenure at The Kitchen from the autumn of 1974 to the summer of 1975 he greatly expanded the breadth and purview of the venue s offerings crafting a program that support ed other local and relatively low profile composers rather than accentuat ing the work of composers who were beginning to acquire an international reputation This approach elicited controversy when Russell booked Boston based proto punk band The Modern Lovers for an engagement at the venue widely regarded as a leading bastion of minimalism Russell s booking of Fluxus stalwart Henry Flynt s punkabilly ensemble Nova billy concluding his season as director was likewise unsettling to the avant garde establishment According to biographer Tim Lawrence the decision to program the Modern Lovers and Talking Heads was Russell s way of demonstrating that minimalism could be found outside of compositional music as well as his belief that pop music could be arty energetic and fun at the same time 18 From 1975 to 1979 Russell was a member of The Flying Hearts recorded by John Hammond which consisted of Russell keyboards vocals ex Modern Lovers member Ernie Brooks 19 bass vocals Larry Saltzman guitar and David Van Tieghem drums vocals a later incarnation in the 1980s included Joyce Bowden vocals and Jesse Chamberlain drums This ensemble was frequently augmented in live and studio performances by the likes of Chatham David Byrne Jon Gibson Peter Gordon Jerry Harrison Garrett List who succeeded Russell as musical director of The Kitchen Andy Paley Lenny Pickett and Peter Zummo During the same period various permutations of this ensemble together with Glenn Iamaro Bill Ruyle and Jon Sholle performed amp recorded excerpts from Instrumentals a 48 hour long orchestral work that constituted Russell s first major work in the idiom Selections from the Instrumentals sessions were eventually collected on an eponymously titled album released by Belgian label Disques du Crepuscule in 1984 The collaboration among Russell once again as a keyboardist Brooks and Chamberlain extended into The Necessaries a power pop quartet fronted by guitarist Ed Tomney Their lone 1981 album on Sire Records initially released as Big Sky before being tweaked and re released as Event Horizon featured few songwriting contributions from Russell who abruptly left the band at the approach to the Holland Tunnel before an important concert in Washington D C 1976 1980 Discovery of disco and early singles edit In 1976 Russell was in talks to join Talking Heads who were a trio at the time 20 He recorded an acoustic version of the song Psycho Killer with the band playing cello 21 He would also collaborate on arrangements for early Talking Heads songs 22 He stated that they became friends but he ended up not joining the band They were all from art school and were into looking severe and cool I was never into that I was from music school and I had long hair at the time 23 Around 1976 Russell became a habitue of New York s nascent underground disco scene namely Nicky Siano s Gallery on Houston Street in SoHo In a 2007 interview with Wax Poetics magazine Siano downplayed the popular myth that Russell s interest in the genre solidified over the course of a single night noting that Louis Aquilone Siano s best friend and Russell s then lover was at the Gallery every single Saturday night After spending a few Saturday nights without Louis Arthur decided to come After the third or fourth time there he started to come without Louis 24 Though an eager dancer Siano has described Russell s style as strange outrageous weird he was definitely a white boy dancer 24 25 By the time Russell was involved with Tom Lee in the 1980s his nightlife activities had subsided to a large extent It wasn t like Arthur and I were in some gay disco world getting dressed to go out to the club and dancing the night away Lee has said We d go to CBGB we d go to Max s Kansas City we d go to Tier 3 but we d listen to the group and then go home For him it was about the daily grind of actually playing music 26 In 1977 trenchantly attracted to the minimalist rhythms of disco and funded by Siano s Gallery war chest Russell wrote and co produced Kiss Me Again in collaboration with a diverse array of musicians Flynt Zummo Byrne on rhythm guitar and Gloria Gaynor veterans Wilbur Bascomb bass and Alan Schwartzberg drums 2 under the moniker of Dinosaur L 19 The first disco single to be released by Sire Records 2 it was a fairly large club hit reportedly selling some ungodly amount like two hundred thousand copies 25 Despite the modicum of commercial success and ecstatic reaction elicited by the record in the New York underground according to Siano Ray Caviano head of Warner Sire s disco division never really pushed it 25 and the record failed to cross over into the mainstream The song s main hook was interpolated by Desmond Child who was acquainted with Russell via Larry Salzman on his minor 1979 hit Our Love Is Insane leading Russell to accuse the musician of infringement among his friends Although the duo was signed to Sire to produce a follow up single featuring Gerri Griffin of the Voices of East Harlem the sessions stalled because of Siano s burgeoning drug habit leading him to take temporary refuge in California and Russell s myopic approach to recording 24 In 1980 Loose Joints initially known as the Little All Stars was formed with Russell onetime DJ Steve D Aquisto Columbia student and Russell confidante Steven Hall three singers found on The Loft s dancefloor miscellaneous other musicians and the Ingram Brothers rhythm section best known for later backing Patti LaBelle 27 With a stated ambition to create the disco White Album the group under contract to leading underground disco label West End Records recorded hours of music but only released three songs Is It All Over My Face Pop Your Funk in two disparate arrangements including a no wave influenced single edit and Tell You Today D Aquisto a non musician who favored such extemporaneous touches as off key singing and the input of street buskers repeatedly clashed with the perfectionist Russell throughout the sessions 24 Despite the acrimony Hall felt that D Aquisto allowed shy Arthur to come out of his shell in the gayest sense He also taught him how to let go in terms of slavishly and clairvoyantly searching for and then locking in the groove 24 The experimental recordings bemused many of downtown New York s disco cognoscenti including West End head Mel Cheren and Loft proprietor David Mancuso a predicament that led Larry Levan to remix Is It All Over My Face for club play the ensuing track based around a female vocal wiped from the original mix and recorded on stolen studio time with Francois Kevorkian as an uncredited co mixer 24 was an enduring staple of Levan s sets at the Paradise Garage and a formative influence on Chicago house in addition to becoming a bona fide commercial hit in the New York area via airplay on WBLS 28 In 1981 Russell and entrepreneur Will Socolov who partially financed the Loose Joints sessions founded Sleeping Bag Records 27 Their first release was a recording of 24 24 Music a controversial disco influenced composition with rhythmic shifts every 24 bars hence the title that had been commissioned by and first performed at The Kitchen in 1979 The first limited pressing of this record had a hand made silk screened cover Steven Hall later described its debut as the best performance of Arthur s work that I ever attended it was like really hot dance music and no one got it The idea that Arthur would turn around and bring that dance music into their venue and present it as serious music was really very challenging to them and very threatening to them 12 Go Bang originally released on this album but recorded three years earlier by an ensemble that included Zummo Peter Gordon academic composer Julius Eastman Bascomb and John and Jimmy Ingram 29 was remixed as a 12 single by Francois Kevorkian 2 Kevorkian s remix of Go Bang and Levan s remix of In the Cornbelt another track from the 24 24 suite were frequently played at the Paradise Garage 8 1983 1986 Further collaborations and World of Echo edit Russell continued to release dance singles such as Tell You Today 4th and Broadway 1983 an upbeat dance groove and Loose Joints holdover featuring the vocals of Joyce Bowden Additional releases that followed included Wax the Van Jump Street 1987 and I Need More Vinylmania 1988 which paired Russell with erstwhile James Brown foil Lola Blank then married to Bob Blank Russell s preferred studio engineer the Peter Zummo collaboration School Bell Treehouse Sleeping Bag 1986 and Let s Go Swimming Upside Rough Trade 1986 which anticipated later developments in tech house and was Russell s only dance single to be released under his own name The latter two records were remixed by legendary 70s era DJ Walter Gibbons who had renounced his career for evangelical Christianity and was employed as a buyer at Rock and Soul Records in Midtown Despite Gibbons s religious predilections the two forged a dependable if occasionally tempestuous working relationship 30 Further Gibbons Russell collaborations include C Thru a dance version of See Through on World of Echo that remained unreleased until 2010 and a remix of Russell s Calling All Kids eventually released on the 2004 compilation Calling out of Context 30 At the same time the album Tower of Meaning Chatham Square 1983 was released in a limited pressing on Philip Glass s private label 31 The recording was made up of incidental music intended to accompany director Robert Wilson s staging of Medea a partnership arranged by Glass Although widely perceived as an important breakthrough for Russell in the compositional world creative squabbling between the downtown luminaries culminated in Wilson barring the composer from attending rehearsals and eventually ousting Russell from the project altogether in favor of British composer Gavin Bryars 18 The compelling and meditative recording conducted by Julius Eastman 31 represents just a fragment of Russell s score which includes voices along with its instrumentation While Russell tangentially remained affiliated with the new music sphere in New York until his death continuing to perform in solo and group configurations at The Kitchen and Experimental Intermedia Foundation Tower of Meaning was his final orchestral effort 18 The rejection of Russell s Corn album an eclectic suite of material centered around hip hop infused electropop including several tracks later released on Calling Out of Context other songs were eventually released under the album s original moniker in 2015 by Socolov in 1985 coupled with creative disagreements between the two over Wax the Van resulted in Russell divesting himself from Sleeping Bag Records shortly after the release of Schoolbell Treehouse in 1986 32 According to Bob Blank in a followup to an Internet reposting of the purportedly fallacious 1986 article that detailed the subterfuge Socolov wanted to take the label to another level 32 During the mid 1980s Russell gave many performances either accompanying himself on cello with a myriad of effects or working with a small ensemble consisting of Steven Hall Ernie Brooks Peter Zummo percussionist Mustafa Ahmed and composer Elodie Lauten September 1986 saw the release of World of Echo 33 Upside Rough Trade 1986 Heralded as a magnum opus of sorts by contemporary critics 34 it incorporated many of his ideas for pop dance and classical music for both solo and cello format The album was well reviewed in Britain 2 and included in Melody Maker s Top Thirty Releases of 1986 but failed commercially citation needed Russell also collaborated with a number of choreographers including John Bernd citation needed Diane Madden 35 Alison Salzinger 36 Stephanie Woodard 37 and Charles Moulton 38 He was also honored with a posthumous Bessie Award in 1993 39 1986 1992 Later work illness and death edit Shortly after the release of World of Echo Russell was diagnosed as HIV positive Though the disease caused throat cancer forcing Russell to undergo chemotherapy he remained prolific working on voice and cello songs for an album to be released by Philip Glass s Point Music some of which surfaced on the posthumous Another Thought in 1994 and an electronic pop album influenced by the likes of 808 State and William Orbit and provisionally titled 1 800 Dinosaur 40 for Rough Trade Records Much of the material intended for this project was included on 2004 s Calling Out of Context Although Russell reportedly planned to submit the album in the summer of 1987 he continued tinkering with potential songs for another four years According to Rough Trade founder Geoff Travis It was frustrating but I knew he needed my support to keep financing his music 41 Russell died of AIDS related illnesses on April 4 1992 2 at the age of 40 27 In an April 28 column Kyle Gann of The Village Voice wrote His recent performances had been so infrequent due to illness his songs were so personal that it seems as though he simply vanished into his music 42 Russell was prolific 5 but was also notorious for leaving songs unfinished and continually revising his music 8 9 43 44 45 Ernie Brooks said Russell never arrived at a completed version of anything Peter Gordon stated his quest wasn t really to do a finished product but more to do with exploring his different ways of working musically 8 He left behind more than 1 000 tapes when he died 8 40 of them different mixes of one song 14 According to Russell archivist Steve Knutson the musician s estate consists of around 800 reels of 2 and tape another few hundred cassettes several dozen DAT tapes hundreds and hundreds of pages of song lyrics and poetry 46 Personal life editAs a young adult Russell led a seemingly heterosexual lifestyle at least two of these relationships with Muriel Fujii in San Francisco and later Sydney Murray in New York have been substantiated 29 Although he briefly dated Allen Ginsberg in 1973 Russell did not identify as a gay man until becoming involved with hairdresser Louis Aquilone in 1976 29 After the relationship with Aquilone dissolved Russell dated Donald Murk who subsequently became Russell s manager for several years According to Steven Hall the relationship was tempestuous with lots of threesomes and fighting and very dramatic emotional scenes 12 As this relationship drew to a close Russell became acquainted with silkscreen operator Tom Lee their friendship rapidly evolved into a domestic partnership Although Russell continued to see other men and women their partnership endured until his death in 1992 47 Lee who became a schoolteacher and continued to reside in the couple s rent controlled East Village apartment until February 2011 is the executor of Russell s estate 48 Their relationship is detailed at length in Matt Wolf s Wild Combination A Portrait of Arthur Russell Legacy and influence editThough never achieving great success during his lifetime Russell has been acknowledged as an important influence on a variety of musical developments and artists in recent years In 2004 Stylus described him as criminally overlooked for far too long and a genius never to be recognized in his own time but to be enjoyed by generations to come 49 PopMatters noted the contributions Russell made to the disparate genres of dance disco dub and experimental music and wrote that his absolute fearlessness in lending his own unique style to even the most unlikely sound combinations is peerless 50 Vice noted that he never settled on one genre of music He made winsome country and hypersexual disco and delicate art pop while drifting through the downtown rock and classical scenes of New York 51 Bandcamp Daily credited him with spanning and shaping sounds as far afield as disco minimalism avant garde new wave and folk pop 52 Pitchfork called Russell a changeling artist whose only parallel might be Miles Davis constantly placing his individual sound in new contexts constantly searching 53 Artists who have cited Russell as an influence include Dev Hynes 54 The Lemon Twigs and James Murphy James Blake named his club night and record label after Russell s provisionally titled album 1 800 Dinosaur Planningtorock covered Russell s song Janine on their album W in 2011 55 and former Everything But The Girl singer Tracey Thorn covered Get Around to It on her 2007 solo album Out of the Woods A tribute EP Four Songs by Arthur Russell curated by Jens Lekman was released in 2007 through Rough Trade Records In 2014 the HIV AIDS focused Red Hot Organization released a tribute triple LP compilation Master Mix Red Hot Arthur Russell included artists Jose Gonzalez Robyn Hot Chip Sufjan Stevens and Devendra Banhart among others 56 In 2015 Red Hot presented Red Hot Arthur Russell Live featuring musicians and songs from the tribute at Brooklyn Academy of Music s Howard Gilman Opera House for two nights 57 In 2016 rapper Kanye West released a track titled 30 Hours which prominently samples Russell s Answers Me 58 In 2018 American musician and composer Peter Broderick released the compilation album Peter Broderick amp Friends Play Arthur Russell containing cover versions of songs written by Russell 59 Filmmaker Matt Wolf completed a feature length documentary on Russell called Wild Combination A Portrait of Arthur Russell It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 13 2008 Tim Lawrence an author and academic at the University of East London has written a biography of Russell titled Hold On to Your Dreams Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene published in 2009 44 BBC Radio 4 broadcast a documentary Arthur Russell Vanished into Music on September 27 2016 The album Tower of Meaning was re released in 2016 on Audika Records while material of the album was performed live by the London Contemporary Orchestra in January 2017 60 61 Discography editStudio albums edit Solo albums edit Tower of Meaning 1983 Chatham Square World of Echo 1986 Upside Records Rough Trade as Dinosaur L edit 24 24 Music 1982 Sleeping Bag Records With The Necessaries edit Big Sky 1981 Sire Records Event Horizon 1982 Sire Records Compilation albums and EPs edit Instrumentals 1974 Volume 2 1984 Another Side Another Thought 1994 Point Music The World of Arthur Russell 2004 Soul Jazz Records Calling Out of Context 2004 Audika Records First Thought Best Thought 2006 Audika Records Springfield EP 2006 Audika Records Love Is Overtaking Me 2008 Audika Records Rough Trade Master Mix Red Hot Arthur Russell 2014 Red Hot Yep Roc Corn 2015 Audika Records Iowa Dream 2019 Audika Records Picture of Bunny Rabbit 2023 Audika Records Live albums edit Sketches for World of Echo June 25 1984 Live at EI 2020 Audika Records The Deer in the Forest March 2 1985 Live at Roulette 2020 Audika Records 24 to 24 Music Live at the Kitchen 2021 Audika Records Recorded live April 28 1979 Singles edit Dinosaur Kiss Me Again 1978 Sire Records Vocals by Myriam Valle Produced by Arthur Russell amp Nicky Siano Loose Joints Is It All Over My Face 1980 West End Records Produced by Arthur Russell amp Steve D Aquisto Loose Joints Pop Your Funk 1980 West End Records Produced by Arthur Russell amp Steve D Aquisto Dinosaur L Go Bang Clean on Your Bean 1 1982 Sleeping Bag Records Vocals by Lola Blank Arthur Russell and Julius Eastman Loose Joints Tell You Today 1983 4th and Broadway Vocals by Joyce Bowden Produced by Killer Whale Russell amp Steve D Aquisto Clandestine feat Ned Sublette Radio Rhythm S I G N A L S M A R T 1984 Sleeping Bag Records Vocals by Ned Subtlette Produced by Killer Whale and Ned Sublette Felix Tiger Stripes You Can t Hold Me Down 1984 Sleeping Bag Records Vocals by Maxine Bell Produced by Killer Whale amp Nicky Siano Indian Ocean School Bell Treehouse 1986 Sleeping Bag Records US 4th and Broadway UK Produced by Arthur Russell amp Peter Zummo Arthur Russell Let s Go Swimming 1986 Logarythm US Rough Trade UK Produced by Arthur Russell amp Mark Freedman Edited by Killer Whale Lola Lola Blank Wax the Van 1987 Jump Street Records Vocals by Lola Blank Produced by Bob and Lola Blank Lola Lola Blank I Need More 1988 Vinylmania Vocals by Lola Blank Produced by Bob and Lola Blank Arthur Russell Springfield 2006 Audika Records Includes a remix by The DFA Mixes and edits edit Sounds of JHS 126 Brooklyn Chill Pill 1984 Sleeping Bag Records Under Water Mix by Killer Whale Bonzo Goes to Washington Bootsy Collins and Jerry Harrison Five Minutes 1984 Sleeping Bag Records R R R Radio and B B B Bombing mixes chopped and channeled by Arthur Russell References edit Lawrence Tim Hold onto your Dreams Duke University Press a b c d e f g h i j k Richard Pierson Arthur Russell Allmusic Retrieved October 29 2007 Individual Record Charles Arthur Russell Jr familysearch org Archived from the original on April 27 2011 Retrieved February 17 2009 a b Richards Chris January 19 2005 A Renaissance Man Revisited The Washington Post p C 05 archived from the original on December 14 2007 retrieved October 29 2007 a b Russell Revival Goes Bang Earplug cc no 8 October 30 2003 archived from the original on September 29 2007 retrieved October 29 2007 Hear Vin Diesel s 1986 rap collaboration with Arthur Russell Latimesblogs latimes com May 4 2011 Reissued singles from Arthur Russell and Steve d Acquisto s Loose Joints will make Most of your dreams come true a b c d e f Ratliff Ben February 29 2004 The Many Faces and Grooves of Arthur Russell The New York Times p 2 24 retrieved October 29 2007 a b Licht Allen April 11 2006 A First Thought Is Never Finished The New York Sun p 15 Macdonald Cameron December 15 2004 Arthur Russell World of Echo Pitchfork Media archived from the original on January 9 2008 retrieved October 29 2007 Arthur Russell Cornfields amp Disco XLR8R March 12 2008 Retrieved December 4 2013 a b c d Steven Hall It s Basically A Very Dirty Joke Keep on no 2 July 2004 archived from the original on July 5 2006 retrieved December 30 2008 Huston Johnny Ray March 3 2004 Prince Arthur San Francisco Bay Guardian archived from the original on September 30 2007 retrieved October 29 2007 a b Battaglia Andy March 11 2004 Disco Fever Arthur Russell was famous in his day what happened Slate com archived from the original on October 25 2007 retrieved October 29 2007 Tim Lawrence January 1 2009 Hold On to Your Dreams Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene 1973 1992 Duke University Press p 37 ISBN 978 0 8223 9085 5 Arthur Russell Ballad Of The lights Soul Jazz Records Soundsoftheuniverse com Retrieved September 30 2017 Echo In Eternity The Indelible Mark Of Arthur Russell Stereogum March 8 2017 Retrieved September 30 2017 a b c d e Lawrence Tim Arthur Russell and Rhizomatic Musicianship Liminalities archived from the original on January 10 2009 retrieved December 31 2008 a b Beta Andy February 2 2004 Arthur Russell The World of Arthur Russell Pitchfork Media archived from the original on December 14 2007 retrieved October 29 2007 Owen Frank October 22 2014 Arthur Russell Comedy is the highest form of art a rare interview from 1987 The Guardian Retrieved November 27 2022 Tiller Joe How Did I Get Here 10 Talking Heads Facts You Probably Didn t Know Dig Retrieved November 27 2022 Kemp Sam March 30 2022 David Byrne Philip Glass and Allen Ginsberg on the outsider art of Arthur Russell Far Out Magazine Retrieved November 27 2022 Owen Frank October 22 2014 Arthur Russell Comedy is the highest form of art a rare interview from 1987 The Guardian Retrieved November 27 2022 a b c d e f Stuart Aitken June 2007 Disco Savant Wax Poetics a b c Lawrence Tim 2003 Love Saves the Day A History of American Dance Music Culture 1970 1979 Durham Duke University Press p 337 THE FADER Q A Tom Lee The Fader September 19 2008 archived from the original on February 7 2009 retrieved February 18 2009 a b c Frere Sasha Let s Go Swimming The New Yorker Retrieved December 4 2013 Hinckley David July 9 1999 Saluting the Mix Mechanic of the Paradise Garage New York Daily News p 86 retrieved February 17 2009 permanent dead link a b c I Want to See All My Friends At Once Arthur Russell and the Queering of Gay Disco PDF Journal of Popular Music Studies no 2 November 16 2006 archived from the original PDF on May 30 2009 retrieved December 30 2008 a b Lawrence Tim Disco Madness Walter Gibbons amp the Legacy of Turntablism and Remixology Journal of Popular Music Studies archived from the original on December 2 2008 retrieved December 31 2008 a b Tyranny Blue Gene Tower of Meaning Allmusic retrieved October 29 2007 a b Owen Frank Echo Beach Melody Maker retrieved December 31 2008 Tyranny Blue Gene World of Echo Allmusic retrieved October 29 2007 Murphy Sean Music Junkie April 18 2008 Brooklyn Daily Eagle archived from the original on May 1 2011 retrieved December 31 2008 Dunning Jennifer January 19 1988 The Dance New Works By 6 Choreographers The New York Times Retrieved September 28 2023 Anderson Jack February 13 1996 IN PERFORMANCE DANCE The New York Times Retrieved September 28 2023 Brodeur Michael Andor A new release of Arthur Russell s music only deepens its mystery The Washington Post Retrieved September 28 2023 Kisselgoff Anna February 25 1995 DANCE REVIEW Ohio Offers Its Versions of Experiments The New York Times Retrieved September 28 2023 Dunning Jennifer October 14 1993 Cunningham Among Bessie Winners The New York Times Retrieved September 28 2023 Lawrence Tim October 23 2009 Hold on to Your Dreams Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene 1973 1992 Duke University Press ISBN 9780822390855 Lawrence Tim October 23 2009 Hold on to Your Dreams Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene 1973 1992 Duke University Press ISBN 9780822390855 Gann Kyle April 28 1992 Square Rhythms Schlesinger Technique Arthur Russell 1951 92 The Village Voice p 94 Harvell Jess December 12 2006 Arthur Russell Springfield Pitchfork Media archived from the original on January 9 2008 a b Arthur Russell Interview archived from the original on September 29 2007 retrieved October 29 2007 Douglas Wolk March 2 2004 Living With Imperfection page 1 Music Village Voice Archived from the original on November 8 2006 Retrieved December 4 2013 Steve Knutson interview in Wild Combination A Portrait of Arthur Russell The Invisible Man Arthur Russell Resurrected Out October 2008 retrieved December 30 2008 Episode 9 Love is Overtaking Me Arthur Russell 2008 Joshrutner com Retrieved May 28 2019 Stylus Magazine Stylusmagazine com Archived from the original on May 7 2012 Arthur Russell Calling Out of Context PopMatters com June 2 2004 Julious Brit November 17 2014 How We Walk on the Moon Arthur Russell s Quiet Genius Vice Retrieved November 22 2022 Wray Daniel Dylan October 23 2017 A Comprehensive Guide to the Arthur Russell Catalogue Bandcamp Daily Retrieved November 22 2022 Beta Andy February 17 2004 Now I know what it s like to assume you know what Arthur Russell sounds like Back in the day Pitchfork Media Retrieved November 2 2016 Blood Orange Hitting the Right Notes The Fader November 19 2013 Retrieved July 11 2014 Freeman John May 24 2011 Rudely Visionary Planningtorock Interviewed The Quietus Retrieved December 10 2011 Various Artists Master Mix Red Hot Arthur Russell Pitchfork Retrieved January 29 2021 Pareles Jon May 31 2015 Review Red Hot Arthur Russell Pays Funky Introspective Tribute to a Composer and Musician Published 2015 The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 29 2021 Kanye West Shares New Song 30 Hours Adds More Songs to New Album The Life of Pablo Pitchfork com February 12 2016 Peter Broderick amp Friends Play Arthur Russell Prettypurgatory bandcamp com Retrieved January 7 2018 Moore Emily January 12 2017 An Oral History Of Arthur Russell s Tower of Meaning The Quietus Retrieved January 21 2017 Arthur Russell s Tower of Meaning UK premiere London Contemporary Orchestra London Contemporary Orchestra Retrieved January 21 2017 External links editArthur Russell discography at Discogs Arthur Russell at IMDb Arthur Russell Documentary a documentary film by Matt Wolf about Arthur Russell Hold On to Your Dreams Arthur Russell Review amp Excerpt by The Quietus The making of Is It All Over My Face Extract of Tim Lawrence s Hold On to Your Dreams Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene 1973 1992 about the story of the track Loose Joints Is It All Over My Face Audika Records Audika Records is the label home and archive of the Arthur Russell estate Arthur Russell papers 1960 2005 Music Division New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Arthur Russell musician amp oldid 1215506356, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.