Arthur Russell: 24 to 24 Music

Wild Up is an LA-based orchestra collective that uplifts people and projects leading the way for music-making today. Called “a raucous, grungy, irresistibly exuberant…fun-loving, exceptionally virtuosic family” (New York Times), Wild Up has been lauded as one of music’s most exciting groups by virtually every significant institution and critic within earshot. Artistic Director Christopher Rountree started the group in 2010 to eschew outdated ensemble and concert traditions by experimenting with different methodologies, approaches, and contexts. Their critically acclaimed, two-time GRAMMY-nominated Julius Eastman recording anthology has been celebrated as “a masterpiece” (New York Times), “instantly recognizable” (Vogue), and “singularly jubilant..a bit in your face, sometimes capricious, and always surprising” (NPR).

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Arthur Russell (1951–1992) was a cellist, vocalist, and composer known for his fusion of classical and popular music.

Originally from Oskaloosa, Iowa, Russell traveled to the West Coast in 1970, joining a Buddhist commune and studying Indian classical composition at the Ali Akbar Khan College in Marin County. In 1971 Russell met and performed with Allen Ginsberg who brought him to New York for a recording session produced by John Hammond that also included Bob Dylan, Perry Robinson, and Happy Traum.

Russell moved to New York in 1973 to study at the Manhattan School of Music. Quickly gravitating to the then burgeoning downtown music scene, Russell wrote and performed his minimal compositions, including the bubblegum pop-inspired “Instrumentals,” and was music director at The Kitchen in 1974, along with recording his own pop songs for John Hammond.

Throughout his life Russell collaborated with a who’s who of some of New York’s most influential artists including Christian Wolf, John Cage, Peter Gordon, Peter Zummo, Ernie Brooks, Jon Gibson, Mustafa Ahmed, Rhys Chatham, Jill Kroesen, David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, Larry Levan, Phillip Glass, Robert Wilson, Julius Eastman, Arnold Dreyblatt, Walter Gibbons, and Phill Niblock.

Russell’s music shifted dramatically in 1977 after an unexpected visit to a disco. Inspired by the sonic repetition and sense of community, Russell wrote and recorded some of the most influential records of the disco era including “Kiss Me Again,” “Is It All Over My Face,” and “Go Bang.” By 1984 Russell began stretching the boundaries of disco and composition, becoming entranced with echo, and its use in his own songwriting. The completed album, World of Echo, combined Russell’s rich composition skills with echo, feedback, voice, and cello, and remains one of the most influential documents of the era as a work of timeless beauty.

When Arthur Russell died from complications due to AIDS in 1992, he left an overwhelming archive of unreleased material that has since been rereleased and compiled by Audika Records in association with Russell’s partner Tom Lee. As a cellist, songwriter, composer, and disco visionary, Arthur Russell consistently challenged our expectations of what pop music could be.