Arthur Russell – Calling Out of Context

Charles Arthur Russell Jr. (May 21, 1951 – April 4, 1992) was an American cellist, composer, producer, singer, and musician from Iowa, whose work spanned a disparate range of styles. Trained in contemporary experimental composition and Indian classical music, Russell relocated to New York in the mid-1970s, where he became associated with Lower Manhattan’s avant-garde community and eventually embraced the city’s disco scene.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Russell produced a considerable collection of material, including several underground dance hits under aliases such as Dinosaur L and Indian Ocean, but his difficulty in completing projects resulted in a limited amount of released output; 24→24 Music (1982, as Dinosaur L), Tower of Meaning (1983), and World of Echo (1986) were the only solo albums he released during his lifetime. Over the course of his career, he collaborated with a wide variety of artists, including composers Steve Reich and Philip Glass, poet Allen Ginsberg, musicians such as Peter Gordon, David Van Tieghem, Peter Zummo and David Byrne, and DJs such as Walter Gibbons, Larry Levan, Nicky Siano, and Steve D’Aquisto.

Russell died from AIDS-related illnesses in 1992, still in relative obscurity and poverty. Throughout the 2000s, a series of reissues, compilations, books, and a biographical documentary significantly raised his profile. Following his death, several albums of his various unheard recordings were compiled and 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.