Arthur’s Landing

Arthur’s Landing is a group of musicians, all of whom worked at various times in various contexts with the late Arthur Russell (Wikipedia), a cellist and composer from Iowa who lived on the Lower East Side for most of the later part of his too-short life.

I don’t know Russell in person, but I came to enjoy his music via Steven Hall.

Born Charles Arthur Russell, Jr. (May 21, 1951 – April 4, 1992), Arthur Russell found the most success in dance music. Russell’s career bridged New York’s downtown, rock, and dance music scenes; his collaborators ranged from Philip Glass to David Byrne to Nicky Siano. Relatively unknown during his lifetime, a series of reissues and compilations have raised his profile in the 2000s.

The band members of Arthur’s Landing are:

• Steven Hall: guitar / vox
• Bill Ruyle: drums / hammer dulcimer / tablas
• Peter Zummo: horns / vox
• Joyce Bowden: guitar / clarinet / vox
• Ernie Brooks: bass / vox
• Mustafa Ahmed: perc

Musicians who play with the band on occasion include: John Scherman, Elodie Lauten, Peter Gordon, Max Gordon, Michael Evans, Carlos Hernandez, Zach Layon and Alex Waterman.

You can listen to their music at on their MySpace page. Various videos of the band are also uploaded on YouTube. Their music is licensed by Moon Caravan Records.

I went to see Arthur's Landing at Zebulon in Williamsburg last week, in conjunction with a Chinatown Records party hosted by Brennan Green. Here are some photographs taken that day:

Steven Hall + Ernie Brooks

Steven Hall

Peter Zummo

Joyce Bowden

Zach Layton

Carlos Hernandez

Xavier Smith

Brennan Green

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