Kiss Me Again: Mapping the Life and Legacy of Arthur Russell
[Last updated: 04.05.2009 17:31]
Kiss Me Again: Mapping the Life and Legacy of Arthur Russell
10 October 2009, NYU, New York
The composer and musician Arthur Russell lived and worked in New York between 1973 and 1992. During his time in the city he performed and recorded compositional music, pop music, disco, new wave, songs for the cello, and hip-hop-inflected electronic pop. As any listener of his music will know, he also liked to blur the boundaries of genre as he went about his work. Russell's open-mindedness and antipathy to being marketed contributed to his lack of recognition, and his music went relatively unheard outside of aficionado dance circles after his passing. But beginning with the simultaneous release of Calling Out of Context and The World of Arthur Russell in 2004, and culminating with the release of the documentary film Wild Combination in 2008, Russell's work has gained a new lease of life.
Acknowledging the newfound interest in Arthur Russell, New York University, the Centre for Cultural Studies Research at the University of East London and Bloomfield College are organising an Arthur Russell conference that will take place at NYU on 10 October. Here's the programme, plus details for the book launch event and Arthur's Landing concert.
NYU Tisch Performance Studies, 721 Broadway (Waverly Pl.), Suite 612, NYC, 10003
Free admission to panels.
10:00a - 10:30 Keynote – Tim Lawrence, author of Hold on To Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene
10:30-11:30 Panel 1: Musical Variations
Chair: Sukhdev Sandhu
Peter Zummo: "Pop and the Multi-Pentatonic, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Whole Steps and Minor Thirds"
Elodie Lauten :"Lesser-known Relationships: In the Singing Tractors Nexus, a Sense of Freedom and Exploration"
Ryan Dohoney: "The Experimental Assemblages of Arthur Russell and Julius Eastman"
11:30 –11:45 Break
11:45 -1:15 Panel 2: Arthur Russell: Recording and Legacy
Chair: Peter Gordon
with Bob Blank, Joyce Bowden, Mustafa Ahmed, Gary Lucas, Bill Ruyle, Peter Zummo.
1:15 -2:00 Lunch
2:00-3:15 Panel 3: Arthur and the World,
Chair: Simon Reynolds
Joyce Bowden: "Impermanence and Non-Duality: Buddhist influence in the music of Arthur Russell"
James Thomas: "I'm Sorry, But This Is How I Learn" (Theme: repetition and language in Russell's collaborations)
Ernie Brooks: "Arthur Russell: Creativity and the Business of Music, Resolving a Pursuit of the Ineffable with the Need for Recognition in Worldly Terms"
Daniel Portland: "I Touched You on the Arm: Cruising as Epistemology in the Life and Work of Arthur Russell"
3:15-3:30 Break
3:30-5:00 Screening: Wild Combination featuring a Q&A with director Matt Wolf
5:00-6:30 Panel 4: Remembering Arthur Russell
Chair: Steve Knutson
with Alan Abrams, Peter Gordon, Ernie Brooks, Steven Hall, Elodie Lauten, Tom Lee
6:30-6:45 Wrap-up with Sukhdev Sandhu
7:00 - 9:00 Reception, Performances of Arthur Russell Music and Book Signing
Reception & book launch at Housing Works Café with performances by Mira Billotte, Alex Waterman, Nick Hallett, Rachel Henry, Peter Gordon, Peter Zummo, Joyce Bowden, Steven Hall and others, plus a reading by Tim Lawrence.
Book signing for the new biography "Hold On To Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene,", with author Tim Lawrence.
$10 admission to benefit Housing Works, a nonprofit AIDS-service organization
At Housing Works Cafe 126 Crosby Street, NYC
10 pm– late Dance Party with Arthur's Landing at Public Assembly
Play It Loud presents Arthur’s Landing (plus special mystery guest) at Public Assembly in Williamsburg---live dance music! Doors open at 10 pm
$10 admission to benefit Gods Love We Deliver
(At Public Assembly, 70 North 6th Street, Brooklyn)
Organisers:
Sukhdev Sandhu (NYU): ss162@nyu.edu
Tim Lawrence (UEL): tlawrence1@mac.com
Peter Gordon (Bloomfield): petergordonmusic@mac.com
10 October 2009, NYU, New York
The composer and musician Arthur Russell lived and worked in New York between 1973 and 1992. During his time in the city he performed and recorded compositional music, pop music, disco, new wave, songs for the cello, and hip-hop-inflected electronic pop. As any listener of his music will know, he also liked to blur the boundaries of genre as he went about his work. Russell's open-mindedness and antipathy to being marketed contributed to his lack of recognition, and his music went relatively unheard outside of aficionado dance circles after his passing. But beginning with the simultaneous release of Calling Out of Context and The World of Arthur Russell in 2004, and culminating with the release of the documentary film Wild Combination in 2008, Russell's work has gained a new lease of life.
Acknowledging the newfound interest in Arthur Russell, New York University, the Centre for Cultural Studies Research at the University of East London and Bloomfield College are organising an Arthur Russell conference that will take place at NYU on 10 October. Here's the programme, plus details for the book launch event and Arthur's Landing concert.
NYU Tisch Performance Studies, 721 Broadway (Waverly Pl.), Suite 612, NYC, 10003
Free admission to panels.
10:00a - 10:30 Keynote – Tim Lawrence, author of Hold on To Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene
10:30-11:30 Panel 1: Musical Variations
Chair: Sukhdev Sandhu
Peter Zummo: "Pop and the Multi-Pentatonic, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Whole Steps and Minor Thirds"
Elodie Lauten :"Lesser-known Relationships: In the Singing Tractors Nexus, a Sense of Freedom and Exploration"
Ryan Dohoney: "The Experimental Assemblages of Arthur Russell and Julius Eastman"
11:30 –11:45 Break
11:45 -1:15 Panel 2: Arthur Russell: Recording and Legacy
Chair: Peter Gordon
with Bob Blank, Joyce Bowden, Mustafa Ahmed, Gary Lucas, Bill Ruyle, Peter Zummo.
1:15 -2:00 Lunch
2:00-3:15 Panel 3: Arthur and the World,
Chair: Simon Reynolds
Joyce Bowden: "Impermanence and Non-Duality: Buddhist influence in the music of Arthur Russell"
James Thomas: "I'm Sorry, But This Is How I Learn" (Theme: repetition and language in Russell's collaborations)
Ernie Brooks: "Arthur Russell: Creativity and the Business of Music, Resolving a Pursuit of the Ineffable with the Need for Recognition in Worldly Terms"
Daniel Portland: "I Touched You on the Arm: Cruising as Epistemology in the Life and Work of Arthur Russell"
3:15-3:30 Break
3:30-5:00 Screening: Wild Combination featuring a Q&A with director Matt Wolf
5:00-6:30 Panel 4: Remembering Arthur Russell
Chair: Steve Knutson
with Alan Abrams, Peter Gordon, Ernie Brooks, Steven Hall, Elodie Lauten, Tom Lee
6:30-6:45 Wrap-up with Sukhdev Sandhu
7:00 - 9:00 Reception, Performances of Arthur Russell Music and Book Signing
Reception & book launch at Housing Works Café with performances by Mira Billotte, Alex Waterman, Nick Hallett, Rachel Henry, Peter Gordon, Peter Zummo, Joyce Bowden, Steven Hall and others, plus a reading by Tim Lawrence.
Book signing for the new biography "Hold On To Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene,", with author Tim Lawrence.
$10 admission to benefit Housing Works, a nonprofit AIDS-service organization
At Housing Works Cafe 126 Crosby Street, NYC
10 pm– late Dance Party with Arthur's Landing at Public Assembly
Play It Loud presents Arthur’s Landing (plus special mystery guest) at Public Assembly in Williamsburg---live dance music! Doors open at 10 pm
$10 admission to benefit Gods Love We Deliver
(At Public Assembly, 70 North 6th Street, Brooklyn)
Organisers:
Sukhdev Sandhu (NYU): ss162@nyu.edu
Tim Lawrence (UEL): tlawrence1@mac.com
Peter Gordon (Bloomfield): petergordonmusic@mac.com