Arthur's Landing

Arthur’s Landing was a meeting between musicians who collaborated with Arthur Russell, an avant-garde cellist, songwriter, and producer of oddball post-disco who passed away in 1992. Through numerous reissues, a documentary (Wild Combination), and a biography (Hold On to Your Dreams), Russell’s status as a fascinatingly unique, genre-crossing cult legend increased tremendously during the 2000s. While he recorded solitary, profound material like 1986’s World of Echo, he also thrived in a collaborative environment. This spirit drove Arthur’s Landing, which featured a core of Steven Hall (guitar, vocals), Mustafa Ahmed (percussion), Joyce Bowden (vocals, clarinet, guitar), Ernie Brooks (bass, vocals), Bill Ruyle (drums), and Peter Zummo (trombone), along with contributions from Elodie Lauten (keyboards), Larry Saltzman (guitar), and John Scherman (guitar). The group’s first album, a self-titled release on Strut — a label that played an important role in Russell re-exposure with its first two Disco (Not Disco) compilations — contained new, loose, and often playful versions of Russell songs that were both known and unknown to the artist’s devout fans.