In 1992, Arthur Russell passed away from AIDS-related illnesses, after an unbelievable yet mostly anonymous career. Garnering a cult following for his unique sense of joy and beauty in music, and inspiring a fervent passion amongst musicians, Arthur Russell displayed his multifaceted love for both the avant-garde and commercial pop scene. He transcended the confines of genre and classification to create riveting, influential experimental sound. After leaving college with a degree in music, Russell became music director of “The Kitchen,” a non-profit, multidisciplinary performance and exhibit space founded by Rhys Chatham.
Initially, Russell grew an interest in disco and began to produce music in this genre under the title Dinosaur L, as well as with the band Loose Joints. Russell’s deep passion for music and production created an extensive archive of unreleased material, spanning from classical instrumentals, pop-ish dance songs, and moodier-avant bangers. In 2004, Audika Records obtained and reissued Russell’s music for the posthumous compilation Calling Out Of Context. Despite the difficulties Russell faced artistically during the latter half of his career, this album serves as a reminder of the multi-faceted talent that was Arthur Russell, and the remaining impact he has on the current musical landscape.
Calling Out Of Context wanes between classical pop, disco, and dub, praying to no genre in particular. The compilation is the fruitful rediscovery of an attempt at a studio album called Corn from 1985, as well as another failed record made before 1990. Tim Lawrence, author of Hold Onto Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene, 1973-1992, noted the “creative differences” and struggles in the latter half of the 1980s, as Russell was “frustrated by not being able to play in certain places, or things not working out as he hoped.” Lawrence continues to say that Rusell was naturally “self-effacing,” and had an “innate dislike of self-promotion,” which ended up being his demise.
The recording process itself was very complex. Russell often asked entrepreneur Will Solocov and collaborator Ahmed for second opinions on hundreds of tapes. He utilized various instruments such as the cello, keyboard, percussion, trombone, among others over many takes and recordings to create a distinct sound. This was the “forefront” of modern music: unique taping process and use of electronic synthesizers. But despite the labyrinthine recording process, Calling Out Of Context remains a deeply influential and impactful album. Not only was Russell a trailblazer in terms of production, but also in his lyrical and compositional talents. The world remembers Russell tragically dying in obscurity, but he was more than that to friends and family.
Peter Zummo and Mustafa Khaliq Ahmed, two key collaborators, offer some insight in their roles as musicians and friends of Russell. Peter Zummo, an American composer and trombonist from Cleveland, Ohio, worked closely with Russell on numerous projects, and believes “it’s just great that [Arthur’s music] is getting out, and out of respect and appreciation for the work he did.” Mustafa Khaliq Ahmed taught himself percussion and has worked as a composer and multi-instrumentalist for decades alongside Russell “I had no idea that some of the stuff that we would be talking about 40 years later.” While coming from vastly different musical backgrounds, the artists met through Russell, and were able to share their approach to making genre-bending music.
Peter Zummo: I played trombone on a number of tracks, and I did synthesizer programming. I don’t know if I played keyboard on anything else, but mainly the trombone.
Mustafa Khaliq Ahmed: I’ve been playing [percussion] for a long time. I’m not a classically taught musician. I did not go to school. I basically learned how to play congas and all that stuff like that literally in the streets.
PZ: I guess we were in tune on some level. [Arthur Russell] found me [when] he was calling up to my third floor loft. I finally heard him, we got together literally calling from the street… I had an influence on the lyrics in a couple of cases. In “Platform on the Ocean,” “wide angle” is my line. I had just got my first wide angle lens as a hobby of photography. A B&H used to be on 18th street and 22nd Street on the west side. So I went over and bought a used German camera with a wide angle. Then I started talking to Arthur about it because I was interested in the difference in perception or perspective. So we’re talking about that and I imagine he’s thinking of the way a fish’s eyes look or how it might look if you were underwater in some container with a porthole or something.
MKA: At the time that I was working I was doing the recording session for James Mason. Now James Mason is kind of an iconic figure. I was on with his album The Rhythm of Life. And we were recording it at a studio called Downtown Sound, which was on Christopher Street. Arthur was always looking for what we would call a “spec deal.” He would be looking for a studio that would give him, you know, 10 hours to do some work. And if in fact, he was able to sell the work, he would then pay them back. And so he happened to come to this particular studio that night that I was working, and he heard me play during a break in the session. You know, he just came up. I was pretty new to the business, you know, just starting to get my feet wet. And he asked me whether I’m interested in doing some of his stuff. And I was flattered and told him yes. And that’s it. That’s exactly what happened.
MKA: I grew up as a kid listening to Motown, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, that kind of stuff, that’s the music that I played. And often it was very different from any of the stuff that I had been doing up to that particular point [with Arthur]. In the sense that I’ve never played with the cello. You could consider that a little of a classical type of instrument.
PZ: I have to describe myself… How do I put it? Genre non-conforming? I was coming from a more serious music side. I left for a master’s degree at Wesleyan. And then that art came to New York, and I had already done pop music but I always thought, well I have a bad attitude about mass culture. Which is more relevant than ever… But we were just doing it, and bringing you know, different backgrounds and perspectives to each other’s work. And he was going around finding his people. So like, you know, Mustafa’s trained on the street. He didn’t study music in the academy. Ernie Brooks, you know, being a rocker poet. That kind of thing.
MKA: I would call [the recording process] somewhat convoluted.
PZ: [Arthur] indulged in just doing it. So he did it all, you know, basically all the time. And then you go back and listen, or you remember, and you go “Oh! This came out good here.”
MKA: For Arthur, we recorded in his apartment. I spent a number of hours at his house, listening to stuff that he had already recorded. And then when we would record overdubs, he would play the tape, and I would play over it, and he would edit all of these things together. I think this was before computerization. Arthur was quite good at that process. A lot of times I was just recording unfinished work. I had no idea that it was a particular song. I didn’t know how it was going to be used.
PZ: I either played what he wrote or made it up. So one time, we had me set up, and I had my headphones and a mic, and I probably had a music stand but there was nothing on it. He came through and I said “What do you want me to play?” And he said, “Just do your thing.” Because I had been telling him about this experiment. I did try to improvise music. And so he just told me to improvise in the style that I had been practicing.
MKA: Arthur asked me to start using these electronic drums and synthesizers, and I was pretty good at it. These little computerized drums, at that time, would have 16 different instruments and 16 different sounds. Arthur and I would actually sit there and take a certain number of the sounds, and we’d play them over the music to get that electronic sound. Using the drum machine, I would take the sounds and then organize them in such a way that they would loop over and over and over into a particular beat. Arthur with that would record over. So, he was very much at the forefront of that. You know, as soon as technology became available, he was able to borrow a piece of equipment from somebody or buy some equipment secondhand, he had a lot of gadgets.
PZ: There was a lot of extracting and working with the medium. Which is like, you know, the basic artistic process. You objectify the ideas, put it on tape, write it on the page, take a picture and then when it’s out there, you can do anything to it. So he was picking that up from visiting studios. You know, hip hop was coming in. He went to the studio and saw how they were using the studio in a different way.
MKA: The fact that you’re interviewing me about it, that speaks for itself. As I said, I had no idea that some of the stuff that we would be talking about 40 years later. He had so much material that was recorded, and I mean he died poor. This was not a man with money. We did not have successful tours. You know, we did not play the concert halls. We did not perform at various live discos.
PZ: It’s just great that this stuff is getting out and out of respect and appreciation for the work he did. I think that’s important. I keep being drawn into it. In various ways into the legacy. I’m sure it informs the way I work.
MKA: He wanted to do different things. He was a Buddhist, and I grew up in a Christian household. I was brought up as a Catholic, and so it just introduced me to, you know, different concepts and ways of looking at things. He was very quiet. For the most part. Very introspective, intense. His choices of the people around him… I’m still friends with Peter Zummo, who I met with Arthur, and to this day I perform with him.
PZ: Arthur’s influenced a lot of young artists.
The ultimate blend of Russell, including his time spent as a buddhist-composer, an avant-rocker, and a disco-producer are best seen through the lens of Calling Out Of Context. Zummo is correct, as Russell’s signature style of composition has managed to influence some of the most prominent artists of generations to come, including everyone from the Talking Heads, to Blood Orange, to Kanye West. While tragic that he died poverty stricken with illness, Calling Out Of Context is exemplary of Russell’s innovative genius that inspired, and continues to inspire thousands.