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Arthur Russell Tribute Wows ICA

4:50 PM GMT 22/02/2010

Arthur's Landing
Institute Of Contemporary Arts, London
February 20, 2010

IT'S THE KIND OF THING you'd have never put money on seeing: musicians who worked with New York's late "Buddhist bubblegum" polymath Arthur Russell, reuniting onstage to revisit his back catalogue. But on Saturday bassist Ernie Brooks, trombonist Peter Zummo, percussionist Mustafa Ahmed, singer Joyce Bowden, guitarist-singer Steven Hall and drumming dulcimerist Bill Ruyle did just that.

They were in town to launch Tim Lawrence's sterling Russell biography Hold Onto Your Dreams, and Lawrence opened proceedings by reading from his book accompanied by laptop-collaging of its subject's sounds. After a short interval, Arthur's Landing came on to make up their set list as they went along.

With Hall (who complains at one point he no longer has a "gay body" and calls the crowd "sassenachs"), and Bowden singing together to get the masculine-feminine quality Russell had, a broad sampling of his music was played, taking in his pop material, his aquatic instrumentals and dance-orientated tracks.

A Little Lost and Lucky Cloud are just two of many spine-tingling moments, while Love Dancing/Is It All Over My Face is an unfettered disco-jam with Bowden rolling about on the stage and much trombone boldness from Zummo. They encored with This Is How We Walk On The Moon, with the to-the-fore interplay between Ahmed and Zummo suspending normal time to allow the strange, special mood to reach its apotheosis. Word is they didn't do dub-disco classic Go Bang! because keyboardist-singer Elodie Lauten wasn't present, but there's always next time.

Back in the ICA bar, there are projections of the late Arthur and his cello on the walls that are persistently overlaid with the computer message, 'Cannot Support The Format'. He would surely have approved. Or as Ernie Brooks says of the snowballing interest in his once-obscure old friend, "it's pleasing to feel that you weren't crazy."

Ian Harrison (with thanks Kris Needs)

Arthur's Landing have an LP coming in May on Strut. See more at http://www.myspace.com/arthurslanding

Posted by Ross_Bennett at 4:50 PM GMT 22/02/2010

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Arthur Russell

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  • As a performer who has been around the block once or twice, (smile) I can't say enough about the graciousness of the Londoners I encountered during my short visit. A lot of people worked really hard on behalfof Arthur's Landing before we hit the stage and I know my fellow members of AL are as grateful as I am for their professionalism and support. Major props to all the staff from Strat Records and the Institute for Contemporary Arts.

    Posted by Mustafa Ahmed, congas and percussion at 12:15 AM GMT 24/02/2010 Report Abuse

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