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

Russell brought together the worlds of dance, pop, and folk with that of downtown's new music, and fused Western and Eastern musical traditions, driven by his engagement with Buddhist thought and practice. He collaborated often with Allen Ginsberg, and Phillip Glass was also an early mentor.

Characteristic of Russell's method was his tendency to work hard and long, and he rarely considered anything finished. What was his unending pursuit of the ineffable becomes a challenge and inspiration for the Arthurs Landing ensemble. It is hard to resist the ambition and humor behind compositions with titles like Temple of Meaning, Terrace of Intelligibility, and Hop on Down to Petland. Russell is the focus of the feature-length 2008 documentary directed by Matt Wolf, Wild Combination. A biography by Tim Lawrence, Hold Onto Your Dreams, is due out in 2009.

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Media

Photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/tags/arthurslanding
http://bit.ly/smlflickr-arthurslanding

Videos

Arthur's Landing: It's a Boy at the New Museum, NYC / 2009-09-11 / SML

Peter Zummo Trombone Solo in Arthur's Landing: You Can't Go Back / 2009-09-11 / New Museum, NYC

Arthur's Landing: Singing Tractors / New Museum NYC / SML

Group Members

Joyce Bowden: voice

http://facebook.com/joyce.bowden
http://myspace.com/joycebowden
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/tags/Joyce.Bowden

Steven Hall: voice, guitar

http://myspace.com/buddhistarmymusic
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000193352111
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/tags/Steven.Hall

Ernie Brooks: voice, bass

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/tags/Ernie.Brooks

John Scheerman: lead guitar

Mustafa Ahmed: percussion

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/tags/Mustafa.Ahmed

Peter Zummo: voice, trombone

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1078196735
See also main article for Peter Zummo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/tags/Peter.Zummo

Bill Ruyle: drums

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/tags/Bill.Ruyle

Alex Waterman: cello

(sometimes) Zach Layton: guitar

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/tags/Zach.Layton

(sometimes) Carlos Hernandez

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/tags/Carlos.Hernandez

(sometimes) Brennan Green

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/tags/Brennan.Green

(sometimes) Xavier Smith

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/tags/Xavier.Smith

Meta Search Alerts

http://feeds.feedburner.com/metasearchalerts/arthurslanding