Disco never died, but its geniuses did. Russell was one of those geniuses. Originally trained as a classical cellist in Iowa, Russell studied with Ali Akbar Khan in San Francisco in the 1970s. On his own, he split his time between avant-garde cello compositions and funky disco productions for Loose Joints, Dinosaur L, and Lola, but his passion for both shines through in each. This includes such hits as Wax The Van, Is It All Over My Face, and Pop Your Funk. My absolute favorite song, however, is not any of the disco singles but rather Keeping Up, a curiously subdued experimental pop song which features an electric cello, hush-hush harmonizing vocals and a lot of space to wander. This album should make you dance, think, then wonder why you’re not dancing, and then dance some more.
Like many awesome people, Arthur Russell died of AIDS. He had collaborated with people like Allen Ginsberg, Philip Glass, David Byrne, and John Cage. In the month of his death, Kyle Gann from The Village Voice wrote, “His recent performances had been so infrequent due to illness, his songs were so personal, that it seems as though he simply vanished into his music.” Even if his life ended too soon, at least he was able to truly collapse into his life’s work; now a part of him lives on forever.
