Dinosaur L ‘24-24 Music’: Album of the Week

Dinosaur L ‘24-24 Music’: Album of the Week

8 October, 2007 | 2.23PM

• Section: Music News
• Written by: lizwarner

Arthur Russell was an innovator — but that fact can be tied directly to the fact that he was an adventurer.

Who knows if he knew what he would help to create while he was in New York City back in 1979. 

With the help of a background in classical composition that led to avant garde modern composition, and which finally landed him on dancefloors as the New York house scene was coming to fruition, an album called ’24-24 Music’ was created.

And it just happened to be released on Russell’s own record label, Sleeping Bag.

So what makes this album so important today?

Just ask Larry Levan and François Kevorkian — who had each remixed selections from the album with even more of a house attitude — or the myriad of house producers today that talk about old school.

It was Francois Kevorkian’s remix of ‘Go Bang!’ that cemented Russell into the canon of artists that would leave an indelible mark.

In spite of its influence on house with the work he produced under his own name and as Loose Joints and Dinosaur L, live musicianship was key for ’24-24 Music’.

The core of his band was The Ingram Brothers, handling not only rhythm but also guitar and keys. And then there were the dozen or so other musicians, all of whom seemed to just go along with Russell’s crazy plan, at least for the most part.

“He told me that Butch (Ingram) would look at him like ‘You’re out of your fucking mind!’” explains Will Socolov, one half of the label team for Sleeping Bag, in the album reissue’s liner notes.

“But the younger ones Timmy and Johnny Ingram would really get into it, just grooving with Arthur!”

Perhaps they didn’t know what to make of a cellist from Iowa who decided to have full moon studio parties that were both experimental and danceable.

Billboard put that nail on the head when it observed: “Despite a career that seemed contradictory on the surface, he produced a body of work notable for its focus, integrity, and singularity.”

By the time Russell had passed in 1992, his experiments in dance were over.

But as this reissue of ’24-24 Music’ declares boldly, his influence will be felt for years yet to come.

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