Anthony Russell

Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell is an American singer and musician who performs in Yiddish. He is an African-American convert to Judaism.

Early life and education Russell was born in 1979 in Fort Worth, Texas to a Christian family, moving around frequently as a military brat as his father was in the US Navy. When Russell was seven, his family settled in Vallejo, California. Encouraged by his mother, a former classical piano student, Russell gained a deep interest in music. He describes himself as an autodidact, teaching himself to read and play music, and gaining a detailed knowledge of the Bible. He was homeschooled from 5th grade.

He earned a degree in music at Holy Names University in Oakland, California. He has stated that formerly he deliberately avoided singing Negro spirituals to avoid stereotypes of African-American classical singers. After converting to Judaism, Russell considered studying to become a cantor, but ultimately decided against it. He encountered the Yiddish song "Dem Milners Trern" ("The Miller's Tears") while watching the film A Serious Man, which led to him researching the work of singer Sidor Belarsky and early 20th century Jewish music. He has cited Paul Robeson and Josephine Baker as personal inspirations.

In addition to his performance of traditional Yiddish art song, Russell has blended traditional African-American and Ashkenazi music to create his own musical style. He sometimes performs in a duo called Tsvey Brider ("Two Brothers") with pianist/accordionist Dmitri Gaskin. He also collaborated with the klezmer group Veretski Pass on a project called "Convergence". He traveled to Israel, where he studied Yiddish at Tel Aviv University. They were married in a Jewish ceremony in June 2015. Russell lived in Massachusetts from 2017 to 2022 and since 2022 lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Discography City of the Future (2014) with Hot Pstromi, Yale Strom, Michael Alpert, Judy Bressler, Vira Lozinsky, Elizabeth Schwartz, Daniel Kahn and Jack Falk Convergence (2018) with Veretski Pass (Cookie Segelstein, Joshua Horowitz, Stuart Brotman, featuring John Santos) (2022, with Tsvey Brider and Baymele) (Borscht Beat)