Give 'Em Enough Europa

Back in NYC now for a few days from a whirlwind of a Dutch tour, an excellent outing with the guys and myself playing in Utrecht and Amsterdam wherein the band jelled as never before...ran into my friend Ori Kaplan of Balkan Beatbox at JFK before we embarked and had a nice unbumpy flight over the pond (knock wood for the future...)

Gary Lucas & Gods and Monsters in Amsterdam, May 2007

l-r: Jerry Harrison, Ernie Brooks, Jason Candler, Billy Ficca, Gary Lucas

l-r: Jerry Harrison, Ernie Brooks, Jason Candler, Gary Lucas, Billy Ficca

l-r: Ernie Brooks, Gary Lucas, Jerry Harrison, Billy Ficca, Jason Candler
photos by Arjen Veldt | Click to enlarge

Due to a passport snafu Jerry had to miss the first show at the Tivoli...but we made up for his absence in the lineup that night with a firestorming set that alternately skirted the edge of the free improv abyss at times without a total descent into the maelstrom and soared into the blue(s) empyrean (like way over yonder...)--meaning, we had a hell of a good show, considering we parachuted into Schipol Airport in Amsterdam that morning, drove immediately half an hour to Utrecht, and after pit stopping at our lovely hotel in the country (thank you Dander Grande and Eva Van Vlassaker from Mojo Concerts) we made show at the Tivoli with barely any recovery time (less and less clubs these days throwing in that extra recovery free day...what me worry, I discovered enormous reserves of energy back in the Knit Fac 21 shows in 22 days barnstorming era of the early 90's tours of Europa and learned quickly to operate at full firepower on 2-3 hours sleep...)...Jack Pisters and his crackerjack S.C.A.R excellente trio (hi Jamie hi Victor!) opened both nights for us and proved a very complementary opening act, they did a really compelling and good psych rock set replete with sitar and long hypno-grooves and were fun to be on the road with as well (plus Jack lent me his ancient Fender Showman and in tandem with his Roland JC-120 I really got a 3-D sound going particularly on my '46 Gibson J-45)...

Live at the Melkweg, Amsterdam 5/17/07

Gary Lucas

Gary Lucas

Gary Lucas & Gods and Monsters (l-r: Gary, Ernie Brooks, Jason Candler)

Gary Lucas & Gods and Monsters (l-r: Gary, Billy Ficca, Ernie)
photos by Arjen Veldt | Click to enlarge

"The Milky Way Express--ALL ABOARD!" croons an ecstatic Jimi on my favorite (albeit little known) Hendrix jam entitled "The Stars That Play With Laughing Sam's Dice" (a psychedelic acronym if ever there wuz'n, check it out), and sho'nuff our maiden voyage at the Melkweg next night was a good 'un, Jerry Harrison showed up fit and ready to rock in the company of his lovely wife Carol, my guys Pascal Plantinga and Eric Don and Arjen Veldt were there and my guy Co de Kloet taped the whole set for NPS and I'm listening back now to a tape of our show composed of equal parts thunder and lightning (such low and powerful drum and bass frequencies as to put one into cardiac arrest, the whole stage is perched on a massive sub-woofer which literally rocked us on our heels), it'll air Sept. 6th over there--one of our best shows I kid you not!! My band fucking ROCKS (and gyres and gimbols...)

Dutch fan Henk Langeveld's drawings of Gary Lucas & Gods and Monsters from their May 17th Amsterdam show | Click to enlarge


Next day I went down and did an acoustic workshop at the good old Paard in the Hague thanks to my friends Jack and Marielle for hooking it up, followed by an evening acoustic concert there...also did an interview with Paul Tingen, who wrote a terrific book about Miles Davis entitled "Miles Beyond" (Billboard Books) which is particularly insightful about Miles' great unsung electric fusion period, particularly complimentary to the barbaric yawp over the roof tops of the world of the legendary and largely unsung Pete Cosey--very well-researched, will send you back again for multiple listens, quotes in there too from "Vampire Circus" vid star Peter Keepnews (Keepnews is good news)--you can order this directly from Paul here--and well worth the bread--I inhaled most of this tome on the flight back home, and it is a must-read...

Gary at the Paard in Den Haag, Holland, 5/18/07

photo by Danijel Mihjlovic | Click to enlarge

the next day flew to Paris for my best show ever at the Sunset Jazz Club in Les Halles, an acoustic romp enlivened by my guy and fellow Mod and Gonster ace saxophonist Jason Candler who took the bus from Amsterdam that morning so's to sit in with me (what a trooper!)-- the club had bumped me up into the main Sunside room for the occasion, and the joint got nice and packed, my friend Elli Medeiros looking lovelier than ever sat in on a plangent "Dulce" and an avant-tangent "Skin Diving" from my new album (Elli's in the new Catherine Deneuve flick and her name is writ large on posters currently all over Paris)--Melissa Mars had to play a show in Tunisia unfortunately so she couldn't make it (we wrote a song together which will be on her forthcoming album on Universal which we were gonna debut--tant pis, till next time)...

Gary and Elli Medeiros live at the Sunside Jazz Club, Les Halles, Paris, May 19th, 2007

Gary and French rocker Eric Duchamp outside the Sunset Jazz Club, Les Halles, Paris, May 19th, 2007

photos by Patricia Lecompte | Click to enlarge

My French label posse from Production Speciales was there and Christel and Emmanuel esp. from the label really made me feel at home avant show, as after they picked me up from CDG we sat and snacked out at a bistro out in the mad Saturday afternoon streets of Les Halles, for me a croque monsieur and pepsi plus got to mooch alot of Christel's delicieux salade poulet ...saw lots of old friends and fans at the gig including my new friend and collaborateur Eric Duchamp, an amazingly soulful singer/songwriter/rocker who gave me an advance mix of a new song I contributed guitar too, "La Corde", from his upcoming "Dans Tous Les Sens Du Terme" album, sounds really cool!--also delighted my guy 'n gal Mark Lyon and Laura Brunelliere showed up unexpectedly (newlyweds now, I dedicated my arrangement of "Our Love is Here to Stay" to them, which was commissioned by Glenn Kenny for HIS wedding last summer, Glenn happened to be down the road apiece at Cannes that weekend along with Richard Porton)...also old friends like Nick Hobbs, Nick Healing and his lovely wife and family... and new friends like Herve Bossuat from the French Ministry of Ecology and the Environment, who wrote me a few months back that this year he had discovered my music for the first time and then ordered a sizeable number of albums from my catalog...what a great night, played 3 hour long sets and was ready to keep going and going and going, and after some delicious 2am crepes with nutella and bananas purchased from a street vendor some fans had touted as making the best crepes in Paris Christel and Emmanuel and I wandered around and around looking for the entrance to the massive car park which resides under Les Halles where Emmanuel had stashed his ride, car located successfully after a Seinfeldian search we then drove around and around in circles looking for the exit from the car park then over the river and through the woods to Belleville, destination Roy Stuart's sumptuous atelier near the Folies Bergere (where the cover shot for the US, French and Russsian editions of "Coming Clean" was snapped) and then I finally crashed into an 8 hour trance, most sleep I've had in months actually...and then it was 11am Sunday morning time for an interview with Guitarist Magazine which was okay really though was a bit groggy to tell the truth, and chilly chilled--pleasant weather in Holland but tres soggy in Paris, so stayed inside afterwards as the heavens came tumblin' down down and went back for a nap-- and then got up for a jam with Roy whose new movie "The Lost Door" looked really hot on his Avid editing system (have done a lot of music with Roy over the years--few know this but Roy played drums in an early CBGB's band back in the day called Pigeons of the Universe which boasted a pre-Plasmastics Richie Stotts on guitar and a pre-Patti Smith Ivan Kral on keys--you can hear some of our collaborations on the DVD which comes as a free insert in Roy's last Taschen book "The Fourth Body")...his lovely Chinese girlfriend Ellisa cooked us a great veggie dinner, and then we all crashed--went back to Amsterdam next morning to pick up my gear and do a little r and r looksee, then home again home again after a wonderful week in Europa, very fun trip, and every gig a stand-out...

but no peace for the witty and last night the Gods and Monsters trio of Ernie me and Billy played a worthy benefit for Question Mark of the Mysterians at the new Highline ballroom where we ran into Legs McNeill, Danny Fields and Jim Marshall sitting ringside (just re-read Legs' seminal "Please Kill Me"--wotta great book!)...well organized by local boy and sometime ? collaborator Gary Fury, other guests included Tommy Ramone in a bluegrass duo, and original Blue Oyster Cult member Joe Bouchard doing a solo singer/songwriter set, plus Genesis P. Orridge and Paul Schaffer in the finale...I played a smoking jam with Gary singing, Joe on bass, and John Hawken of the original Nashville Teens (and Strawbs, and so many other great UK bands) on keyboards on the Nuggets perennial /J.D. Loudermilk-penned "Tobacco Road", big fun and we did a rave-up at the end Blues Magoos stylee (my late uncle David, who promoted rock shows in Rochester New York in the late 60's and who later bought the Voit Corporation, once brought a package bill of said Magoos in their flashing neon psychedelic suits opening for The Who circa "I Can See for Miles", with Herman's Hermits the headliner into the Rochester War Memorial in 1967, a show forever burned on me brain)...

and now I'm off to play a semi-private publishing party for my guy Mitch Myers at Sweet Rhythm, check out his "The Boy Who Cried Freebird" (HarperCollins), gonna play solo and then jam with my friends Sex Mob...a bientot!

xxLove

Gary

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonda

I'm writing this hastily as I am dashing to complete packing for a Gods and Monsters Dutch tour, leaving late afternoon in fact.

But I wanted to tell you before I left that I just had the coolest time in LA playing solo at the MusiCares MAP Fund Benefit which was a tribute to my friend Chris Cornell. The MAP Fund serves musicians in dire need help and support who succumb to the grueling stress of life on the road, and is affiliated with the Grammy organization and NARAS (the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences). It was held at the swanky Music Box at the Fonda Theater on Hollywood Blvd, and I must say it was a first class event all the way, and they've always had a bunch of different acts perform there on the night in question--and Chris as the honoree recommended me for the gig (I'm featured on his forthcoming new album "Carry On" which is out June 7th on Interscope)...

Gary at the MAP Fund Benefit to honor Chris Cornell held at the Fonda Theater in Hollywood on May 11th | Click to enlarge

back row (l-r): Alice Cooper, MusiCares' Kristen Madsen, MusiCares' Harold Owen, MC Tommy Davidson, incoming Chairman of MusiCares John Branca, Jill McCluskey, outgoing MusiCares Chairman Les Bider
front row (l-r): MusiCares' Scott Goldman and Wynnie Wynn, Gary, Chris Cornell, Neil Portnow (president of NARAS), From the Heart award honoree Jeff McCluskey, Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan

I first heard about it indirectly when Scott Goldman from the Recording Academy contacted my website to order a copy of my album with Jozef Van Wissem entitled "The Universe of Absence", I emailed him and he was very enthusiastic about the "Absence" album and we began what's proven to be a flourishing friendship--turns out he is a big guitar freak (and an excellent player in his own right) who'd been aware of my work since my "Evangeline" album from the mid-90's...and he wrote me that it looked like the organization at Chris' behest were going to ask me to come out and play at the event...he came to NYC shortly afterwards and caught one of my solo performances at the Gershwin Hotel here where I performed on my 1926 National steel guitar, and was quite enthusiastic about the sound and my playing and thought that would be a very appropriate instrument to perform on at this tribute (it's the axe most featured on "Universe of Absence")...

Gary at the MusiCares MAP Fund Benefit Concert

Images from the MusiCares MAP Fund Benefit Concert program | Click to enlarge


So voila, Caroline and I spent several golden days in the LA sunshine ensconced at the renovated Roosevelt Hotel (fabulous poolside action, ghosts abounding apparently there too--was where Marilyn was glimpsed on the diving board the last day of her life)...and got to spend some good quality time with my Mom and Dad and sister Laurie and brother-in-law Ezra on the first night out at the Mission Inn in Riverside...had lunch at Lucky Devil (great burgers!) with my pal Roy Trakin from Hits, who squired me and Caroline around in the de rigeur LA S.U.V. stylee...and had dinner the following night with my friend Cathal Coughlan, a really nice guy and one of the finest singers and songwriters I know, his brilliant work with his bands 80's and 90's band Microdisney and Fatima Mansions respectively is deplorably unsung in this country for sure, plus he's made several outstanding solo albums...hopefully this situation will change as he's getting the full reissue treatment soon through Sanctuary...

and then on Friday night I was given the actual red carpet treatment in front of the Fonda Theater, gamely running a gauntlet of reporters and broadcasters (including my pal Premiere Radio's Dave Schulps, and also a Latin American broadcast service who were delighted when I namechecked Astor Piazzolla as my favorite musician from that region) and giving soundbites about the great charity event I was going to play at, on into the Fonda theater, where Wynnie Wynn, one of the MAP Fund directors, an incredibly friendly and vivacious person, helped get us comfortably situated there (lounges and tables on the floor, the sold-out balcony was reserved for the fans--including my guy the LA Local 47 Musician's Union live music major domo and ace musician Alfredo Rubalcava)...I shook hands with Neil Portnow, a very nice guy, the former Buddha Records major domo and now the head of NARAS, and sat at comfortable a table with Caroline and some of the Gibson Guitars west coast office crew who were one of the sponsors (I rehearse a lot in their East Coast studios here in the old Hit Factory)...caught excellent sets by Kenny Wayne Shepherd and some of Stevie Ray Vaughan's old Double Trouble band...Dave Gahan from Depeche Mode enchanted with a stellar band including my guy John Frucisante from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and ace bassist Martyn LeNoble...Army of Anyone did an incendiary thrash of a set...Tommy Davidson was so funny as compere (great comic timing, and what a gifted mimic!)...and I spent some time down in the dressing room talking to the legendary Alice Cooper, who was there to present the award to Chris--what can I say, they guy looked great, unaged and so charming and witty and friendly, I've always loved Alice since my college days spinning "Be My Lover" and "Sun Arise" on my Yale radio show...and I had a mini-reunion with his personal mgr. Toby Mamis, who used to do PR in NYC and whom I hadn't seen in about 30 years!

And then it was my turn to play--and I must say after the high-decibel onslaught the audience seemed incredibly receptive to my lonesome steel guitar, Wynnie said later you could hear a pin drop out there, they were really really listening...I did a tribute to my friend and collaborator Jeff Buckley by playing the instrumental music I gave him that became our "Song to No One"...and then played a deep dark bottleneck blues...and I must say I got a very warm reception (to say the least) from the sold-out house...

and then Alice presented the award to Chris...and then Chris brought his new band out and they rocked through 5 songs or so which spanned his entire career, including an intense cover of "Billie Jean" which is on Chris' new album, also the theme from "Casino Royale" ("You Know My Name"), ending with a version of Soundgarden's anthem "Black Hole Sun" (I love this song)...the band rocked hard, and Chris was in fine voice, looking so poised and relaxed--he is a true inspiration.

And then it was over... and as we left the theater I got mucho kudos and congrats from lots of fans and industry folks alike for my set, which really warmed my soul--this kind of feedback is what keeps me going through thick and thin and makes the whole thing worthwhile.

Then we went out for a midnight chili-dog at Carney's (we tried Pink's, but it looked like a scene out of "Day of the Locust" in front of the joint)...and back to NYC where I'm now in the midst of frantically packing for Gods and Monsters shows in Utrecht at the Tivoli and at the Milky Way in Amsterdam, which is getting taped for NPS (National Dutch Radio)--our boy Jerry Harrison's flying in from SF for the shows, so Ernie, Billy, Jason and I are really looking forward to busting out tunes for our loyal Dutch fans (and certainly, Holland was the first country to embrace my playing in a major way, going back to the Beefheart days--and I LOVE PLAYING IN HOLLAND!)

Friday I'm down to the Hague for an acoustic workshop and evening show at the Paard...then on Saturday I skip to Paris for 2 sets at one of my favorite jazz club, the Sunset in Les Halles, Jason may sit in with me there as he's footloose for a few days before joining up with his Hungry March Band'ers for some shows, and for sure I will be graced with the presence of the lovely Elli Medeiros, French icon going back to her days fronting the only French punk group that mattered :-), the Stinky Toys, who will sing some of the songs we collaborated on over the years, including "Skin Diving" from my latest "Coming Clean"

Meanwhile there's a new link for the clip of "Swamp T'ing", from our forthcoming new live dvd/cd, check it out here.

more soon...

xxLove

Gary

Wroblewski/Blues Key/Blue Skies (Nothin' But...)

Wednesday night I attended a terrific concert at Birdland, by Jan "Ptaszyn" Wroblewski--not exactly a household name in this country, but a legend in his native Poland, the "Godfather of Polish Jazz" in fact--and his quartet was outstanding, the tenor giant blowing forcefully over one of the best rhythm sections ever...their book was rooted in mainstream hard-bop and blues, the bassist particularly impressive...

"Birdman" Wroblewski was a member along with ECM recording artist Tomasz Stanko in several of the great Polish composer Kyrzystof Komeda's seminal ensembles (Komeda's astonishing 1965 album "Astigmatic", a milestone in Polish jazz history, or shall we just say, music history, period, also featured fusion jazz violinist Michal Urbaniak in the lineup alongside Stanko and Wroblewski)...anyway it was an exceptional night of music, with world-class jazz in full force and on display...

and the moaning slow blues of the second to last number grabbed everyone hard, from the black jazz singer Judy Brady who sat beside me to my pal Tomasz's mother across from me...and one wonders whether it is just reflexive jazz-jingoism/national chauvinism on the part of many New York based diehard jazz fans to miss out on a chance to hear such a great international ensemble blow (or just willful solipsism/blissful ignorance)...dunno, the great jazz debate rages on-- not just dividing along colour lines, but also along national boundaries, most recent flash point of this contumely was Ken Burns' startling sin of omission/outright dismissal of much European and Asian-based jazz (avant or otherwise) from his vaunted PBS series...possible blowback from the likes of such yankee-centric aesthetic/critical prejudices manifesting itself now in the form of the venerable Dutch North Sea Jazz Festival's All-European Jazz programmation this summer...

I remember catching Michael Urbaniak with the amazing avant-vocalist Ursula Dudziak in the early 70's at a club down here in the Village and it was one of the best concerts I can recall from that period--certainly there is no limit to creative expression emanating from the Polish musical sector under the elastic rubric of "Jazz" (jazzman Komeda is probably best known for his Roman Polanski film soundtracks--check my interpretation of his "Lullaby from 'Rosemary's Baby' " with the lovely Polish vocalist and actress Anna Podolak here--recorded live at Brooklyn Sugar last fall, to introduce my "Monsters from the Id" film music project...you can see clips from the Polanski film projected behind us...a haunted studio version of this song is on both the French version of my latest album "Coming Clean" from Productions Speciales, and the new Dutch version--in a deluxe digipack!--released through Dawa Records in the Benelux this week)...

Apres Birdland there was a glittering festive party in the penthouse apartment of my pal, vivacious and gracious Monika Fabijanska, director of the Polish Cultural Institute, her new digs replete with terrace where a delicious repast lay waiting (excellent potato pancakes!) and where I was introduced to Krzystof Kasprzyk, the Polish Consul General, a warm and charming intellectual/raconteur--and a keen jazz fan...also the radiant actress Elzbieta Czyzewska who was so great and sexy as Donna Frasquetta Salero in Wojciech Has' 1965 film "The Saragossa Manuscript" (one of Jerry Garcia's favorite films, actually--based on the classic picaresque, near-surrealist novel "The Manuscript Found in Saragossa" by Count Jan Potocki, which I devoured over the course of several lengthy European tours in the late '90's--Has' film, a marvel in black and white, is very faithful to the book: hallucinatory, delirious, hilarious, with an unbelievable Dali-esque mise en scene-- an obvious influence on Terry Gilliam's oeuvre)...Elzbieta, an icon of Polish cinema--and in the swinging 60's, considered her country's own Brigitte Bardot--was married once to the recently deceased dean of activist journalism David Halberstam ("The Best and the Brightest")--and to this day is still an active performer in the cinema (indeed...turns out that Caroline had not too long ago cast her in a film)...and she proved an excellent and provocative conversationalist...also Marek Serafin, the general manager of Lot Airlines, a very congenial guy and a big jazz buff...and many others, including my friends Tomasz Smolarski from the Polish Cultural Institute, with his lovely girl friend and my occasional collaborator Anna Podolak...and of course, the guest of honor Jan "Birdman" Wroblewski and his band, who were flush with their Birdland triumph (We Love Birdland! Now if only Pee Wee Marquette was still around to kibbitz and introduce the musicians)...This was one of the most enjoyable and memorable nights out in ages... I am always intellectually stimulated and engaged by encounters with the best and the brightest artists and writers hailiing from the crossroads of Central Europe...

Also quite entertaining was a reading at the JCC uptown the next evening of a new screenplay-in-progress by two very sharp and funny writers from "Sex and the City", Emmy award-nominees Elisa Zuritsky and Julie Rottenberg, childhood friends and writing partners since the age of 9...Caroline assembled a sterling cast of Broadway professionals to bring to life their delightful "Shelf Life", a very Pirandello-ish comic riff on the Development Process, and an incisive fantasy on characters come to life, literally trapped between the covers of a screenplay, and in danger of being disappeared by a single stroke of a computer's cursor...ran into Elisa's husband Jordan Barowitz there, whom I hadn't seen since 1993 when he was the tour manager on the Knitting Factory JAM Tour, with whom I traveled hither and yon cross Europe and shared many excellent adventures (and lived to tell the tale!)...Caroline and I caught a ride back downtown from our friendly neighbor and friend of Elisa and Julie, Bradley Jacobs, a senior editor at Us magazine...

well, Out of the Inkwell, and into real life now, the sun is shining in the bluest of blue skies...

xxLove

Gary