We’ll let Gary Lucas tell you in his own words, as lifted from his blog:
Coming up–the fabulous Gods and Monsters 20th Anniversary gala on Thursday June 11th to be held at the sumptuous Gramercy Theater, a great venue on 23rd Street in Manhattan reminiscent of the old Fillmore East at its best…alongside my Gods and Monsters guys Ernie Brooks, Billy Ficca, Jason Candler and Joe Hendel (New York’s finest) will be special guests the legendary Alan Vega (Suicide), Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith), Peter Stampfel (Holy Modal Rounders)–and–omigod–rangy blues twanger Jon Spencer (Blues Explosion), who will join me in a sick pas de deux on the Johnny Burnette/Yardbirds classic “The Train Kept a’ Rollin’” (they got it right there) (looked so good Jack couldn’t let her go)…Mike Edison will add appropriate frissons on his theremin during “One Man’s Meat”.. Dean Bowman, one of the best singers on the planet, will put his pipes in the service of the anniversary with a couple numbers from Chase the Devil… and the whole evening will be emceed by the erudite Mr. Dusty Wright…it’s only 20 bucks too, such a deal!!…gonna kick-off the evening solo, then move into duos with some of these guys, and then–my excellent band will take the stage…it was 20 years ago today (or thereabouts–mid-July 1989 to be precise) that Gods and Monsters first raised its barbaric yawp ‘oer the rooftops of the world (well, under the arch in Prospect Park) when we blew out the PA during the second number at the Welcome Back to Brooklyn Festival–Yardbirds producer Giorgio Gomelsky was there to video the proceedings in all their glory, and he promised to give me a quicktime archival clip to put up just in time for this anniversary show on the garylucas YouTube channel–so very very soon you then witness me, Tony Thunder Smith, Paul Now and Jared Nickerson kick it live in the first incarnation of the Gods and Monsters Beast–
Yes, Gary Lucas has joined the ranks of the friended (and clearly, he has many). Which is where we got the news that, he “and Dean Bowman just finished recording the new Chase the Devil album at Shelter Island Sound with Steve Addabbo at the controls–yeah!!!” Furthermore, he writes that he “is rehearsing with the amazing violinist Emi Ohi Resnick this morning for his upcoming Amsterdam shows June 23rd and 24th accompanying Abel Gance’s 1924 silent anti-war masterpiece “J’Accuse” with a new live score.”
W.B. Mook has posted audio of Gary performing with Nick Cave, reading from his work, “And the Ass Saw the Angel.” Right here. From Improve the Shining Hour.
Gary has a miracle arm; believe it or not, despite quite a serious injury, he is back playing guitar again. We are relieved! And as he notes, “I played my arrangement of George Gershwin’s “Our Love is Here to Stay” at a memorial service in Riverside California on Monday for my father Murray Lucas, who died at age 86 on Passover. My dad suggested I start playing guitar at the age of 9…and I am so glad he did.” Our condolences to Gary and his family.
But, ever onward, the “legendary left-field guitarist” continues to perform:
Sunday May 10th
11am–5:45pm
The Jewish Museum, 92nd St. and 5th Ave. NYC–Gary Lucas’ original solo guitar score is featured in the premiere screening of
Emmy award-winning filmmaker Slawomir Grunberg’s new documentary
”Paint What You Remember”,
a film about the 92 year old Polish painter Mayer July http://garylucas.com/www/dates/Mayer_pr.html
We were sorry to hear that Gary injured his arm recently in an accident involving some ice. Fortunately, it looks like he will be able to perform again in a couple of months, and you can look forward to: Friday, May 29th
8pm
BAM Cafe, Brooklyn NY–CHASE THE DEVIL (Gary Lucas and Dean Bowman) perform a concert of spiritual roots music
including gospel blues by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, The Staple Singers, and Blind Willie Johnson; Jewish liturgical music, and more
new tracks recorded by Steve Addabo at http://www.myspace.com/wechasethedevil
Check out the new CHASE THE DEVIL concert clip “Hinay Ma Tov” (one of our faves) recorded live at the landmark Eldridge Street Synagogue NYC 2/25/09 up now on YouTube:
Mark your calendars: March 3rd, 2009: Gary Lucas will rock the Rock-It Science Festival:
From Goings on About Town, in the New Yorker:
NIGHT LIFE
HIGHLINE BALLROOM
431 W. 16th St. (212-414-5994)—March 3: The Rock-It Science Festival. A slew of A-list musicians, including the crooner Rufus Wainwright, the Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye, the heavy-metal monster Dee Snider (of Twisted Sister), the Paisley Underground soldier Steve Wynn (from the Dream Syndicate), and the guitarist Gary Lucas (a veteran of Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band), join a number of leading scientists, including Joseph LeDoux, a neuroscientist, Daniel J. Levitin, a cognitive psychologist and the author of “This Is Your Brain on Music,” and the evolutionary geneticist Pardis Sabeti, all of whom also like to rock out. This show is sponsored by the Sensation to Emotion Network, an organization devoted to raising awareness about sensory-processing disorders.
A new video available for your spiritual delight (one of 3 newly posted to you tube): “Children of Zion.” Dean Bowman and Gary Lucas are CHASE THE DEVIL –
“CHASE THE DEVIL was born last summer out of a mutual love of spiritual music drawing from classical Jewish songs, gospel, and blues. Both the jazz vocalist, Dean Bowman, and his guitarist counterpart, Gary Lucas, have been steeping themselves in deep-roots music since their earliest musical strivings. Bowman and Lucas are world class musicians, and have played on hundreds of albums. The men reinvigorate the music of such transcendental artists such as Rev. Gary Davis, William Blake, and Blind Willie Johnson. ” — The Villager (NYC), Feb. 18-24, 2009, vol. 78, no. 37
GARY LUCAS NYC DOUBLE HEADER WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 25TH
@ 7pm CHASE THE DEVIL (Gary Lucas and vocalist Dean Bowman) perform a concert of spiritual roots music, including blues gospel by Rev. Gary Davis, Blind Willie Johnson, and the Staple Singers; Jewish liturgical music; and more Museum at Eldridge Street, 12 Eldridge Street NYC part of the Eldridge Street Coffee House series http://www.eldridgestreet.org/calendar-newyork-events.html listen to new tracks from Chase the Devil recorded by Steve Addabo http://www.myspace.com/wechasethedevil
and…
@ 10:30pm GARY LUCAS & GODS AND MONSTERS play live in the main space of Public Assembly 70 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg NY with Ernie Brooks (Modern Lovers) bass, Billy Ficca (Television) drums, Jason Candler (Hungry March Band) alto and tenor sax, and Joe Hendel (The Latest Show on Earth) keyboards and trombone http://garylucas.com/www/gods/ listen to new Gods and Monsters studio tracks produced by Jerry Harrison http://www.myspace.com/theoriginalgodsandmonsters and http://www.myspace.com/garylucas
A few weeks ago we mentioned that Gary has been doing a lot of “cross-cultural melding lately,” but hey — he’s always doing that! And in one of his best interviews yet, on Leadel, he talks about “Fusing Jewish Music.” We love Gary’s genius for bridging cultures, and for his ability to work with difference to create beautiful and challenging music.
