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Spring '99 Updates:
Gary Back From Most Successful European Tour Ever
In the Studio For Sissel
Back to the Front in France and Israel
Gary just returned from an 18 show, month-long tour of Europe that broke
new ground and attendance records for him—selling out shows in Germany
(Leipzig and Marburg, disappointed fans being turned away at the door as the venues
couldn't contain all the Lucas' supporters) and traveling for the first time
to Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Luxembourg.
Gary also returned to
consolidate his burgeoning fan-base in Brussells (a special Golem gig at
the beautiful theater in the round called Botanique), Berlin (a packed
house at the Insel, the incredible East Berlin club that looks like a set
out of the Golem—plus rave reviews in the national paper Der Tagespiegel—see below, and Zitty Magazine), and Budapest (an incendiary solo show
where he was joined by avant-Hungarian luminaries The Scientists for a
free-form blow-out).
He also made many new Austrian and German fans
(including 250 alone in the university town of Luneberg for The Golem). A
mix of solo shows and Golem concerts, Gary also played mini solo sets at
the end of his Golem dates to treat the fans with new material from his
just released Oxygen Music Works EP "Gary Lucas@Paradiso".
All in all,
Gary visited 7 countries in a month, racking up countless kilometers on
the autobahn with his trusty driver Eric Don, taking many ferries up to
Scandinavia and back (Oslo's Mars Club the scene of a very memorable
Golem show), beginning the tour in Dresden, one of his favorite cities,
with a triumphant 2 hour solo show at the famed Star Club on February 24
and finishing up with a stellar gig in Goppingen's Odeon venue on March
20 organzied by old friend Rosaria Steinbach and crew.
A splendid time was had by all, and Gary managed to sell an obscene
number of his
6 solo CDs on the tour, breaking all previous records.
Then it was a fast
jet back to homebase NYC where the very next day Gary was invited to
perform in the studio on the upcoming new album from Scandinavian
superstar Sissel (you can hear her now on the "Titanic" soundtrack
album). At the helm was legendary producer Rick Chertoff (Joan Osborne,
Cyndi Lauper, Hooters and much more) assisted by Hooter Rob Hyman (ace
keyboardist) and engineering whiz William Wittman. Stay tuned for
further developments on this project!
Meanwhile Gary is set to leave for
Europe once again on April 18 for 5 dates with his band Gods and Monsters
in France (his first time playing there since 1991). Gigs include Paris,
Lille, Strasbourg, Tours and a show in Ajaccio Corsica (see the Calendar for
more info), with Gary accompanied by Ernie Brooks on bass and longtime
percussionist Jonathan Kane.
From Strasbourg he flies on April 28 to Tel
Aviv, Israel (his debut performance there) to play The Golem solo at the
Next Festival alongside such diverse international acts as Austrian
trip-hop artist Kruder and Dorfmeister and Gong leader Daevid Allen (see the Calendar for more details). Gary considers it quite an honor to be
invited to play in Israel and is eagerly awaiting both his Tel Aviv and
French appearances.
Meanwhile, here is the text of his writeup in Der
Tagespiegel, the national German newspaper, from March 14, 1999:
Baptism In German/Jewish History:
The U.S. guitarist Gary Lucas accompanies the silent film "The Golem"
When New York guitarist Gary Lucas comes to Berlin, it is always a
little bit like he's coming home. He began his career as a solo musician
at the Berlin JazzFest more than 10 years ago, but it is not merely this
milestone in his career that ties this guitarist with passionate tone to
the German capitol. Gary Lucas lost a large part of his family under the
Nazis and he now tries to construct bridges from the Jewish side
outwards. So he uses each opportunity to search out evidences of
German/Jewish history, and he knows how to tell the kind of stories about
this history that even native Berliners don't know.
In Captain Beefheart's band, which he still refers to as "Beefheart
University", Lucas studied the psychoacoustical laws of music. From the
beginning, he transcended the borders of genre and he lets out at the
moment of playing whatever immediately moves him. His debut album
"Skeleton at the Feast" belongs to the classics of modern guitar
performance, and with 5 further albums he's been able to knit together a
thick net of classic folk song, progressive rock, free jazz and beyond,
heavy metal, and classical music. Even before John Zorn, Lucas concerned
himself with Jewish themes and crossed over to the opposite aesthetic
shore..."As a Jew, to perform the wonderful music of the anti-semite
Richard Wagner right here for the German public is for me a challenge and
a calling."
With his Golem project—another foray into joining the German and
Jewish worlds—he played live accompanying the silent film as one of the
first musicians in recent times, and helped start a worldwide trend. As
the composer of Jeff Buckley's hits "Mojo Pin" and "Grace" he was able to
add 2 further jewels of pop music into his account. Nothing however
compares to the experience of his live performance. He not only melds
himself together with his instrument such that you can't even tell where
skin and flesh end and wood and string begin, but he also becomes one
with his melodies. His sound is like an enchanted forest in which one
only finds oneself only going deeper and deeper without however feeling
any desire to leave. It doesn't matter whether he's playing the acoustic
or electric guitar or if he pulls out his dobro. Lucas gives his audience
the feeling of sharing in a secret from which normal mortals are
excluded. On his most recent album "Busy Being Born", a collection of old
and new Jewish children's songs, he lets fairies and monsters spring from
his strings. Lucas reveals himself as a boogey man, with Mephistophelian
joy he rubs his hands together. "I like to frighten people. Even as a
child I enjoyed being frightened myself. Nothing else can really shake us
awake." It is not possible to predict where one might find oneself being
led at the solo performance of this manic sound scientist. It is certain
however that he will get deep under the skin of every listener with his
guitar injections.
—Wolf Kampmann