Gary Lucas   what's new  



Gary's Golem project lauded in new Village Voice article about the NYC Jewish Music scene

"But the first new wave of Jewish fusion-ists came from the late-'80s downtown. John Zorn created his shoestring Tzadik label by asking likely musicians to record Jewish-jazz fusions, thereby altering many career trajectories. The Knitting Factory, under the equally visionary direction of Michael Dorf, promoted shows and tours and launched the JAM (Jewish Alternative Movement) label, featuring Roy Nathanson, Marc Ribot, Zorn, and others injecting Jewish elements into jazz, avant-garde, and punk rock—including the Klezmatics, who were "the first to strike a path between copying old music or only doing something new and radical," says leader Frank London, whose new CD Carnival Conspiracy: In the Marketplace All Is Subterfuge brings a playful musical spirit to the history of Jews in Brazil. In '89, singer- guitarist Gary Lucas debuted his dazzling non-klezmer-yet-Jewish fusion score to the 1920 German expressionist film The Golem, while African American clarinetist Don Byron blended jazz with the borscht belt parodies of actor Joel Grey's father, Mickey Katz. Jamaica entered the mix after Profile Records asked King Django to record a Christmas CD, and instead he gave them 1998's seminal Jewish-ska fusion Roots and Culture."

For the full article by Elena Oumano, click here.