Gary Lucas   sounds of the surreal  

Images from Fernand Leger's "Ballet Mecanique" (France, 1924)


still photo from Ladislaw Starewicz's "The Cameraman's Revenge" (Russia, 1912)


still photo from Rene Clair's "Entr-acte" (France, 1924)


Gary plays his original score to Rene Clair's "Entr'acte" (1924) as part of his "Sounds of the Surreal" project, the Portugeuse Assocation (an old synagogue), Montreal, Canada, 10/7/07
photo by Pierre Richardson



Gary stares into the Eyes of Fate playing "Sounds of the Surreal" at the Malaga Fantasy Film Festival 11/19/09


Gary Lucas performs "Sounds of the Surreal"
at the Malaga Film Festival 11/19/09



Gary Lucas performs "Sounds of the Surreal"
at the Malaga Film Festival 11/19/09



Original poster for Sounds of the Surreal premiere at Walter Reade Theater in Lincoln Center

 
"Guitarist of 1000 Ideas" Gary Lucas accompanies 3 masterpieces of the early fantastic silent cinema with his original improvisational solo guitar scores in a program commissioned by the Film Society of Lincoln Center which he debuted at the Walter Reade Theater on Dec. 28th 2000. Since then he's gone on to sell out the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, the James River Film Festival in Richmond Virginia, and NYC's World Financial Center Wintergarden in February 2009 with his heady brew of ghostly music and haunting images from a forgotten world...
The films:
Entr'acte
Rene Clair (France, 1924)
Running time: 20 min.
"Entr'acte" is just what the title says—a madcap black humorous short work shown between live theatre performances devised by French film director Clair ("Sur les toits du Paris") and featuring cameos by such famous surrealists as Marcel Duchamp. The central event of the film is a funeral where the participants, including the corpse, are dancers and the hearse is drawn by a camel. A major influence on Monty Python!
Ballet Mecanique
Fernand Leger (France, 1924)
Running time: 15 min.
This experimental short by the Cubist painter takes everyday images and transforms them into abstract patterns. This was Leger’s only film, but became a model for all subsequent Surrealist experiments in cinema.
The Camerman's Revenge
Ladislaw Starewicz (Russia, 1912)
Running time: 15 min.
An outlandishly sardonic morality play involving four insects, two clandestine trysts, and one hell-bent-for-revenge photographer. The Russian-born Starewicz emigrated to Paris at the turn of the century, and was one of the earliest and most unique pioneers of stop-motion animation. This film utilizes actual insect armatures as models, and was light-years ahead of its time in both conception and subject matter.

Check out an excerpt from "The Cameraman's Revenge" here with Gary Lucas' solo music for National steel guitar accompanying the action on the soundtrack.
Gary made the European premiere in Vienna at Porgy and Bess in September 2007 and the Canadian premiere at Pop Montreal in October 2007.
Check out new photos of Gary's stellar performance of "Sounds of the Surreal/Monsters from the Id" at Fancine (Festival de Cine Fantástico de Málaga) 11/14/09
Read a rave review of Gary's Pop Montreal show of "Sounds of the Surreal" and "Monsters from the Id" from the Montreal Gazette.
Read a rave review of Gary's performance of "Sounds of the Surreal" at the Malaga Film Festival 11/19/09 from La Opinion de Malaga.
The full program runs 44 minutes.
For booking information, contact bookings@garylucas.com.

Gary improvises to Fernand Leger's "Ballet Mecanique" (1924) as part of his "Sounds of the Surreal" project at Pop Montreal, the Portugeuse Assocation (an old synagogue), Montreal, Canada, 10/7/07
photo by Valerie  

Gary plays to Ladislaw Starewicz's 1912 animated film "The Cameraman's Revenge" as part of his "Sounds of the Surreal" project at Pop Montreal, the Portugeuse Assocation (an old synagogue), Montreal, Canada, 10/7/07
photo by Valerie
Gary Lucas performs his original solo guitar score accompanying Ladislaw Starewicz's "The Cameraman's Revenge" (1912) as part of his "Sounds of the Surreal" program: Gary performs his original solo guitar score accompanying Fernand Leger's "Ballet Mecanique" (1924)
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