Lucas & Lukas   Omnidirectional

Gary Lucas & Lukas Ligeti s New Collaboration Is Space Rock/ Avant Garde/Free Jazz/ Improvisation/ Psychedelic Music

Omnidirectional is the long-awaited sound of two master improvisers guitarist Gary Lucas and drummer/percussionist Lukas Ligeti traveling through space, time, and genre with total freedom. Across three fully improvised instrumentals and a luminous, reimagined version of Alice Coltrane s  Journey in Satchidananda, the duo creates music that feels both spontaneous and meticulously shaped, cosmic yet deeply human.

 

"Omnidirectional" is available digitally at cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/omnidirectional

 

Ligeti proposed the album title; Lucas supplied the track names each one a clue to the swirling, fiery, exploratory nature of the music.

 

When we get together, we are fiery, Lucas says. Free jazz lets us create melodies we can use for even more music.

 

The Sound: Free Jazz, Cosmic Drift, and Melodic Discovery

Recorded live at East Side Sound, Lucas s favorite NYC studio, Omnidirectional is a document of pure improvisation. No overdubs. No pre‑written hooks. Just two musicians painting in real time. There was mixing and editing to bring out the best of the final performances.

 

Lucas' looping creates gravitational pull and unexpected hooks; Ligeti's polymetric imagination pushes the music into new orbits. Together, they generate sound paintings that feel infinite, constantly evolving, and emotionally charged.

A historical touchstone for Lucas & Lukas was Alice Coltrane s Karma, featuring Pharoah Sanders an influence that threads through Lucas & Lukas spiritual, spacious energy.

  1. Phlogiston  Named for the mythical substance once believed to cause combustion. Lucas:  What was inflamed becomes this freed ashes, the powder from rust.
  2. Journey in Satchidananda  A reverent, exploratory take on Alice Coltrane s classic. Satchidananda in Sanskrit refers to existence, consciousness, and bliss.
  3. Over 6 Million Served  A reflective piece inspired by Lucas s visit to Dachau during the Knitting Factory s tour of Europe.  Some of the thoughts written at the gate whitewashed history. In reality, the camps and the Holocaust had 6 million killed.
  4. Whorls Within Whirls  A pun on the swirling, spiraling nature of the music galaxies within galaxies.

 

All compositions by Gary Lucas and Lukas Ligeti except the Alice Coltrane piece.

 

How the Duo Formed

Gary Lucas heard of Lukas Ligeti through his father, the legendary composer Gyorgy Ligeti, known for his work in 2001: A Space Odyssey. When Lucas moved to New York, Lukas stepped in as a substitute drummer for Gods and Monsters and the chemistry was instant.

 

It s easy to hang out with Lukas, which is important if you re going to do a duo, Gary Lucas says. In time the drummer taught and performed out of the State and country, but when he visited the City, the two would play their improvisations live at The New School s venue for avant garde performances, The Stone

Recently, they booked time at East Side Sound and recorded the entire album live. They later refined the mixes and edited the pieces to highlight the most exciting moments.

About Gary Lucas

A world‑class guitarist, Grammy‑nominated songwriter, and international touring artist, Lucas has released over 50 albums across genres jazz, rock, classical, folk, blues, avant‑garde, and world music. He has performed in 40+ countries, collaborated with icons from Captain Beefheart to Jeff Buckley, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Nick Cave, and Bryan Ferry, and received multiple Lifetime Achievement awards for his songwriting with Buckley ( Grace, Mojo Pin ).

 

Dubbed  The Thinking Man s Guitar Hero  (The New Yorker) and  one of the best and most original guitarists in America  (Rolling Stone), Lucas continues to push boundaries with every project.

 

Visit GaryLucas.com

About Lukas Ligeti

An Austrian‑American composer, drummer, and researcher, Ligeti s work spans classical composition, African polyrhythms, jazz, electronics, and experimental traditions. He is a recipient of the CalArts Alpert Award, has been commissioned by major orchestras and ensembles worldwide, and has taught at UC Irvine, the University of Pretoria, the University of Ghana, and is currently Professor of Composition at the Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles.

As a drummer, he has performed with John Zorn, Elliott Sharp, Henry Kaiser, Marilyn Crispell, George Lewis, and many others. His approach experimental intercultural collaboration has shaped his work across five continents.

 

More at: www.lukasligeti.com



From Arthur Levy, music writer emeritus:

Always searching, always unearthing musical mysteries and truths rambling in time from ancient fertile country blues to the bebop and avant garde jazz of his mentors, from the ravings of psychedelia to the post-modern explorations of Lou Reed and Jeff Buckley, to name a pair of his fierce collaborators, it's all meat on the same bone for guitar master Gary Lucas. His multitude of recordings, 50-plus albums and countless collaborations, and his lifetime of performances across six continents ranging from intimate salons and workshops to grand concert theatres and arenas, have set the stage for this challenging new project.

Omnidirectional is an entirely improvised set of instrumentals recorded at NYC's East Side Sound with long-time collaborator (including occasionally subbing in Gary's band Gods And Monsters), drummer, percussionist and composer Lukas Ligeti (son of composer Gyorgy Ligeti of 2001: A Space Odyssey renown)—a solo recording artist in his own right, Animated in part by Pharaoh Sanders' 1969 acid jazz breakthrough LP Karma, and including a reimagined version of Alice Coltrane's "Journey in Satchidananda" from 1971 (which featured Sanders), Omnidirectional is rooted in the improvs played by Lucas & Lukas for many years at Tonic and The Stone in New York City (The New School's venue for avant garde performances). The album is a musical journey of transcendent beauty and rabid noise, two master musicians painting in real time, grounded by Gary Lucas, described by Rolling Stone's David Fricke as: one of the best and most original guitarists in America...a modern guitar miracle."

 

Lucas & Lukas Omnidirectional available at: cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/omnidirectional

New School performance on youtube:  https://youtu.be/uiwf7WqkKbI?si=ODScRzrwG0ZxlHd9

Listen to "Journey in Satchidananda" on YouTube 

Lucas and Lukas [Gary Lucas and Lukas Ligeti] - "Journey In Satchidananda" from 'Omnidirectional'

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Media Contact  Anne Leighton: talking: 718-881-8183, texting: 707-637-6070, LeightonMedia@aol.com, Anne@AnneLeighton.com

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